How can I improve my sleep schedule? What are the best ways to fix a disrupted sleep cycle? Discover 14 data-backed tips to reset your body clock and get better sleep.

Harness the Power of Sunlight

Until artificial lighting was invented, most people awoke with the sun and fell asleep when it got dark naturally. Now, our evenings are artificially illuminated, causing many of us to stay up later than we should. If you’re trying to reset your sleep schedule, consider letting the morning sun in. Sunlight can trigger a daily reset for your circadian clock and acts as a natural cue for when to wake up. Over time, your internal clock should sync up with this cue, making waking up with the sun a breeze. Tip: Go to bed soon after the sun sets and open the curtains for morning sunlight.

Embrace Regular Exercise

Studies show that regular exercise promotes a healthy sleep schedule and helps regulate your circadian rhythm. Research also indicates that poor sleep can contribute to lower physical activity levels, creating an unhealthy cycle. Break out of that cycle by ensuring you have plenty of activity in your day. The same study showed that “morning people” are more physically active during the day. Using that logic, regular morning workouts should help you lead more active days and sleep better at night! Tip: Regular morning workouts will lead to more active days and better sleep.

Adjust Your Schedule Gradually

Your body won’t be able to handle a sudden shift in your sleep routine. If you are trying to adjust your sleep schedule or you know you will be changing your wake-up hours dramatically, plan ahead and adjust your schedule gradually, moving toward your goal time in 15-minute increments. For example, if your normal wake-up time is 8 AM and you need to wake up a 6:30 AM to implement your new workout routine, it will take you seven nights to adopt your new sleep schedule. If you need to make a huge shift, it might take several weeks to get fully onto your desired schedule, but your body will have an easier time doing it than if you make the change abruptly. Tip: Adjust your schedule toward the desired wake-up time in 15-minute increments.

Avoid Blue Light Before Bed

When you’re winding down for bed, it’s important to avoid the blue light that comes from computers and mobile devices. These visible (and invisible) light rays can have a negative impact on our circadian rhythms. Blue light can also suppress our secretion of melatonin, a hormone that controls our sleep patterns. So if your circadian rhythm is off, try avoiding your cell phone, computer, and television for two or three hours before bed. You could try reading, conversing with your significant other, or a relaxing bedtime ritual instead. Tip: Avoid your cell phone, computer, and TV for two to three hours before bed.

Eliminate Daytime Napping

While it can be tempting to take a nap during the day if you have the time, anyone trying to adjust their sleep schedule should avoid them. Studies show that napping is associated with shorter nighttime sleep the next night, which can throw off your internal clock. This also starts a negative cycle, because when you’re not getting efficient sleep at night, you’re more likely to nap the next day. Avoid this cycle completely by avoiding naps if you have a sensitive sleep schedule. Tip: If you must nap, keep it to no longer than 20 minutes.

Optimize Your Bedroom Environment

The environment you sleep in can have a significant impact on your sleep quality and circadian rhythm. Ensure your bedroom is cool, dark, and quiet. Use blackout curtains or an eye mask to block out any light, and consider using earplugs or a white noise machine to minimize disruptive sounds. Additionally, make sure your mattress and pillows are comfortable and supportive. A well-designed sleep environment can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep throughout the night. Tip: Create a cool, dark, and quiet sleep environment for optimal rest.

Establish a Consistent Bedtime Routine

Developing a consistent bedtime routine can help cue your body that it’s time to wind down and prepare for sleep. This could include activities like taking a warm bath, reading a book, or practicing relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation. By performing the same sequence of activities each night, you train your brain to associate these cues with sleep, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep. Stick to your routine, even on weekends, to maintain a regular sleep-wake cycle. Tip: Establish a consistent bedtime routine to signal your body that it’s time to sleep.

Supplement with Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural hormone produced by the pineal gland that helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle. If your circadian rhythm is disrupted, taking a melatonin supplement a few hours before your desired bedtime can help reset your internal clock. Start with a low dose, such as 0.5-3 mg, and adjust as needed. Be sure to consult with your healthcare provider before starting any new supplement regimen. Tip: Melatonin supplements can help reset your sleep-wake cycle when used responsibly.

Manage Stress and Anxiety

High levels of stress and anxiety can have a significant impact on your sleep quality and circadian rhythm. Practice stress management techniques, such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises, to help calm your mind and body before bedtime. Additionally, consider limiting your exposure to stimulating activities or media in the hours leading up to sleep. By managing your stress levels, you can create a more restful environment for better sleep. Tip: Engage in stress-reducing activities to promote better sleep and reset your circadian rhythm.

Seek Professional Help if Needed

If you’ve tried various strategies to reset your sleep schedule, but continue to struggle with persistent sleep issues, it may be worth consulting a healthcare professional, such as a sleep specialist or your primary care physician. They can help identify any underlying medical conditions or sleep disorders that may be contributing to your sleep problems and provide personalized treatment recommendations. Don’t hesitate to seek professional guidance if you’re unable to resolve your sleep difficulties on your own. Tip: Consult a healthcare professional if you continue to struggle with persistent sleep issues.

Resetting your sleep schedule can be a challenging task, but with the right strategies and consistency, you can help your body’s internal clock regain its natural rhythm. By incorporating these proven tips into your daily routine, you can improve your sleep quality, boost your energy levels, and enhance your overall health and well-being. Remember, it may take time and patience to find the right combination of strategies that work best for you, but the benefits of a well-rested sleep schedule are well worth the effort.

How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule: 14 Data-Backed Tips

*This article is for general information only and is not intended to be medical advice. Consult your physician before taking any supplements, beginning any diet or fitness plan, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.
 
Have you ever noticed that you tend to wake up at the same time when you are able to wake up naturally? You may also notice that you get tired around the same time every night.
 
Your body’s internal clock instinctively knows when it’s time for sleep and when it’s time to wake. This 24-hour sleep/wake cycle is called circadian rhythm.
 
Plants, animals, fungi and cyanobacteria all operate on a circadian rhythm and are often modulated by external cues like sunlight and temperature. For adult humans, this stimuli is light, so our circadian rhythms tend to follow the 24-hour light/dark cycle of the Earth’s rotation.
 
Your circadian rhythm impacts not only your sleep schedule but how productive and focused you are throughout the day. However, your external environment and how well you take care of yourself can cause this rhythm to go out of balance. This can also happen when you travel or if you stray from your everyday schedule.
 
Since disruption can result in negative consequences to your health and well-being, you should work to ensure your circadian rhythm is balanced. Here we’ll cover some ways to reset your sleep schedule if you feel like your rhythm is off.

1. See the Morning Light

 
Until artificial lighting was invented, most people awoke with the sun and fell asleep when it got dark naturally. Now that our evenings are artificially illuminated, we tend to stay up later than we probably should. Consequently, many people block out the morning sun with blackout curtains and shutters, further separating themselves from the sun’s natural patterns.
 
If you’re trying to reset your sleep schedule, you should consider letting the morning sun in. Sunlight can trigger a daily reset for your circadian clock and acts as a natural cue for when to wake up. Over time, your internal clock should sync up with this cue and make waking up with the sun a breeze.
 
Tip: Go to bed soon after the sun sets and open the curtains for morning sunlight.

2. Exercise 3-4 Times a Week

 
Studies show that regular exercise promotes a healthy sleep schedule and helps regulate your circadian rhythm. Research also shows that poor sleep can contribute to lower physical activity levels as well, which can create an unhealthy cycle.
 
Break out of that cycle by ensuring you have plenty of activity in your day. The same study showed that “morning people” are more physically active during the day. Using that logic, regular morning workouts should help you lead more active days and sleep better at night!
 
Tip: Regular morning workouts will lead to more active days and better sleep.

3. Adjust Your Schedule Slowly

 
Your body won’t be able to handle a sudden shift in your sleep routine. If you are trying to adjust your sleep schedule or you know you will be changing your wake-up hours dramatically, plan ahead and adjust your schedule gradually, moving toward your goal time in 15-minute increments.
 
For example, if your normal wake-up time is 8 AM and you need to wake up a 6:30 AM to implement your new workout routine, it will take you seven nights to adopt your new sleep schedule. If you need to make a huge shift, it might take several weeks to get fully onto your desired schedule, but your body will have an easier time doing it than if you make the change abruptly.
 
Tip: Adjust your schedule toward the desired wake-up time in 15-minute increments.

4. Avoid Blue Light Before Bed

 
When you’re winding down for bed, it’s important to avoid the blue light that comes from computers and mobile devices. These visible (and invisible) light rays can have a negative impact on our circadian rhythms. Blue light can also suppress our secretion of melatonin, a hormone that controls our sleep patterns.
 
So if your circadian rhythm is off, try avoiding your cell phone, computer and television for two or three hours before bed. You could try reading, conversing with your significant other or a relaxing bedtime ritual instead.
 
Tip: Avoid your cell phone, computer and TV for two to three hours before bed.

5. Don’t Take Naps

 
While it can be tempting to take a nap during the day if you have the time, anyone trying to adjust their sleep schedule should avoid them. Studies show that napping is associated with shorter nighttime sleep the next night, which can throw off your internal clock.
 
This also starts a negative cycle, because when you’re not getting efficient sleep at night you’re more likely to nap the next day. Avoid this cycle completely by avoiding naps if you have a sensitive sleep schedule.
 
Tip: If you must nap, keep it to no longer than 20 minutes.

6. Avoid Eating Right Before Bed

 
Studies show that eating food near your sleeping period correlates with negative impacts on sleep quality. Those with a healthy sleep schedule might not see a huge difference in their sleep quality when they have a late night snack, but those who are trying to regulate their sleep schedule should be wary.
 
Anything that disrupts your sleep is likely to throw off your internal clock, so when trying to reset your sleep schedule you should try to eat your last meal at least three hours before you’re trying to go to sleep. Avoid any large snacks after this time as well, if possible.
 
Tip: Eat your last meal at least three hours before you’re trying to go to sleep.

7. Adopt a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

 
If you’re having trouble falling asleep at a decent hour, try adopting a relaxing bedtime routine until you get back on track. Studies show that using relaxation techniques can help you fall asleep faster and get more restful sleep.
 
You can try taking a warm bath before bed, reading a relaxing book or some of the relaxation techniques outlined in the study. One technique, called progressive muscle relaxation, includes tensing and relaxing one muscle at a time until your whole body is relaxed. There is also autogenic training, which involves focusing awareness on different parts of the body and relaxing them.
 
Tip: Try taking a warm bath, reading a relaxing book or autogenic relaxation training.

8. Take a Camping Trip

 
Since natural light schedules help aid the body’s circadian rhythm, it makes sense that spending plenty of time outdoors could help restore natural cycles. This way you can wake up and fall asleep with the sun for a few days, which should help to reset your natural sleep schedule.
 
This may not work as well for someone who is changing their sleep habits in anticipation of a future schedule (for example, preparing for a move or a long trip), but it could work wonders for those trying to re-sync to their current daylight hours.
 
Tip: Sleep in a tent for a few days, falling asleep and waking up with the sun.

9. Stick to a Schedule

 
One of the best ways to regulate your circadian rhythm is to develop a consistent sleep schedule. There are tons of benefits to being on a consistent sleep schedule, and a healthy internal clock is one.
 
Sleep irregularity has been associated with difficulty falling asleep, reduced physical activity, increased daytime sleepiness, stress, depression and more. To treat sleep irregularity, behavioral psychologists prescribe consistent bedtimes and rise times to get their patients back on track.
 
Tip: Setting a consistent bedtime and rise time can help get you back on track.

10. Limit Caffeine After Lunch

 
If you are having trouble falling asleep at night, you will definitely want to avoid caffeine after lunch. This study confirms that coffee consumption interferes with sleep quality and quantity.
 
It’s not just coffee you should avoid, though. Many things are caffeinated, like teas, sodas, chocolate, energy waters, energy drinks and more. If anything says that it will give you energy, it’s likely caffeinated and can contribute to poor sleep.
 
Tip: Avoid coffee, teas, sodas, chocolate, energy waters and drinks after lunch.

11. Avoid Sleeping in Noisy Environments

 
Even if you think you don’t have a problem sleeping with a little background noise, it could be interfering with your sleep schedule. Noisy environments lead to increased restlessness during the time you’re sleeping — this includes twitching, moving around and shifting often between phases of sleep.
 
Waking frequently (even if you’re not waking up all the way) can lead to lower sleep satisfaction levels, which in turn can impact your circadian rhythm. Our advice is to find a quiet, dark room to fall asleep in.
 
Tip: Find a quiet, dark room to fall asleep in and avoid nighttime disturbances.

12. Try Intermittent Fasting

 
Those who need to reset their sleep schedule due to a permanent move relocation or for traveling may want to try intermittent fasting. Dr. Clifford Saper of Harvard Medical School reports that fasting for a period of 16 hours is enough to reset your internal clock.
 
This is because food scarcity can override our circadian rhythm. When the fast ends, your body will take note of when you take your first meal. For example, if you’re traveling to Japan, calculate when you would normally eat breakfast in Japan and start your fast 16 hours before that. When you have your first breakfast overseas your clock should reset.
 
Tip: Fast for 16 hours before you will eat breakfast on the first day of your new sleep/wake rhythm.

13. Avoid the Night Shift

 
When possible, it’s very helpful to get on a work schedule that includes consistent daytime shifts. This is especially true when you’re trying to regulate your circadian rhythm.
  
Studies show that night shifts have negative effects on workers’ sleep. This includes sleepiness and performance impairment, putting them at risk for an injury or accident at home or on the job. While this isn’t always possible to change shifts at work, it is important to keep in mind in case shift work and resulting sleep trouble is having a profound impact on your quality of life.
 
Tip: When possible, try to get on a work schedule that includes consistent daytime shifts.

14. Get Comfortable

 
While trying to maintain a healthy sleep schedule, or if you’re trying to fall asleep earlier to reset your rhythm, it’s important to optimize your sleeping arrangements. This means creating a comfortable, relaxing environment in your bedroom. It also means making sure your mattress and bedding are comfortable.
 
Studies show that upgraded mattresses and sheets result in increased sleep quality. If you’re waking up during the night because of back discomfort or stress-related issues, a new, well-supported bed setup could work wonders.
 
Tip: Turn your bedroom into a cozy, relaxing paradise with soft bedding and pillows.

Signs Your Circadian Rhythm Is Off

 
Your body will typically regulate its daily rhythm based on factors like light exposure, meals and exercise as well as temperature and hormone levels. These indicators help your body know when it’s time to sleep at night and when to be awake during the day.
  
However, these rhythms can get thrown off course, resulting in symptoms that are less than desirable. Jet lag is one example of your circadian rhythm getting disturbed by travel, but your daily rhythm can be thrown off by night shifts and sleep disorders as well.
 
When should you be worried that your circadian rhythm is off? You should consider rectifying your sleep schedule if you’re unable to sleep when the sun sets and wake when the sun rises. You may want to consider seeing a doctor if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms:
 

• Sleepiness
• Nausea
• Memory loss
• Depression
• Metabolic syndromes and weight gain

There are many things that can mess with your sleep schedule. Luckily, practicing good sleep hygiene can help get you back on track. If you remember to stick to a schedule, avoid stimulants and heavy meals before bed, and stay active during the day, you should be able to sleep better at night.

You should also make sure your sleep environment is comfortable, quiet and cool. A Casper Original Mattress could be one step toward an improved sleep environment, because they’re built to trap heat and help you stay cool and comfortable while you’re sleeping. Set yourself up for success by choosing ultra-comfortable bedding too!

Adopt Good Sleep Habits | Need Sleep

Old Habits Die… Easily

To hear Valerie talk about her sleep routine, you might think this single mom, who teaches high school math near Boston, has always practiced good sleep habits. “Oh, no,” she says. “When I was growing up, my mom used to let me stay up as late as I wanted, and on weekends I often slept into the afternoon.” Back then, and into her early 30s, sleep was easy for Valerie. Then the stresses of adult life—her job, parenthood, financial concerns—began to keep her awake at night.

She found herself lying in bed for hours sometimes, not knowing why she couldn’t sleep, and lacking the tools and good habits to remedy the situation on her own. Frustrated by her inability to sleep even when she was exhausted, Valerie shared her concerns with her primary care physician, who helped her identify factors that might be keeping her awake at night. Together they came up with strategies to overcome many of these factors. For the first time in her life, Valerie had to plan for sleep and follow a sleep routine. However, she was desperate enough to try just about anything, and much of what her doctor recommended seemed easy enough.

Improving Sleep (2:50)
Dr. Lawrence J. Epstein discusses strategies to achieve adequate sleep.

What the Sleep Doctors Say

Sleep doctors recommend a variety of measures to help adults and children achieve adequate sleep. In general, all of these approaches are intended to help with relaxation as the desired sleep time approaches, to maintain a comfortable sleep environment, and to encourage a healthful balance of nutrition and exercise. Their recommendations include:

• maintaining a regular sleep-wake schedule
• avoiding caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and other chemicals that interfere with sleep
• making your bedroom a comfortable sleep environment
• establishing a calming pre-sleep routine
• going to sleep when you’re truly tired
• not watching the clock at night
• using light to your advantage by exposing yourself to light during the day and limiting light exposure in the evening
• not napping too close to your regular bedtime
• eating and drinking enough—but not too much or too soon before bedtime
• exercising regularly—but not too soon before bedtime

Making Your Sleep Routine Your Own

Experts acknowledge that most people find it difficult to follow all these recommendations; however, they also stress that it isn’t typically necessary to do so. They suggest that individuals identify the factors that are most disruptive to their own sleep and then focus on altering particular behaviors and patterns to overcome these factors.

Valerie, for instance, admits that she doesn’t follow all of the advice her doctor gave her. For example, she occasionally reads and does word puzzles in bed, which she knows sleep specialists typically discourage. “They help me take my mind off of the day,” she says. Otherwise, she says she heeds her doctor’s advice, which includes staying away from caffeine in the evening, avoiding stressful activities too close to bedtime, and keeping the television out of her bedroom. Knitting, reading, and listening to relaxing music and nature recordings are some of the activities she uses to transition to sleep.

Despite growing up with few bedtime restrictions, Valerie now keeps a very regular schedule. Even on weekends, she seldom wakes much later than her typical weekday wake time of 5:30 a.m. As a result, “It feels like my body knows when it’s time to go to bed and when it’s time to wake up,” she says. And unlike in her youth, waking has become much easier, despite the early hour. According to sleep experts, a regular schedule not only tends to increase the amount of sleep people get each night, it can also improve the quality of that sleep.

An added benefit of Valerie’s schedule is that it corresponds closely to her 13-year-old daughter’s schedule, which means they have more time to spend together. “I love that I get to see her first thing in the morning, and make breakfast for her,” Valerie says. She also hopes that her good sleep habits will rub off on her daughter, and that she will grow up with a healthy appreciation of sleep and its importance. “I certainly don’t take sleep for granted like I used to.”

To see how another working mom established sleep schedules for her children and improved her own sleep in the process, see Sheila’s Balancing Act.

To learn how getting better sleep helped a night shift nurse improve her diet, fitness, and overall health, see Barbra’s Sleep Makeover.

To see how a behavioral sleep consultation can help people overcome sleep problems such as insomnia, see Healthy Sleep.

Find more tips to overcome sleep issues at Healthy Sleep.

When sleep tips aren’t enough, or if you suspect you may have a sleep disorder, please see When to Seek Treatment in the Healthy Sleep module.

Resources

Epstein, Lawrence, MD and Mardon, Steven, The Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep, 2007, McGraw Hill Books.

How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule

Lots of things can affect your sleep schedule: changes in daily schedules, more or less physical activity during wakeful hours, health changes or medical conditions—the list can go on and on. Conversely, you may be someone who has always struggled to turn in “on time” or get out of bed when the alarm goes off.

Learning why sleep schedules change—and what we can do to right them—is the key to getting into a healthy sleep routine.

Circadian Rhythm & Sleep Schedule Problems

Our bodies have an internal clock, the circadian rhythm.ⁱ Our circadian rhythm regulates several of our bodies’ functions, including the sleep cycle.ⁱⁱ There are two primary ways the circadian rhythm is set and reset:ⁱⁱⁱ

• Environmental light
• Internal memory (our genetics)

This means that while the mind and body may both be tired, the light around us—from the TV or the phone, for example—is keeping us awake. Resetting our internal clocks is what we’re trying to do when we set out to fix our sleep schedules.

How to Practice Sleep Hygiene

To fix your sleep schedule, you’ll want to start practicing good sleep habits—what’s called sleep hygiene.^iv Practicing sleep hygiene is a great way to reset your internal clock and fix your sleep schedule. Try following these steps toward a better night’s sleep:^v

• Set—and stick to—a sleep schedule. Bedtime may seem like the domain of little ones, but it’s important to have a set bedtime (and wake time) to fix your sleep schedule for the long term.
• Keep your bedroom dark. Don’t get into bed and turn on a TV or use your phone—your body will think it’s time to be awake. Darkness is important. Consider investing in light-limiting window treatments, too.
• Keep your bedroom quiet. Aside from a white-noise machine, keep noises to a minimum as much as possible. Silence your phone and don’t leave on the TV or music.
• Limit naps. Naps that are too long can slip you into deep sleep. Keep naps between 20 and 30 minutes.^vi
• Keep a cap on caffeine use. Try avoiding caffeine in the six hours before your scheduled bedtime.^vii
• Exercise during the day. Getting physical activity can help the body feel tired when it’s time for bed.

With these tips for how to fix your sleep schedule in your arsenal, you can be well on your way to a good night’s sleep sooner than you think.

SOURCES

By clicking any of the links below you will be taken to an external website that is independently operated and not managed by GSK. GSK assumes no responsibility for the content on the website. If you do not wish to leave this website, do not click on the links below.

ⁱ Understanding your body’s internal clock—or circadian rhythm—is the first step to better sleep. Sleep.org. https://www.sleep.org/articles/circadian-rhythm-body-clock/. Accessed May 1, 2020. Referenced text is highlighted on page 1 in source PDF.

ⁱⁱ 11 Easy Tips to Help You Reset (Fix) Your Sleep Schedule Today. Sleep Advisor. https://www.sleepadvisor.org/how-to-fix-sleep-schedule/. Accessed May 1, 2020. Referenced text is highlighted on page 2 in source PDF.

ⁱⁱⁱ Ibid.

^iv Tips for Better Sleep. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about_sleep/sleep_hygiene.html. Accessed May 1, 2020. Referenced text is highlighted on page 1 in source PDF.

^v Ibid.

^vi 11 Easy Tips to Help You Reset (Fix) Your Sleep Schedule Today. Sleep Advisor. https://www.sleepadvisor.org/how-to-fix-sleep-schedule/. Accessed May 1, 2020. Referenced text is highlighted on page 8 in source PDF.

^vii Ibid.

8 Tips To Fix & Reset Your Sleep Schedule

By: SleepScore Labs
 | 

October 19th, 2020

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Does it feel like your sleep is all over the place? Whether your sleep routine has been disrupted by a shift in work hours, traveling through time zones, or just a busier-than-normal schedule, there are a number of variables that could be the culprit behind your botched sleep regimen. Having a consistent routine works wonders for optimal sleep.

If you are curious how to fix your sleep schedule, these 8 tips can help you develop better sleep habits and retrain your internal clock if needed, allowing for better sleep. Regardless of what you try, it is important to stay patient. Different methods will work for different people, and it may take some time for your sleep to line back up.

Keep a Consistent Bedtime

Your body loves routine. Greater sleep time variability has been shown to be associated with adverse health outcomes. You should strive for going to bed at the same time, along with waking up at the same time – even on the weekends if possible. Give it a try! Over time, your body’s internal clock (also called your circadian rhythm) will get accustomed to this new time, which can help with falling asleep and waking up each day. Similarly, it helps to follow the same routine each night before going to sleep. As it becomes a ritual, you will begin to feel relaxed as you get ready for bed.

Exposure to Light

Your body naturally produces a hormone called melatonin which signals to your brain that it’s time to fall asleep. When you are exposed to bright light at night, it can suppress the release of melatonin and trick your body into thinking it is still daytime, making it difficult to go to bed. Use the nighttime setting built into your devices; the dimmer, warmer light may help prepare you for sleep. Alternatively, you can avoid using blue light-emitting devices close to bedtime. If you work late into the night, use screen protectors for blue light, or try these blue light blocking glasses that have been validated by SleepScore Labs.

Blue light in the morning hours actually helps kick-start your day and may improve cognitive performance. When you wake up, open the curtains to let the sunlight in, go for a short walk, or just sit outside and let the sunshine in for at least 15 minutes (but don’t forget sunscreen to protect your skin!). This natural light will let your body know that it’s time to be awake and alert – just don’t forget to wind down and reduce those bright lights in the 3-5 hours before bedtime.

Relaxation Practices

Being in the right state of mind through tactics like mindfulness meditation may help with falling and getting back to quality sleep if you wake up during the night. Studies on long-term practitioners of transcendental meditation have shown that, compared to the average person, certain Yogic practitioners may have enhanced slow-wave sleep and dream (rapid-eye movement, REM) sleep.

Before bed, try winding down with deep breathing or simple stretches to help relax your body. Additionally, meditation can help focus your mind and reduce intrusive thoughts that might keep you awake further helping you fix your sleep schedule. Choose a pleasant word to focus your mind on, or focus on your breath. Enjoy how the air feels as you breathe in, and take plenty of time as you slowly breathe out, exhaling the tension out. Try not to get frustrated if your mind returns to busy or stressful thoughts; you can just return to your calming breaths. Practicing these types of relaxation techniques can help you fall asleep at night and help you feel better during the day too.

Avoid Napping

Napping during the day can make it difficult to sleep later. Excessive daytime napping may even be an indicator of poor overnight sleep. If you must nap, how long should you nap? Based on findings from previous studies, it may be best to try to keep naps between 10-20 minutes in order to produce a bump in performance and quick rest without entering deep, slow-wave sleep (which may make you feel groggy after waking up). Naps should also be taken earlier in the afternoon no later than 3PM to prevent interfering with your nighttime sleep schedule. You don’t want to feel too energized when it’s time for bed at night. Also, keep in mind that after a nap it takes a little while to regain your full focus and energy. If you do end up napping, it can help to take a walk after your nap.

Reduce Noise

This one may seem obvious, but maintaining a quiet sleep environment is important in falling and staying asleep during your preferred sleep time period. Excessive environmental noises have been reported to be significant causes of sleep-wake disturbances.

Set your phone to silent mode to avoid any late-night notifications. If you live in a noisy neighborhood or have roommates who are night owls, try using white noise to drown out outside sounds. A fan, air conditioner, or humidifier may help in providing enough sound to keep unwanted noise out yet soft enough that it will not keep you awake. Using a sound machine can also help. Many models have a variety of soothing sounds and a timer feature, giving you the freedom to customize what you fall asleep to and for how long.

Regular Exercise

Regular exercise is great for your sleep and has so many other benefits too, for both physical and mental health. The relationship between sleep and exercise is interconnected: sufficient and proper exercise can alleviate sleep problems, while poor quality or insufficient sleep can reduce daytime activity levels and hinder your workout. Exercise training can also improve sleep by decreasing your risk (and potentially even treating) sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea.

A gym membership is not required – simple activities such as taking a brisk walk and stretching count too! Try this in the morning, but if you really prefer exercising at night, avoid intense exercise during the hours before bed.

Eat Early

Sleep habits extend beyond bedtime. Meal timing has been shown to regulate our body’s internal clock, the circadian rhythm. Try to keep a regular meal schedule and follow it as best as possible to help your body stay on track. Along with eating well, it’s best to plan your dinner for early in the evening. This is especially true if the meal is a heavy one as our bodies take longer to digest, disrupting our sleep at night. Late night cups of coffee and alcohol can disrupt and delay the process of resetting your sleep schedule, so keep in mind what you drink as well.

Talk to your Doctor

If your sleep troubles continue, it’s a good idea to speak with your healthcare provider or a sleep specialist to find out whether there might be underlying issues that could be addressed.

These recommendations may not all work for everyone, and resetting your sleep schedule will take some time, but stick with it and you’ll be on your way to feeling great!

SleepScore Labs Solutions

Download the free SleepScore App for insights and articles on how well you sleep, the quality and quantity of your sleep cycles, and sleep improvement progress with science-backed tips and insights.  Download it for free from App Store and Google Play Store!

You can also visit the SleepScore Store for a wide range of sleep-promoting products carefully curated by SleepScore Labs’ team of researchers including white noise machines, lighting solutions, and more to support your sleep-wake schedule!

Sleep well!

How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule (Reset the Circadian Rhythm)

Knowing how to fix your sleep schedule will enable you to go to bed confident that you will wake up the next morning when you need to.  Your sleep schedule should be burned into your metabolism although many people wake up at random times. This can be a nuisance if you need to get to work at the same time each day. Not only get out of bed but to be alert and ready for the day to come. Here, we will explain how to fix your sleep schedule, otherwise known as your circadian rhythm, into your metabolism to make it unlikely for you to wake up late again!

Table of Contents

The first task is to find out why your internal clock makes you wake up late and struggle to get up and dressed in time – or even wake up too early. What factors can cause this? Why is it that your sleep schedule can fail to get you awake when you need to be? Here are a few reasons for this:

1. The level of light and darkness in your bedroom might vary over the year. Some people find it easier to wake up in summer than in winter when it is dark during their normal wake-up time. The longer daylight hours during summer can make it difficult for you to get to sleep, and so you may tend to sleep later in the morning.
2. If you are used to going to bed and rising at the same time, then your internal body clock will tell you when it is time for bed and time to awaken. Many people will ignore these signals and go to bed later than normal and waken up later than normal. In fact, in summer, your body clock will likely waken you too early – and you may find it impossible to get back to sleep again.

Unless you maintain a regular sleep-wake schedule, your body clock will get off track and will change. You may not be able to sleep when you should and might not wake up till you are sure to be late for work. This is when you must know how to fix your sleep schedule. Here are some ways of achieving this.

How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule

The best way to get your sleep schedule back on track is to go to bed and wake up at the same times each day. You can also use light to achieve this. When it is dark, your brain generates a hormone known as melatonin. This is generally known as the ‘sleep hormone’. When it gets light, the brain stops producing this hormone resulting in you becoming awake. There are some things you can do and some you shouldn’t do to get back into a sensible sleep cycle.

Get to Bed at the Same Time Each Night: Set yourself a time for bed. That may be 10 pm or 10.30 pm, or any other time that suits you best. Try your hardest to go to bed at that specific time every night and your internal clock will help you get to sleep at that time every night. Your sleep-wake cycle is also known as the circadian rhythm.

Bedtime Rituals: Many people not only find it hard to sleep at a specific time each night but hard to sleep period! If you can’t get to sleep when you should, then you have little chance of waking up when you need to. There are several bedtime rituals you can carry out to help you sleep.

Different people find they can relax when carrying out certain activities or rituals when it is time for them to fall asleep. You can find 15 proven relaxing bedtime rituals here. Once your body gets used to these, you will be halfway to fixing your sleep schedule. A simple example is to wash your face and clean your teeth at the same time every night. Sleep experts believe that following such rituals train your brain to believe that they signal sleep time!

Control Light and Dark: If you want to wake up at the same time each morning, then go to bed with the curtains open. The morning light will reduce your melatonin production and you should wake up. Alternatively, connect your bedroom light to a timer, which switches the lights on at a preset time. What is important is to train your body clock to send you to sleep and waken you up at the same time each evening and morning.

What You Should Not Do When Fixing Your Sleep Cycle

Most of those above are things you should do. But how about what you should not do, or even must not do in order to fix your sleep schedule? Here are some things to avoid when trying to settle into a proper sleep-wake cycle.

Avoid Things That Keep You Awake: Try to avoid activities that keep you awake. If you like to read in bed, then go to bed early and read until you are approaching your sleep time. Then get ready to sleep – lights out and get comfortable in your bed.

Do not eat a large meal just before bedtime. It can keep you awake and lead to acid reflux when you fall asleep, waking you up again. A light snack should satisfy your night hunger – make sure it does not contain energy-creating sugar.

Avoid Coffee Before Bedtime: If you tend to go to sleep at 11 pm, then no coffee from 5 pm. Also, avoid TV and other screens such as a cell phone or computer game. You will find that these tend to stimulate rather than relax you. The blue light emitted by such devices stops you from sleeping.

Avoid Naps During the Day: If you get naps during the day then you are almost sure to find it difficult to fall asleep when you should. If you feel sleepy during the day, don’t lie back and sleep, but get up and go for a walk or carry out some exercise. If you must nap, restrict it to 20 – 30 minutes.

Avoid Exercise Close to Bedtime: If you exercise in the morning or afternoon, such exercise will be beneficial to you. You will likely feel tired after your session. However, do not exercise close to your bedtime because it can keep you awake! If you do feel the need for some exercise in the evening try yoga or a simple stretching exercise that does not involve vigorous movements. Stretching your muscles and joints and yoga can feel soothing and help you sleep.

Avoid Artificial Sleeping Aids: Avoid manufactured sleeping pills, but you can use natural sleeping aids such as valerian root extract, passionflower, and melatonin.

Avoid Alcohol Before Bedtime: Avoid drinking alcohol before bedtime. Alcohol can reduce the production of melatonin leading to disrupted sleep including waking up during the night and being unable to get back to sleep.

Avoid Shift Work: Avoid shift work if you can.  If you must work shifts, try to make them consistent. If you work a weekly shift pattern, you can often reset your circadian rhythm over the weekend or your off-work period.

NOTE: If you can go to bed when it gets dark and wake up when the sun rises, your sleep cycle will be reset very rapidly. Most people cannot do this, and it depends very much on the season and where in the world you live.

How to Practice a Healthy Sleep Schedule

Try your best to get to bed and arise at the same time every day. You may treat yourself with an extra hour in bed at weekends if you must, but it is best if you can maintain the same sleeping and waking times each day. That is how to fix your sleep schedule properly back to a natural circadian rhythm. If you find sleeping difficult at first, then have a nice warm bath or shower before going to bed. This will help relax you. Some chamomile tea and chapter of a book will relax you and help you to sleep easily and well.

The best room temperature for sleeping is around 60 – 67^oF give or take a degree or two. If you can set your room to that temperature then you will have a better chance of sleeping and adopting a healthy sleep cycle. You should also try to keep your worries and issues till the next day – fretting while trying to sleep will neither solve your problems nor help you sleep. Make a list of things to tackle in the morning, and you may well find that this gives you peace of mind while trying to sleep.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the questions we have been asked by visitors to the Insidebedroom.com website.

1. How much sleep does an adult need each night?

This varies according to the metabolism of the person concerned. Several factors can establish the amount of sleep you need, although for most people 7 – 9 hours each night is best.

2. I read that blue light helps depression. What is it, and why does it keep people awake at night?

Blue light is light from the sun of a specific wavelength range.  Solar blue light in daytime helps you to keep alert and improve your mood and performance. It is also emitted by computer monitors, TV screens and other electronic devices.

3. What’s the Circadian Rhythm?

The circadian rhythm (also known as your sleep/wake cycle) is a 24-hour internal clock that runs in a part of your brain known as the hypothalamus. It cycles your brain between alertness and sleepiness. If you are sleeping well and not sleep-deprived, you will hardly notice this cycle, but if you are deprived of sleep, you will notice these swings between sleepiness and alertness a lot more. Having a regular sleep schedule helps your circadian rhythm to work properly, but things such as daylight savings, jet lag, or staying up too long can disrupt this rhythm and keep you awake when you should sleep and vice versa.

4. How can I change my bedroom to help me fix my sleep schedule?

There are several things you can do to fix a sleep schedule that has gone wrong – some of these are mentioned above. You should go to bed at a regular time and have a warm bath, a relaxing shower, and a comfortable bed. Make sure you are using a comfortable pillow and relax by reading or gentle stretching or yoga. Use curtains to keep out daylight in summer months and in winter use plug-in timers for lamps or wall switch timers for the main lighting to switch off at the same time each night and come on at the same time in the morning in order to maintain a regular dark/light sequence in your bedroom.

5. I have heard an all-nighter can fix my sleep schedule. Is this true?

You may have gotten into a bad sleeping habit, and have found you go to bed at midnight or even 2 am. It has been found that an all-nighter can get you back into a good sleep schedule. You usually only have to do this once! Here’s how:

Day 1: Wake up at your normal time no matter what time that is: say 8 am (it doesn’t matter as long as it is your normal waking time). Stay awake all day and night.

Day 2: Stay awake until it’s the time you want to go to bed on day 2. Let’s say you want your body clock to get you to sleep at 10 pm. Go to bed at 10 pm and fall asleep. You should find it easy to sleep – you will not have slept for 38 hours! Your body clock/circadian rhythm should now be reset.

This will not be easy to do since you must stay awake for a long time without napping. You will find it easy if you choose a day when you have some simple chores to do, but nothing that could be dangerous due to your impaired mental function. No driving, no using power tools, no height work, or anything that could harm you or others near you if you make a mistake.

Day 3: Wake up at your normal time on day 3, and you find it easy to sleep at 10 pm.

Conclusion

While an all-nighter may be a good way to fix your sleep schedule, it is not something you will want to do often. In fact, you should only use this method if your circadian rhythm is well out of its usual pattern. Try to maintain a healthy sleep schedule using the advice given on things to do and things to avoid. These are generally the best ways how to fix your sleep schedule before you try an all-nighter. It should also be kept in mind that the circadian rhythm controls more than just sleep, but also other functions of the brain. If it loses its regular rhythm, it can lead to a lack of sleep, depression, memory loss, and cause some other unwanted effects such as nausea and metabolic issues such as weight gain. 

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How to Sleep Well Despite Changes in Your Schedule

Since many Americans’ sleep habits are already less than ideal, it can be
particularly tough to adjust to time changes that affect sleep schedule.
The good news: “The human clock can shift about an hour or two per day,”
says Johns Hopkins sleep expert

Mark Wu, M.D., Ph.D.

“So adults should be able to adapt to minor changes fairly quickly.” Bigger
jumps—such as shift work and international travel—can have a decidedly
bigger impact. Try these strategies to help yourself adjust.

How to Get Better Sleep at Daylight Saving Time

As a sleep-deprived nation, we love when daylight saving time ends in autumn: It gives us the gift of an added hour of sleep. Springing forward is somewhat less welcome—though its effects should be short-lived. Tips that can help when this sleep schedule change comes around:

• Start shifting your clock a week early, and change wakeup time and bedtime by 15 minutes each day.
• Cut off caffeine usage an hour earlier than normal, and avoid alcohol, smoking, and intense exercise after dinner.
• Get up when the alarm goes off, even if you’re tired. Your body will adjust quicker if you stick to the new sleep schedule.
• Seek some morning sunshine to help yourself wake up—it resets your internal clock.

How to Get Better Sleep When Traveling Across Time Zones

As with daylight saving time, traveling across time zones is easier when it means you’ll be getting some extra sleep. Hence the old saying about travel, “West is best.” If you’re traveling east across one or two time zones, use the tips above to adjust your sleep schedule. For bigger leaps, try these suggestions:

• Expose yourself to bright light as close to your “new” morning as possible, but not until it is about two hours before your “old” wakeup time. If you’re traveling east, avoid bright light in the evening.
• Change your eating schedule to that of your destination.
• Be prepared for jet-lag symptoms like excessive daytime sleepiness, nighttime insomnia, headache, appetite and digestive issues, and mood changes. Melatonin and over-the-counter digestive medications and headache remedies may help ease symptoms.
• Be patient: Your body clock typically shifts only one or two hours per day, so it may take five days to adjust if you’re traveling from America to Japan, for instance.

How to Get Better Sleep with Shift Work

People who permanently work the night shift may be able to flip their sleep
schedule completely, but off-days can create problems if social and family
obligations cause them to reverse their sleep-wake habits for a day or two
per week. Likewise, workers who cycle from one shift to another may feel as
though they’re constantly battling jet lag. These tips may help you adjust:

• Expose yourself to bright light during the night to trick your brain
  into waking up. Blue light such as that from a computer, smartphone or
  TV is particularly helpful.
• Consume small doses of caffeine throughout your workday. (This may work
  better than fewer large doses.)
• During the day, sleep in a quiet basement or a room with light-blocking
  window coverings, and turn off your phone’s ringer.
• Exercise or nap during your work breaks—but not too close to bedtime.
• Go to bed immediately after work, then get up and go about your
  routine.

Ultimately, says Wu, shift workers should do “whatever is necessary to
survive.” Being awake all night is very hard on the body. In fact,
researchers are exploring the link between shift work and serious health
conditions including diabetes, depression, heart disease, obesity and
cancer.

The takeaway: If you don’t have to do shift work, don’t do it—particularly
if you have a diagnosed sleep disorder or a serious health condition such
as heart disease. One exception, says Wu, are those who have severe delayed
sleep phase syndrome. These people, sometimes called night owls, often feel
better when working a consistent night shift instead of during the day.

Coping with Shift Work – UCLA Sleep Disorders Center

Not everyone has a work schedule that resembles the traditional nine-to-five day. In fact, more than 22 million Americans work evening, rotating, or on-call shifts. You face many challenges when working non-traditional hours. It can be hard to keep up with family and friends. You may feel disconnected from the people you care about the most. You may have trouble organizing your time and activities. You may be frustrated to realize that most things are planned around the schedule of the typical day worker. It may seem like no one has your needs in mind.

Your physical health may also suffer from shift work. It can be very hard to get the sleep you need to stay well rested. This can make you more likely to get sick. It also makes it hard for you to stay alert on the job. While this can hurt your performance, it can also put you in danger. Being tired increases the chance that you could suffer a work-related injury. Even driving home from work is a risk when you are sleepy.

Studies show that sleepiness can have a negative effect on any of the following:

• Attention
• Concentration
• Reaction time
• Memory
• Mood

The following are all examples of major accidents involving human errors that were blamed at least in part on sleepiness:

• Three Mile Islandnuclear power plant accident in Pennsylvania in 1979
• Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in the former USSR in 1986
• Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989

The sleep problems that result from shift work can put a strain on every area of your life. But there are steps you can take to improve your sleep. Following them can help shift your sleep in the right direction.

Sleeping Against The Clock

A main challenge of shift work is that it forces you to sleep against the clock. You have an internal body clock in your brain that produces circadian rhythms. The word “circadian” means to occur in a cycle of about 24 hours. These rhythms act like “messages” that regulate various body functions. They influence such things as the following:

• Body temperature
• Alertness
• Sleepiness
• Hunger
• Hormone Levels

Your body clock uses these rhythms to signal to you when it is time to go to sleep or to wake up. This tends to occur at regular times every day. Among other factors, your clock is “set” by your exposure to sunlight. This keeps the clock’s timing close to the night/day cycle. In most adults, circadian rhythms cause your level of sleepiness to peak from aboutmidnight to 7 am. They can also make you mildly sleepy in the mid-afternoon between 1 pm and 4 pm. If you work at night, you must fight your body’s natural rhythms to try and stay awake. Then you have to try to sleep during the day when your body expects to be alert.

Overall, shift workers tend to be continually sleep-deprived. It is very hard for night shift workers to get enough sleep during the day. They get a daily average of two to four hours less sleep than normal. It is hard for them to get their bodies to fall asleep during the day. Over time, this can develop into a case of insomnia. They are also much more likely to be awakened by noises or people. As a result, their sleep is very light. They are less likely to feel well rested when they wake up.

Other factors can add to the problem of having an unusual sleep schedule. People who work extremely long shifts can have even more severe sleep loss. This includes such people as doctors, nurses, soldiers, firefighters and police officers. You may also have a schedule that does not allow you to get enough sleep each day. Perhaps you work two jobs, one during the day and one at night. Maybe you go to school during the day and work at night. In either case, it can be hard to find the time to sleep. A sleep disorder can also make your sleep problems worse. Two examples are sleep apnea and narcolepsy. They can keep you from sleeping well and feeling alert.  You should see a sleep specialist if you think that you may have a sleep disorder.

Some researchers think that it may take as long as three years to adjust to a shift work schedule. Others believe that you will never fully adjust to an unusual sleep/wake pattern. Even if this is the case, you can make the best of a bad situation to sleep better.

Strategies For Sleeping Better

There are a variety of ways to cope with the sleep problems caused by rotating work shifts and ongoing night work. The approach that will help you the most depends on the following three factors:

• Your individual needs
• The requirements of your job
• Your environment at home

Some methods will apply to your situation more than others. For example, working rotating shifts in a hospital may require a different approach than working the night shift on an assembly line. Also, some people respond to shift work better than others.  In general, older people find it harder to work nights or to rotate shifts. Your personality may also suit you better for one kind of shift. Some people are “evening types.” They like to go to bed late and sleep late in the morning. They feel most alert and energetic in the evening. They may adjust to the night shift better than “morning types.” Morning types wake up early and work best in the morning. They get tired and go to bed early in the evening.

From the options below, find what will work best for you in your situation. The most important thing you can do at first is to make sleep a high priority in your life.

Work schedules

Employers can plan rotating shifts in ways that will help their workers. A schedule that rotates clockwise can be adjusted to more easily. This is a more natural change for your body. This schedule keeps to the following kind of pattern:

Day shift?     Evening shift?     Night shift?     Morning shift?     Day shift

A schedule that is much harder to adjust to rotates in a counterclockwise direction. This is a difficult change for your body to make.  This schedule stays on the following kind of pattern:

Day shift?     Morning shift?     Night shift?     Evening shift?     Day shift

Shifts that rotate in a random pattern are also very hard on your body. Rotating shifts every two or three days is also better than changing every five to seven days. Studies show that workers are more satisfied when shifts are rotated in the proper ways. They are also more productive and have fewer accidents. Talk to your manager about how the right kind of schedule is better for everyone involved.

Napping

It is a good idea to take a nap just before reporting for a night shift. This makes you more alert on the job. A nap of about 90 minutes seems to be best. Naps during work hours may also help you stay awake and alert. You may also want to take a nap during the night shift “lunch hour.” This can make you more productive and more satisfied. But this is not a good idea for all types of jobs. This may not work well on a high-pressure job that demands instant reactions. You will need a little bit of time to shake the sleepy feeling that you may have right after a nap. About 15 to 20 minutes should be enough time for you to be fully alert again. See if your employer will allow you to take nap breaks during a night shift. This can make you more alert and improve your job performance.

Driving home from a night shift can be dangerous. It can be very hard to stay alert on the road. Drowsy driving is a cause of at least 100,000 auto crashes each year. You may want to take a 20-45 minute nap before starting out. This will make you much more alert for the drive home. You also may want to begin a car pool with other workers. The most alert worker at the end of the shift can be the one to drive most of the distance.

Eating well

Stomach problems are common in shift workers. Many shift workers eat poorly and at odd times. Try to eat three regular meals spaced evenly over the course of the day. Regular meal times are important for your body. They serve as time cues for your body clock. These cues help your body know when to make you sleepy. You may want to have a hot meal while on the job. Do not eat your largest meal of the day within three hours of bedtime. You should also avoid drinking any alcohol within three hours of bedtime. At first, alcohol may help you fall asleep quicker. But over time, it can make your sleep worse. It causes you to wake up more often during your sleep period. Avoid eating a lot of snacks and fast foods. Eat a balanced, low-fat diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and cereals. This helps to prevent stomach problems in shift workers.

Sleep schedules

Night shift workers should try to stay on the same sleep schedule every day of the week. This means that you don’t change your sleep time on days off. Keeping a regular schedule will help align your body clock with your sleep pattern. This will increase the quality of your sleep. Sleeping at night during days off disrupts your body clock. This will make it harder to sleep during the day when you return to work.

Rotating shift workers are unable to keep a regular sleep schedule. Instead, they should begin to adjust their sleep time before a schedule change. For example, you may be working an evening shift. Soon you are going to rotate to a night shift. On the last few days of the evening shift, delay the times you go to bed and wake up by one to two hours each day. Then when you begin the night shift, your body will already be getting ready for the new schedule. See the chart below for an example. This kind of gradual plan gives your body more time to adjust. You avoid the harsh disruption of a sudden schedule change. This will allow you to sleep better through the change.

Example: Adjusting Your Sleep Schedule to Prepare for a Change from an Evening Shift to a Night Shift.

Normal sleep time for shift:
Sleep time – Night 1 of Transition:
Sleep time – Night 2 of Transition:
Sleep time – Night 3 of Transition:
Slepe time – Night 1 of New Shift

Evening Shift (5 pm – 1 am)
3 am – 11am
5 am – 1 pm
7 am – 3pm
8 am – 4 pm

Night Shift (11 pm – 7 am)
9 am – 5 pm

9 am – 5 pm

Sleep aides

Shift workers often rely on sleeping pills to help them fall asleep during the day. These pills are also known as hypnotics or sedatives. These drugs can be useful in helping some people sleep better. But pills should not be seen as a long-term solution for better sleep. Doctors rarely prescribe them for more than three to four weeks. They become less effective when used for a long period of time. There can also be negative side effects involved. You don’t want to become dependent on a drug to be able to sleep. They will also give you only a small boost in alertness and performance on the job. Sleeping pills may offer temporary relief. But they do not address the root cause of your sleep problems; sleeping pills cannot reset your body clock. Talk to your doctor if you think a sleeping pill might help you once in a while.

Store shelves are stocked with items that claim to help you sleep better. Antihistamines are the most common ingredient in these sleep aids. They may help you sleep better. But the side effect of drowsiness can be very severe. They may cause you to be sleepy while working or driving. These items should be used with extreme caution. There is very little evidence to show that using other herbs or vitamins will help you sleep better.

Stimulants

Studies show that using a stimulant may reduce sleepiness and increase alertness on a night shift. The most common stimulant used is caffeine. But you should avoid caffeine within four hours of your desired bedtime. Otherwise, it may keep you from being able to fall asleep after you get home.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone that is released by the brain at night. It appears to have a strong link to the sleep/wake cycle. Its release is regulated by an area of the brain that serves as your body clock. Taking melatonin has been found to be most effective in helping people with jet lag. For other people, it may have a mild effect, if any at all. Studies have found melatonin to be fairly safe in healthy adults. There do not seem to be any serious side effects, but more tests need to be done. The fact that it is widely available in stores does not guarantee its safety. The long-term effects of taking it remain unknown.

Light therapy

Studies show that timed exposure to bright light can be used to adjust your body’s sleep cycle. Artificial bright light can affect the body clock in the same way that sunlight does. Light therapy is used to expose your eyes to intense but safe amounts of light. This is done for a specific and regular length of time. In general, using light treatment in the evening should help someone who regularly works nights. In this case, you would also want to avoid daylight when you come off work and go to bed. Dark sunglasses or special goggles can help.

Light boxes can be purchased in a variety of makes and models. The box houses several tubes that produce extremely bright light. It sits on top of a table or desk and plugs into the wall. Sessions may take as little as 15 to 30 minutes. More than one session may be needed each day. It depends upon your body, your need, and the strength of light being used. The key is to use the light at the right time of day and for the right amount of time. A sleep specialist can help you develop a light therapy plan that will be both helpful and safe.

Workplace conditions

Your employer should strive to create a work environment that will promote safety. This is even more important for those working the night shift. The workplace should be bright and cool. This will help workers to be more alert on the job. Discuss with your employer any changes that need to be made in your workspace. Safety can be increased without losing any productivity.

The home front

Your family and living companions have a vital role in helping you to sleep better. They need to understand both your unique schedule and your sleep need. Post a shift work calendar to help them keep track of your schedule.  Include your work hours and your sleep times. Educate them about the body clock and its effect on sleep. Get them to reduce the levels of noise and light in the home during your sleep hours. Darken and sound proof your room as best you can. Use “white noise” (static on the radio or TV) to help cover up disturbing sounds. Ask others to help with daytime childcare and household tasks. Schedule home repairs and deliveries outside of your scheduled sleep hours.

Sleep hygiene

You can often sleep better by simply following the practices of good sleep hygiene. Sleep hygiene consists of basic habits and tips that help you develop a pattern of healthy sleep. Following these tips will give you a head start down the path to better sleep.

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Why you need to correct your sleep mode / Habr

Violation of the body’s circadian rhythm associated with a flight through several time zones (jet lag) is not the only reason for fatigue. Ignoring your biological rhythms can lead to chronic fatigue, so much like a jet lag that Till Roenneberg and his team at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 2006 coined the term “social jet lag.” It manifests itself when your biological clock and social life do not match.And he can be blamed not only for fatigue, but also for many modern diseases.

In 2012, Roneberg and colleagues studied sleep and wake patterns in more than 65,000 people. They found that 80% of working people use alarm clocks. The problem with them, according to chronobiologists, is that our own biological clock knows better when we need to wake up.

Unlike rigid global clocks with time zones, which appeared as a result of the strong interconnection of parts of our world, our internal clocks run differently not only for different people, but also at different periods of your life, while you pass from childhood to adolescence, then into adolescence. and then into adulthood.The contradictions between internal, biological clocks and external, social ones reach their peak at about 20 years. But this tug-of-war can affect everyone, from schoolchildren – whose daily routine is dictated by the school – to retirees. Sometimes people stay up late, sometimes they don’t; using an alarm clock to get up early, or muffling it to get some more sleep; spend a weekend morning to get a week’s sleep or not. The result is a huge amount of sleep debt and an imbalance in the internal clock.

We each have a circadian clock that uses a roughly 24-hour rhythm, synchronized with the alternation of light and darkness on the surface of the Earth. The light-sensitive cells in the retina send information to the daily main clock of the brain, which corrects itself. The master clock regulates systemic signals such as body temperature, feeding behavior, and fluctuations in hormone levels, which are then used by distant, peripheral cellular clocks throughout the body to fine-tune molecular pathways and synchronize them with the master clock.The resulting cyclical rhythms can be seen everywhere, from behavior to blood glucose levels. And when constant coordination starts to fail, phase differences between the main and peripheral clocks can manifest themselves in the form of chronic degenerative diseases.

Scientists initially believed that these broken circadian clocks should primarily manifest in night shift workers, flight attendants and people who often fly on airplanes – those whose work leads to frequent and serious disturbances in sleep and wakefulness.But research shows that to some extent, this affects all of us.

In 2015, a team from the University of Pittsburgh showed that even in people who work during the day, there is a link between disturbed circadian rhythm and the risk of metabolic disturbances leading to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Ronneberg was not surprised. “We have known from various epidemiological and experimental studies that metabolism – especially glucose / insulin metabolism – suffers as a result of a lifestyle that does not match the internal clock,” he said.By regularly changing the timing of sleep, awakening and eating, we break the synchronization between the main and peripheral clocks. Instead of following the directions of the basic clock, the latter follows a social regime, destroying the closely interconnected and complex mechanisms of human physiology.

This is due to the fact that disturbances in circadian rhythms spoil our microbiome – a set of bacteria living in the intestine that help to digest food. They can be influenced not only by diet, but also by meal time.Violation of temporal rhythms also disrupts the rhythm of the microbiome, changing its structure and functioning, according to Christoph Thaiss, an immunologist at the Weisman Institute in Israel. Chronic disturbance can lead to an imbalance in metabolism, which in turn leads to a lack of absorption of glucose and obesity.

Disruption of the internal clock has also been associated with a large number of mental illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Research suggests that the signs of these diseases, which are caused by the accumulation of certain proteins in the brain, can appear as a result of a malfunction of the internal clock.Poor sleep, interrupted or short, in adults can disrupt circadian rhythms, which in turn leads to the build-up of toxic beta-amyloids, a known precursor of Alzheimer’s disease.

There are concerns about the link between circadian rhythms and cancer. Numerous studies in mice and humans have shown that disrupting circadian rhythms suppresses genes that inhibit tumor development while simultaneously stimulating mutations in other genes that can lead to cancer. For this and other reasons, the WHO in 2007 named night shifts carcinogenic.

These social jet lag effects serve as a SOS signal sent to change our sleep habits and sleep patterns. As long as our sleep patterns are not governed by knowledge of the biological clock, but by the demands of the social clock, physically and mentally we will not be able to work at our peak. The consequences of frequent disruptions to our clocks – namely, the erratic use of artificial lighting and sleep times unrelated to Earth cycles – lead to bodily disruptions that can cause a variety of diseases.

It’s time to adjust the social clock to our needs. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to recognize that good sleep is not a luxury, but a necessity, and it will benefit both our work and our relationships.

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How to use the power management function

Be sure to take a look!

A video tutorial is available for this topic. To watch the video, click on the following link:

Cf.corresponding video (13:58)

General information

Power management allows you to manage the power states of computers in your organization. Top Reasons to Use Power Management:

• Preparing computers for maintenance tasks

• Reducing noise and energy consumption

• Reduced maintenance costs

• Longer battery life

To use the power management function, do the following:

1.Run Power Commands from Computer View or Scan View.

Use the context menu to immediately restart, shutdown, or wake up computers. For information, see How to Initiate Power Management Tasks.

2. You can monitor the status of the power management commands using the Operation Monitor.

See Monitoring Power Tasks for information.

3. Use the power management template to schedule a reboot or power off.

See also:

• Create and modify a power state template

• How to initiate power management tasks

• Scheduling power management tasks

4. Before using the Wake-on-LAN function, read the Notes for Wake-on-LAN operations.

You can use the Wake-on-LAN function to wake up computers from sleep, hibernation, or shutdown states. For example, you need to wake up your computers during a maintenance window so that they can receive important security updates.Or, you can schedule a wake-up call for a group of computers that you put to sleep the night before a work day.

5. Power management tasks can also be performed using agents.

For information, see Create and Configure a Power Task.

6.Perform a power status scan to check for updated power status on your computers.

See Performing a Power Status Scan and Viewing Power Status Scan Results.

90,000 How to sleep better?

An attentive attitude to your sleep allows you to improve the quality of life, effectively influence your own well-being. Moreover, improving sleep is one of the components in the complex of measures for the prevention of a number of serious diseases: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, visual impairment, decreased immunity, mental disorders and mental activity.

In this case, we are talking about adjusting the sleep of a certain “average” person who does not have serious diseases that can affect his sleep.If there are abnormalities in mental or somatic health in the anamnesis, first of all it is necessary to seek special medical help. Correction of somnological deviations can be an addition to the main therapy.

A set of measures must be taken to improve sleep. It includes working on the emotional state before bed, tweaking sleep patterns, and adjusting the sleep environment. Let’s dwell on each component in more detail.

Emotional state

The emotional state of a person in preparation for sleep is of great importance. Positive or negative emotions cause an increase in the overall level of brain activation, stimulate the release of stress hormones – cortisol and adrenaline. In the nervous tissue, the release of the norepinephrine neurotransmitter increases. In such conditions, the opening of the so-called “gate of sleep” does not occur – even if a person goes to bed at the set time, trying to fall asleep, the level of brain activation remains too high to allow it.Added to this is intense mental activity associated with the inclusion of the mechanism of repetition, “experiencing” a conflict situation with the search for an appropriate way out, which has never been found. As a result, when a person finally manages to fall asleep, his sleep turns out to be restless, full of unpleasant, disturbing dreams, in the morning there is no feeling of sleepiness.

Techniques of physical and mental relaxation, psychotherapeutic techniques of smoothing out or repression of conflict, unpleasant emotions help.In particular, 2 hours before bedtime you should do something pleasant – a hobby, your usual homework, take a walk. To relax and get positive emotions, you can prepare a light carbohydrate dinner with dairy, sweet or flour products. Soothing herbal teas are useful (chamomile, motherwort, valerian, hops, hawthorn, peony, lemon balm). People who are inclined to mentally “get stuck” on any unpleasant episode are advised to think over or even state their vision of the problem in writing, a few hours before going to bed (“paper will endure everything”).

In lighter situations, when the difficulty of falling asleep is associated with emotionally engaging activities, as is often the case in adolescents (playing computer games, talking on the phone, preparing important tasks), the time should be strictly set 1-2 hours before going to bed, when these classes are terminated.

Personality traits

Researchers agree that sleep disturbances are most common in people who are emotionally labile with anxiety and depressive traits. Such people with difficulty overcome mental conflicts, tend to “get stuck” in any performance.

A type of insomnia is known, which arises from the “fear of not falling asleep.” In the evening, a person feels sleepy, goes to the bedroom, but as soon as his head touches the pillow, the thought flashes like lightning: “What if I don’t fall asleep?”.This triggers the process of self-excitation, brain activation, and the person himself draws himself into the “vicious circle” of insomnia.

What to do in this situation? Among the general recommendations for such people, the aforementioned methods of reducing emotional stress before bedtime are suitable. Changing your sleeping habits or work routines is often helpful. There are also special psychotherapeutic and behavioral techniques used by psychologists. To correct sleep in such people, they reveal “weak” personality traits and select techniques to change their ideas about their sleep, eliminate overestimated expectations from it.

Sleep

Sleep routines are activities that help the body switch from wakefulness to sleep and vice versa, and is key in developing a plan to correct sleep disturbances.

A key component of good sleep patterns is the same, consistent bedtime and morning wake-up times each day. Establishing a strict schedule for falling asleep and waking up “programs” the body’s internal clock. At the same time, weekends or holidays should not become a reason to shift the schedule to a later time.

A prerequisite for a correct regimen is also limiting physical and mental activity in the hours before going to bed. At least 2 hours before going to bed, you must stop any activity and give preference to quiet activities.

For gradual relaxation and preparation for sleep (especially for children), the laying down ritual is important. The ritual options can be different – the main thing is that the actions are repetitive and focused on relaxation. Watching television should not be introduced into the ritual.

The concept of a regimen also includes the organization of meals before bedtime – many people are helped to relax by having a snack with easily digestible foods. Poorly digestible foods containing a lot of plant fiber should be avoided.Drinks containing caffeine and cola also keep you awake.

At least an hour before bedtime, you must not drink any alcoholic beverages. Alcohol has a double effect – at first, the body relaxes from it, and drowsiness appears. However, in the middle of the night, when it is processed in the body, it begins to exert a stimulating effect that causes awakenings.

The last important point in the sleep and wake program is the elimination of daytime sleep.The need for sleep is realized per calendar day – having slept during the day, we, accordingly, subtract 1-2 hours from a night’s sleep.

Sleep Environment

Providing a proper sleep-promoting environment is part of the sleep hygiene list. The factors of the immediate environment of sleep include: the microclimate in the room, the design of the sleeping room, the level of illumination and noise in the room, the place to sleep.

Microclimate in room

The temperature range for quality sleep is wide enough (18 to 25 degrees Celsius) and depends more on cultural and geographic characteristics than on the effect of air temperature on sleep. There is evidence that warming the bed before bed to 30-40 ° increases the amount of deep slow wave sleep in the elderly. You can also use this opportunity to improve your own sleep.

In 1997, a study was published in America, which stated that a decrease in body temperature can cause drowsiness. To conduct this study, scientists placed 44 volunteers of both sexes aged 19-82 years in an apartment isolated from the receipt of external irritants. Participants in the experiment were instructed to eat and sleep, physical activity was limited. At the same time, the researchers constantly measured the body temperature of the volunteers and recorded its changes.According to the results of the study, the scientists found that 2 hours before bedtime, the body temperature of the patients dropped. In this regard, it was concluded that cooling the body can cause a state of drowsiness.

After some time, special studies have shown that sleep and temperature rhythms may not coincide at all. Nevertheless, somnologists recommend taking a warm or hot shower or bath 1-2 hours before bedtime, so that the subsequent cooling of the body helps to accelerate falling asleep, and this will help to enter sleep faster.

Ensuring adequate ventilation in the bedroom to remove excess carbon dioxide and moisture should also be relevant to sleep hygiene, but the recommended range of carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations, as well as humidity, for ideal sleep has not been determined.

Bedroom interior

The interior of the bedroom can influence the emotional state of a person before going to bed.An excess of furniture, decor items “puts pressure” on a person, making it difficult to relax and go to sleep. In this regard, psychologists recommend decorating a bedroom in a calm, moderate style.

It is also necessary to be careful with the choice of colors in the design of the bedroom. According to Professor Christian Geldenhuis, who studied the influence of bedroom color on sleep and published the results of the study in the book “Sleep Smart”, the most sleep-friendly color is “cold” blue – it promotes faster falling asleep.According to him, all shades of blue have the same effect, which symbolizes inspiration, calmness and loyalty. According to a more traditional view of the psychology of color, light lilac, pink, and warm colors are suitable for the bedroom. Flashy reds, oranges are best avoided, as well as any dark, contrasting or acidic options.

Lighting

The level of illumination in the room in which a person is used to sleeping can significantly affect the quality of his sleep. One of the important sleep hormones – melatonin is produced in the human body only in low light conditions. Melatonin is an important regulator of the activity of a person’s internal clock – it stabilizes their work and makes it possible to better adjust the individual time to the astronomical one. At an illumination level of 1500 lux, the secretion of this hormone is blocked (approximately the same indicator of illumination is given by a flashlight lamp).In this regard, it is important to provide a dimming in the bedroom at night from the light coming from the street from the bright moon, street lamps, headlights of passing cars. For this, it is recommended to use blackout curtains or blinds, blindfolds.

TV, mobile phone, laptop and other high-tech devices capable of emitting a glow are blockers of melatonin production. You must refuse to use them at least an hour before bedtime. As sociologists have found out, excessive enthusiasm for such devices can lead to sleep disturbances.In a survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) in the spring of 2011 in the United States, sociologists received data that more than 95% of respondents use any of the above devices per hour before bed. At the same time, 43% of the respondents said that they never get enough sleep in a week, and 60% answered that they experience problems with sleep (for example, they wake up too early or snore too much).

Sounds

Outside noise is also an important factor that can interfere with normal sleep. It can be the noise of the motorway under the window, refrigerator, air conditioner, even a spouse snoring under the side. According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, sleep problems begin in people exposed at night to a sound load of 30 dB (this is the noise level, for example, of a working fan of a computer’s processor unit) and higher.The most harmful for sleep are the sounds of airplanes taking off and the sounds of neighbors’ vital activity (emotional content is also important here). The sound of your spouse’s snoring is also not harmless. It is shown that its intensity can be as good as the noise of an aircraft engine (85 dB).

It is noteworthy that according to some scientists, noise is not a factor that significantly affects sleep. In one of the studies, for example, it was shown that awakenings caused by exposure to loud sound happened at a time when they could have occurred spontaneously or under the influence of other factors, that is, the body was already ready to wake up at this time.However, the background noise of an air conditioner, for example, can mask “harmful noises” and thus have a positive effect on sleep.

The main means of combating noise that interferes with sleep is additional soundproofing of the room: to reduce the flow of sounds coming from adjacent rooms, filling technological holes in adjacent walls, floor and ceiling with sound-absorbing materials, using carpets will help. It is recommended to use earmolds (ear plugs) as personal protection against noise during sleep.

Sleeping area

The main factor in the immediate environment of sleep is the place to sleep. Traditionally, it is associated with a comfortable spacious bed with a comfortable mattress, pillow, light duvet and eco-friendly bedding.

The main function of the mattress is to reduce the gravitational load on human soft tissues and the spinal column.The less stress the body and limbs of a person experience in the supine position before going to bed, the less excitatory impulses enter the brain from the proprioceptors of muscles and tendons (proprioceptors are receptors that respond to contraction). Thus, one of the powerful sensory streams that support brain activation and, accordingly, prevent falling asleep, is reduced.

The use of too soft mattresses leads to excessive flexion of the spine and increased proprioceptive activating impulses.A hard mattress allows you to keep the spine close to its natural position, however, in this case, painful and unpleasant tactile sensations may occur at the point of contact between protruding parts of the body and the surface of the mattress. Reduction of this effect can be achieved with the use of special coatings that redistribute the body load on the mattress over a larger area. Most often in everyday life, people use semi-rigid mattresses, which combine maintaining the natural curvature of the spine and minimizing pressure on the protruding areas of the body.

The function of the pillow is to maintain the natural curvature of the cervical spine (lordosis) while in a relaxed horizontal position and to warm the head and neck. Too high a pillow leads to a decrease in the natural bend of the neck, which, in turn, can provoke pain in the tendons and capsules of the intervertebral joints. However, high pillows can improve sleep in people who are overweight, gastroesophageal reflux, and hiatal hernia.An elevated head position also helps with respiratory diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), snoring and sleep apnea. Stiffer orthopedic pillows have lower heights and are better at maintaining natural cervical lordosis. When sleeping on its side, some of these pillows can inhibit snoring due to the shape that keeps the sleeper’s jaw closed. For people with allergic reactions, bronchial asthma, sleeping pillows with artificial fillers are recommended.

No particular influence of the choice of blankets and light bedding on the quality of a person’s sleep was found. It is important that the duvet is the right size, not too heavy or too warm for the weather. For double beds, it is better to use two smaller blankets instead of one large blanket. It is better to choose bed linen from natural fabrics (cotton, linen), hygroscopic and not irritating to the skin when turning in bed. It is advisable to pay attention to the smell of the fabric when choosing new bedding – if it smells harsh, this can negatively affect the quality of sleep and the general condition after waking up.Bed linen should be washed inside out before first use. The color scheme of bed linen may vary. The main thing is to be guided by the criterion of measure when choosing a design. As with the color of the walls, calm, not flashy tones are suitable for bed linen.

90,000 “You need to sleep well to be successful”

Is insomnia really a scourge of our time? Why do we have nightmares? Is it correct to call melatonin a sleep hormone and can you drink sleeping pills? The doctor of radiation diagnostics, scientific journalist Anna Khoruzhaya answers the question

Anna Khoruzhaya.Photo: personal archive

Why do we need to sleep at all? US President Donald Trump allegedly has enough sleep for four to five hours a day. Many students and employees will not sleep for days just to meet the deadline. But what is it fraught with? Anna Horuzhaya, head of the Volgograd Science Cafe project, deputy editor-in-chief of the Neuronovosti.ru portal, board member of the Association of Medical Journalists of Russia, spoke about the importance and nature of sleep to BFM.ru.

Sleep is the most defenseless state in which a person is completely immobilized, his consciousness is turned off.So why is a person forced to spend so much time on this seemingly not too interesting and not too important state from an evolutionary point of view?

Anna Horuzhaya: We need sleep for many things. First of all, to rest and recuperate; so that all working muscles and musculoskeletal system “do not interfere” with internal organs to restore energy “depots”. In addition, it is believed that during sleep, cells are actively correcting errors and “breakdowns” in DNA – everything that accumulated during wakefulness and active cell metabolism.Memory is being rebuilt – memories are rewritten from short-term memory to long-term memory.

There are two main phases of sleep: fast and slow (deep). Without slow, efficient rewriting of memories, no memory rewriting occurs. Neural networks are also optimized during sleep. Everything we do is driven by the work of entire neural ensembles that lead to the execution of a complex behavioral act. Simple behavioral acts can be closed even at the level of the spinal cord, without reaching the brain.For example, the reflex when you touch something hot with your hand and pull it back. The brain does not take part in this. But when we need to make a decision, analyze the factors and choose the best option, this is a complex behavioral act. For its implementation, a lot of mental work is needed.

This is a good example of situations when we are learning something. For example, you are learning to roller skate. On the first day, when you just got up on them, the movements will be uncoordinated.You will just try to keep your balance. At this moment, your brain is working very actively: it builds many weak neural connections inside itself. Until this motor act is formed, has not straightened, there are many such connections. This is not good. For a network to work efficiently, it must have as few connections as possible, but strong enough. Scientists have found that such network optimization, a reduction in the number of weak synapses, also occurs during the slow phase of sleep.

Another important function of sleep: it has been proven that when we sleep, immunity is strengthened – immune cells work better.Conditions are created so that they are as active as possible. If a person does not get enough sleep, goes to bed at the wrong time, his immune system is under tremendous stress.

What happens to the body at each stage and why do the cycles alternate like this?

Anna Horuzhaya: Slow and REM sleep is a division for simplicity. If we take REM and Slow sleep, the amount of the latter for the whole night is always greater. From this, the researchers conclude that it is more important. Slow sleep is essential for learning and memory formation.During REM sleep, emotional stabilization occurs: it not only “levels out” the emotional background, but also prepares the body for awakening. REM sleep cycle – REM sleep lasts on average only one and a half hours. During the night, if we sleep normally, it takes about five to seven cycles.

During slow sleep, the physiology of the body changes greatly. The deeper the sleep, the lower the heart rate, the maximum body temperature decreases. It is in the third quarter of sleep that the most active production of growth hormone occurs.He initiates the growth process in children, and then works to correct the acquired mistakes.

As for the neurochemistry of the brain, during the slow phase of sleep, the concentrations of almost all excitatory neurotransmitters decrease and the concentration of inhibitory neurotransmitters increases manifold – we are talking about gamma-aminobutyric acid, adenosine. During REM sleep, the picture changes slightly: the amount of gamma-aminobutyric acid decreases, and the amount of some excitatory neurotransmitters increases. That is why our blood pressure rises slightly, although it decreased and the heart slowed down.

Until the 2010s, it was believed that only in the phase of REM sleep a person sees dreams, various vivid images. But, as it turned out, a person sees dreams 95% of the entire time of REM sleep and 70% of the total time of NREM sleep. That is, we dream about something almost all night.

Many people call melatonin the sleep hormone, but as far as I understand, this is still not entirely correct.

Anna Horuzhaya: Not really. It is a hormone of darkness: it is produced during the dark. It is the decrease in illumination that initiates its production.The gradual increase in the amount of melatonin in our blood, if we listen to ourselves, will manifest itself in a gradual accumulation of fatigue, which we feel towards evening. At the moment when the fatigue becomes so unbearable that you close your eyes and you want to sleep madly, the concentration of melatonin is at its maximum. It is advisable, as recommended by both somnologists and researchers who study sleep, to go to bed at this particular time.

When there is a lot of melatonin, synchronization of all circadian biological rhythms occurs as efficiently as possible, this is the very thing for which the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in 2017.Researchers have found that processes such as circadian rhythms or biological clocks exist in every cell of the body, no matter what kind of tissue it is (for example, in cells of the intestine, skin and liver). In every cell there is a PER protein, which at a certain moment leaves the nucleus, and then enters it. And there is a system that allows us to adapt to external conditions, because a person, especially now, is a mobile being. In addition to the fact that we have fluctuations in the rhythms of illumination in the summer and winter, we also overcome time zones.Therefore, we need to adapt to the environmental conditions.

Why do people dream at all? Can we talk about some kind of consistency here? It is unlikely that in my life I have ever met a mutant cucumber with a shotgun and a cat in both hands at the ready. Although I do not watch horror films. Where does all this come from?

Anna Horuzhaya: Anything can dream. Trying to understand why we dreamed about this or that plot is useless. People who wrote dream books tried to equate certain plots with events that may have been or may happen in your life.But this is absolutely wrong and unscientific. Dreams are too different, too individual, so it is not possible to try to explain them. The only thing that you can try to recognize from dreams is the emotional state of a person. If you dream of a psychedelic like these cucumbers, but at the same time you feel completely normal in this dream, you are comfortable or interested in watching all this, then this is absolutely normal and not scary. Here the boundaries of the norm are generally vague.

What if not?

Anna Horuzhaya: If you are very anxious, someone is chasing you, you kill someone or someone wants to kill you and this continues from night to night, you may wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, you need to think, and whether everything in your life is good.Are there hidden moments that you simply do not notice, but in fact they poison your existence and affect your psyche? If you constantly ignore them, do not try to work with them, unfortunately, sooner or later this leads to a nervous breakdown, neuroses, and an increased risk of developing bipolar, depressive disorders. If you can’t follow up on your own, it is worth contacting a psychotherapist and with him already understand the causes of stress and, as a result, nightmares.

What do people who are blind from birth see in a dream, and how, in principle, are their dreams formed?

Anna Horuzhaya: People with acquired blindness see dreams, because they basically knew what it was like to see.As for congenital blindness, the zones that are responsible for the processing of visual information take on other functions: processing sound signals, building a diagram of space, a diagram of the body. Honestly, an interesting question is whether such people have dreams. I think so, but in the form of something else, such as sounds, maybe smells. Of course, if they are completely blind. If they see light, outlines, then vision is also connected.

What if dreams never happen?

Anna Horuzhaya: People who do not remember dreams also dream something, they just do not remember it.And in principle, we should not remember our dreams. The fact that we somehow fix these plots upon awakening is, one might say, an evolutionary bug. Because during sleep, our memory works to rewrite information internally. She is not focused on remembering something at a particular moment. That this is happening is a nice bonus. It happens that people do not remember their dreams at all, then they think that they are not dreaming of anything.

You said that memory works more for reloading and processing what happened during the day.Can the person being lectured while he sleeps assimilate such information?

Anna Horuzhaya: No, it will not be postponed at all. More than once they conducted experiments when they tried to slander something into a person’s ears, glue his eyelids so that cracks remained in the eyes, and put some pictures, trying to find out if they could be introduced into a dream. They just can’t, because the sensory systems during sleep are turned off in the same way as the movements themselves, the muscular apparatus. In the area of ​​the brain stem, a block is placed on sensory and motor activity, because he needs to completely “free himself” from everything that is around him, and calmly go about his internal affairs.And still there are speculators who are trying to suck gullible citizens, for example, English courses. Like, you just insert headphones with a lecture, fall asleep, and thus something is deposited in the subcortex of consciousness. It would be interesting for me to hear their explanations on this score from a physiological point of view, as it happens in general. Supposedly in a week you wake up again and realize that you are fluent in English.

There are many publications about this type of practice called lucid dreaming.Scientists are very fond of this topic, remember at least the film “Inception”. Is it generally possible to consciously walk in your sleep, change your memories, or is it just a fairy tale?

Anna Horuzhaya: Changing memories is more related to fairy tales and fantasy, because after all, there must be some influence from the outside for the memory to change. There are already such works, but they are carried out only on laboratory animals.

Lucid dreaming is an existing practice. At the moment, there is no consensus among specialists, whether it is harmful or useful.This is such a dream-like state when a person’s consciousness does not turn off.

Consciousness is absent during sleep. There is a restructuring of the work of the cerebral cortex, first of all, when all its departments are synchronized. In lucid dreaming, this synchronization does not occur. That is, the brain seems to be asleep, but it seems not. Let’s imagine that you put a stick into the working gears and for some time these gears closed. Naturally, you will keep them in this state for a while, and when you pull out the stick, the gears will spin again.Remain in lucid dreaming and then let your brain fall asleep. Frequent practice or abuse of this method of sleep leads to the fact that the mechanisms are erased, and at some point everything can just break down. For a while – compensation, and then, due to constant practices, the system will fail. Usually at the level of synchronization of biological rhythms and all hormonal systems.

There are times when you wake up absolutely not rested and overwhelmed.

Anna Horuzhaya: It shouldn’t be like that.If a person does not have enough night to rest, he wakes up and feels that he is as tired as he was before sleep, this is an alarming bell and a reason to turn to a sleep doctor. If a person feels this tired in the morning, they may have an interruption in breathing called sleep apnea. This is a state when, during sleep, a person suddenly stops breathing for a few seconds, sometimes even up to a minute. Then it is restored. The person does not notice this, does not even wake up.

What is sleep paralysis and what can cause it?

Anna Horuzhaya: Sleep paralysis is not such a strong deviation.If this state lasts no longer than a few minutes, then in general we can say that you woke up, and the body was not immediately able to adjust to the desired mood, therefore, the block was not immediately removed, which, as I said before, is installed on the entire motor, muscle systems. Most often it occurs in suspicious people, very impressionable. If they had a very emotional event the day before, no matter which one, with a plus or minus sign, sometimes such states can occur.

Serious problems are associated with somnambulism.This is when, in principle, the motor unit does not work. That is, during the REM sleep phase, when muscle tone increases and the brain’s work is rebuilt for the next phase, impulses can go to the spinal cord area, due to which a sleeping person can get up and start doing something or go somewhere. This is a rather dangerous condition, and it needs to be treated.

But a person does not remember what happened at night. In general, he may not be aware that he went at night, and even more so did something.

Anna Horuzhaya: He may wake up not in bed or with injuries.Some abnormal things that were not there when he went to bed should force him to see a doctor, undergo a polysomnographic examination in a laboratory. Only laboratory indications will make it clear what is happening and what a particular person does during sleep.

How to identify true insomnia and when to see a doctor?

Anna Khoruzhaya: Experts say that insomnia is the scourge of a modern person, and of all types of sleep disorders, it is the most common. Unfortunately, it affects a large number of people due to external factors: improper sleep hygiene, improper sleeping environment and place, insufficient noise and light isolation.Internal problems are also important, for example, an unstable emotional background. Genes play an important role in the quality and duration of sleep. A rather rare and serious illness is familial insomnia, or familial insomnia.

Insomnia is placed on the basis of patient complaints due to short or poor quality sleep. To do this, the doctor collects an anamnesis, recommends keeping a sleep diary, if necessary, prescribes a polysomnagraphic study in the laboratory, where it is considered how and how much a person sleeps.Often people claim that they do not sleep at all at night and this continues for six months. If the patient had not slept for six months, he would not have sat so calmly in front of the doctor, because the record time without sleep is 264 hours (11 days). Without sleep, a person cannot exist. Therefore, a person who claims that he does not sleep at all is recommended to be tested in a laboratory, and it turns out that he falls asleep safely, simply does not remember it. This is a “paradoxical insomnia”: it seems that you are not sleeping, but the dream is split up: you can sleep for an hour or an hour and a half, and then wake up, then fall asleep again, and then wake up again.So each case needs to be studied.

Is this why torture with insomnia is considered the most severe?

Anna Horuzhaya: One of the toughest, yes.

There are no human trials at all, is sleep being studied on rats, mice or rabbits?

Anna Horuzhaya: No, why. Experiments and research can be completely different. It is good that the information that was collected at a time when there was still no ethical examination is enough to understand that it is not necessary to conduct experiments with the maximum duration of the waking period.It has already been established that eight days without sleep is critical for a person. This is the point of no return, upon crossing which the body cannot return to its normal state. Even four to five days without sleep are conditions that are not associated with a normal life.

If we talk about experiments with manipulation of dreams, memory in a dream – these are mainly animals. If about experiments that allow you to see and record which area of ​​the brain works most actively during sleep – too.We are talking about invasive experiments with the introduction of electrodes into the brain, connecting to a special technique.

It is possible to study the effect of improper sleep, when a person lies down at the wrong time when he has the maximum production of melatonin or when too little, this also allows you to establish some patterns. There is a study in which more than 90 thousand people participated, it was conducted over several years and included just a gigantic sample. Scientists have found that a broken rhythm, that is, approximately the same level of activity at night and during the day, has an extremely negative effect on the psyche.Similar levels of activity correlate with the development of mental disorders: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, neuroses. Therefore, night activity is not the best choice.

Of course, in rats and mice, on which many experiments are carried out, there is no pronounced division into the period of activity and passivity. They sleep, but they are predominantly nocturnal animals. We are mostly daytime. And yes, there is a scientifically based division of people into conditional “owls” and “larks.”But they do not differ much, and we can absolutely say for sure: all people need a night’s sleep.

There is such a statement: “If you slept badly yesterday, then you will sleep badly today.” What does it mean? It turns out to be some kind of illogical and vicious circle.

Anna Horuzhaya: If a person did not sleep enough the previous night, the next night his sleep cycle will be disrupted. Namely, the duration of slow wave sleep will be much greater, because the body will need to “take its own” and make up for that loss, that shortcoming that happened to it the previous night.Does this somehow relate to the quality of sleep? Perhaps. But, if a person has not slept enough the night, the next one should be full: you need to go to bed at the right time, at 10-11 o’clock in the evening, and sleep at least eight or nine hours in order to recover from lack of sleep.

How important is a sleep schedule in general?

Anna Horuzhaya: Extremely important! This is the key to our long-term healthy life. Unfortunately, modern people tend to sacrifice sleep in the name of some deeds, problems. And even if someone claims that for six months or a year he has been sleeping for four hours and he has enough, you just need to look at this person in ten years.Scientific and other various accumulated data give me reason to assume that this person with health will not be doing very well if he continues to adhere to such a regime. Therefore, such large, numerous and long-term studies are being carried out to establish how our today’s schedule will affect our lives in five, seven, ten years. As long as everything is fine with us, we do not think about it.

I can say for sure: if you set a certain schedule and teach your body to wake up and fall asleep at the same time, this is an incomparable pleasure.You will feel that the body works like a clock, that it completely obeys you, that everything is fine with it. And in principle, it is much easier with such a tuned clock to live and do all the things. Because working capacity is growing, there is no fatigue, the decline in activity in the daytime is much less pronounced, and it certainly is, because this is one of the participants in our biological rhythms, the same decline in activity that occurs at lunchtime, when we are drawn to sleep. With an adjusted schedule, this decline is slightly less than that of people without a schedule.And in principle, the well-being and condition of a person also improves.

So if you want to be successful you need to sleep well?

Anna Horuzhaya: To be successful you need to sleep properly!

Therefore, apparently, many practice polyphasic sleep. The so-called techniques of Salvador Dali, Churchill, Tesla – does it work at all?

Anna Horuzhaya: This is absolutely not physiological. Attempts to hack your body do not end well. If we are talking about polyphasic sleep, the only good option for the body is two-phase sleep.The point is that more sleep is spent at night, for example, seven to eight hours, and you can sleep up to an hour and a half during the day.

That is, daytime sleep is good?

Anna Horuzhaya: Yes. As recently found, it even halves the risk of strokes and heart attacks. If we were given at work not an hour, but a two-hour break and there were places to sleep, many adults would gladly return to the kindergarten regime. At Google, employees can afford it – at lunchtime, go to specially equipped areas with comfortable sofas and armchairs.There are even capsules for sleeping. In China, even the labor code stipulates that employees are given a long lunch break, and they are encouraged to take a little nap during this lunch break, because, indeed, after a short day’s sleep, performance improves.

Ideally, how much should an adult sleep so that his head is able to think well and his working capacity does not decrease during the working day?

Anna Khoruzhaya: Doctors recommend seven to eight hours. Up to nine is considered absolutely optimal sleep duration.Sleeping more is not recommended, there are studies that show that our health deteriorates if we sleep too little or too much. You’ve probably noticed that when you get 12 or more hours of sleep, you feel overwhelmed. But you need to understand that for each person, the sleep time is purely individual. Someone needs seven hours, someone – eight, another six and a half is enough, but these are rare cases.

Is it possible to sleep off and sleep on weekends?

Anna Horuzhaya: It doesn’t work. In fact, you swing your biological rhythms when you sleep on weekdays at one time, on weekends at another, on vacation at a third.You need to sleep a certain amount of time, at certain hours, regardless of what day of the week it is.

Do I understand correctly that, first of all, lack of sleep affects problems with blood vessels, heart, blood pressure, and affects the brain in the last place?

Anna Khoruzhaya: The brain is a fairly stable organ. He is still vital for us, so nature has awarded him with all sorts of methods to adapt to different environmental conditions. Therefore, first of all, a downed regime affects the cardiovascular system, the immune, hormonal – the synchronization of biological rhythms is very important for hormones, since some of them are produced at strictly defined hours.

How does coffee affect sleep?

Anna Khoruzhaya: Coffee is more like “anti-brake” than “gas”, as everyone is used to thinking. This is not an activator. It binds to certain adenosine receptors (adenosine is one of the inhibitory neurotransmitters – BFM.ru) and thus blocks the outputs for the “brakes”. Thus, for some time we prolong our activity, do not let fatigue overwhelm us. Everything, including the effectiveness of coffee, depends on how well the enzyme system works in a person, how many receptors, and many other factors.That is why a diluted latte is enough for someone to toss and turn and not sleep all night, and for someone, even two espressos will not interfere with falling asleep and have a good sleep all night. So it’s all very individual.

And what about sleeping pills?

Anna Khoruzhaya: Sleeping pills should be used as the last resort, when some problems with sleep cannot be corrected by non-drug methods. And it is advisable that the doctor prescribes the sleeping pills, so that he speaks with you before that, assesses the risks and, on the basis of this information, decides which drug and in what dosage will be most optimal for you.Sleeping pills can be taken without supervision, but this is not very good. Among people taking sleep medications, the most popular drugs are those containing melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that is produced within ourselves. The body, in general, is not a fool, and if it understands that something is constantly entering it from the outside, why should it be produced? At some point, the amount of its hormone begins to decrease, and a person needs to constantly take the drug in order to fall asleep normally. If you can’t do anything about sleep, it’s best to see your doctor.

Sleep trackers that offer and promise improved sleep actually work or is it just a waste of business?

Anna Khoruzhaya: You can use anything to fall asleep: now there are ways to help yourself fall asleep for every taste and budget. But you can perfectly help yourself to sleep and for free. A warm bath or foot bath, a short, measured walk before bed, reading books. Any monotonous actions: cross stitching or knitting. As for the trackers, this is, of course, very individual.There have been studies comparing trackers that “demonstrate” how long the phases of slow wave sleep lasted, how much fast. Then these indicators were compared with laboratory ones, and not a single tracker used in this study, even the most expensive one, showed a result more or less close to reality. Therefore, you need to understand that even expensive trackers will not give you objective information.

To feel normal, it is advisable to wake up in a phase of REM sleep. Here we ourselves can become researchers.You can go to bed today at 11 pm, count about 7.5 hours, this is about five to six cycles, calculate when there will be a phase of REM sleep, and set the alarm for this time. Wake up, realize, weigh how easy it was for you to wake up today, whether you got up easily or, on the contrary, it was very difficult. It may also be that your sleep cycle lasts not an hour and a half, but a little less or a little more. By experimenting with yourself, you will find the optimal sleep times and wake-up times.Well, in general, identify the optimal regime for yourself.

Surely you have heard about vacancies “for those who want to sleep at work for money”, including from NASA. This is not dangerous? Anna Horuzhaya: The subjects lie in special immersion beds that completely imitate the state of weightlessness. There are no bedsores, because a special filler is used, as in large bathtubs. A person is immersed there up to the neck, from which a feeling of a state of weightlessness is created. I think that in general for people it is not so bad.Definitely not fatal. Not to such an extent as to negatively affect the physiology of the body, because after all, professional doctors are involved in these experiments. If they notice something bad, they immediately take people out of the experiment. By the way, such experiments are also being carried out in our country. For example, the Institute of Biomedical Problems also has such immersion beds, they invite volunteers without any chronic diseases. It is a pity that only men – I would also gladly participate in such an experiment.Interesting. But girls are not accepted there.

Why?

Anna Khoruzhaya: I don’t know, you have to ask the researchers. After all, there are also women astronauts.

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Adjusting the volume

The phone has different volume settings for each of these parameters:

• Ringtone for incoming calls and notifications
• Multimedia (music, video, games)
• Alarm clock
• Call volume

Adjust the volume of one category will not affect the volume of others, so you can listen to your favorite music at full volume, and at the same time not injure your hearing when talking with interlocutors.

To mute the ringtone on your phone, press the Power button or Volume Down button.

To mute the ringtone on the phone:

• next 30 minutes).
• To put your phone in vibration only mode, press the volume down button and tap.You will see . No sound mode.
• To automatically mute your phone at a specific time (for example, every Tuesday from 11:00 am to noon), set the idle time.

Use the volume buttons on the side of your smartphone:

• To adjust the call volume while in a call.
• For adjusting the playback volume of media files when listening to music, watching a video, or playing a game.
• To adjust the volume of notifications during media playback, press the volume button, then tap and move the slider.
• For adjusting the ringtone volume when not on a call or playing media.

You can also use the phone settings to adjust the volume:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Sounds & Notifications.
3. Tap and drag to adjust the volume slider for each setting.

PEC RF Article 82. Regime in correctional facilities and its basic requirements / ConsultantPlus

PEC RF Article 82.Correctional regime and its basic requirements

1. Regime in correctional institutions – the procedure for the execution and serving of imprisonment established by the law and the normative legal acts that comply with the law, ensuring the protection and isolation of convicts, constant supervision over them, the fulfillment of their duties, the realization of their rights and legitimate interests, the personal safety of convicts and personnel, separate maintenance of different categories of convicts, different conditions of detention depending on the type of correctional institution appointed by the court, changes in the conditions for serving the sentence.

2. The regime creates conditions for the use of other means of correcting convicts.

3. Correctional institutions have the Internal Regulations of Correctional Institutions approved by the federal executive body responsible for the development and implementation of state policy and legal regulation in the field of the execution of criminal punishments, in agreement with the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation.

(as amended byFederal Laws of 21.07.1998 N 117-FZ, of 08.11.2008 N 194-FZ)

4. The administration of the correctional institution is obliged to provide convicts with clothing of the established pattern. The dress code is determined by the regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation.

5. Convicted persons, as well as the premises in which they live, may be searched, and convicted persons’ belongings may be searched. A personal search is carried out by persons of the same sex with the convicted persons. A search of living quarters in the presence of convicts in them is allowed in cases that do not tolerate delay.

6. The administration of the correctional institution has the right to inspect persons, their belongings, vehicles located on the territory of the correctional institution and in the adjacent territories where regime requirements are established, as well as to seize prohibited things and documents, the list of which is established by the legislation of the Russian Federation and Internal regulations of correctional institutions.

7. The procedure for conducting searches and examinations is determined by the federal executive body responsible for the development and implementation of state policy and legal regulation in the field of the execution of criminal punishments, in agreement with the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation.

(as amended by Federal Laws of 21.07.1998 N 117-FZ, of 08.11.2008 N 194-FZ)

8. The list of things and objects that convicts are forbidden to have with them, receive in parcels, parcels, parcels or acquire, is established by the Internal Regulations of Correctional Institutions.

(part eight as amended by Federal Law dated 09.03.2001 N 25-FZ)

ConsultantPlus: note.

On the accounting of personal money and other valuables of convicts, suspects and accused who are in correctional institutions and pre-trial detention centers, see.Order of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation of 08.12.2006 N 356.

9. Money, securities and other valuables found in the possession of convicts shall be seized and stored in accordance with the Internal Regulations of Correctional Institutions by the administration of the correctional institution until the convict is released without the right to use and dispose of them while serving the sentence. Prohibited items, substances and foodstuffs confiscated from convicts are transferred for storage or destroyed by order of the head of the correctional institution, about which an appropriate act is drawn up.Money, securities and other valuables, the owner of which has not been established, are converted into state revenue in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

(as amended by Federal Law dated 09.03.2001 N 25-FZ)

10. Storage of securities acquired by convicts in accordance with the established procedure is ensured by the administration of the correctional institution.

11. In cases of revealing the facts of the use by convicts on the territory of the correctional institution of subscriber numbers of mobile radiotelephone communication, the provision of communication services on these subscriber numbers to individuals and users of communication services of a subscriber – a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur is terminated by the communications operator on the basis of a decision in writing by the head of the federal body the executive power exercising law enforcement functions, the functions of control and supervision in the sphere of the execution of criminal punishments in relation to convicted persons, or his deputy or the head of the territorial body of the penitentiary system, which is in charge of this correctional institution.