Reset Your Broken Internal Sleep Clock & Fix Sleep Schedule

A normal sleep routine can be disrupted by shift work, traveling, or even just a busier-than-normal schedule. While you can try napping to “catch up” on sleep,

recent research

has found that napping to make up for lost sleep isn’t the most effective, and your body prefers to follow a consistent sleep pattern, instead.   Instead of battling with sleepless nights and groggy days, try these five techniques to reset your internal clock and get better sleep.

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Each of us operates on a biological schedule that plays a big role in when we feel tired and when we feel awake. When our internal sleep clock is functioning normally, it sends our bodies signals to sleep in the evening and wake in the morning.

However, sometimes this sleep clock can fall out of sync, throwing your regular schedule out of whack.

This can affect your overall sleep quality while also making it difficult to fall asleep and wake up at the right times, ultimately leaving you sleep deprived or with “social jetlag” that can affect performance and moods.

If you find yourself with a broken sleep clock, there are a few strategies you can use to get back on track. Read on to learn about your sleep clock and how to reset it for better rest.

Understanding How Your Sleep Clock Works

Photo courtesy of Flickr, macabrephotographer

Before we get into fixing the problem, it can be helpful to know what your sleep clock is, what it does, and how it works so that these strategies make sense.

The term “sleep clock” refers to several biological mechanisms that control the cycle of wakefulness and tiredness, led by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the hypothalamus.

This cycle is also known as the circadian rhythm. When functioning optimally, this rhythm means you will get sleepy in the evening around the same time, and wake in the morning at about the same time each day.

As far as timing goes, normal biological variation exists, with some people naturally predisposed to earlier sleep-wake times and others to later sleep-wake times. To an extent, genetics influence sleep habits but behaviors and the environment also play a role.

Science doesn’t understand everything yet, but essentially
the body’s internal clock

is influenced by a combination of external cues (like sunrise/sunset and temperature) as well as internal cues (like hormones, neurotransmitters, and genes) and behaviors (like delaying sleep or activity levels).

Resetting Your Sleep Clock and Improving Your Rest

Based on the knowledge of our sleep-wake cycle and how the body’s circadian clock works, there are a few ways to adjust sleep schedules and fix patterns.

1. Manipulate Lighting

Research suggests that manipulating light exposure may help reset the body clock, particularly for disturbances caused by jet lag. Light remains a key focus of researchers, and is often a point of treatment for sleep phase disorders.

The daily cycles of lightness and darkness are a key “zeitgeber” or cue that acts on the mechanisms of your sleep clock and circadian rhythm. Retinal ganglion cells in your eyes detect light cycles and transmit information to your SCN. In the presence of light, the SCN prompts the pineal gland to produce melatonin (the sleep hormone). When melatonin levels are high (in the absence of light), you grow drowsy and fall asleep. When your body senses light again, it ceases melatonin production to wake you.

Essentially, this means you should follow earth’s natural cues. Expose yourself to natural sunlight and bright light in the morning and throughout the day. Start dimming lights in the evening as the sun winds down, with your bedroom being virtually black and devoid of any screens.

Of course, you’ll want to limit screen time and strategically avoid blue light while resetting your sleep schedule. Blue light can trick your body into thinking its daytime when it’s really dark outside. Devices such as laptops, televisions, and cell phones all emit blue light. The longer you expose yourself to this light in the evening, the longer melatonin production is delayed. To prevent hindering your own night’s sleep, utilize the Night Mode feature on your devices or avoid them altogether.

2. Fast, Then Normalize Meal Times

Digestion and metabolism also play a role in wakefulness and sleepiness. When you eat, and to some extent, what you eat, can help you reset your sleep clock.

Harvard researchers found that, in animals, circadian rhythms shifted to match food availability. Researchers suggest that fasting for about 16 hours (for example during flight and until the next local meal time) could help reset sleep clocks for humans and reduce jetlag when traveling across time zones.

For non-jetlag sleep clock disturbances, you could try a 16-hour fast as well. Eat an early dinner (around say 4 p.m.), and then avoid food until breakfast time (8 a.m.) the following morning.

Once your sleep is back on track, stick to regular breakfast and dinner times to help support consistent circadian rhythms, with about 12 hours between breakfast and dinner. Eat dinner at least a few hours before bed, and a filling breakfast shortly after waking.

Some research also shows that saturated fats in meat and dairy may be bad to eat near bedtime, so sticking with leaner fare for dinner and eating heavier meals earlier in the day might be better.

3. Go Camping

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. For your next vacation, consider taking to the tents to reset your sleep clock.

Research published in the Current Biology journal put this hypothesis to the test, with eight participants spending one week camping without electrical lighting, smartphones or laptops.

They found this natural pattern helped synchronize biological clocks to solar time, with people sleeping earlier and waking earlier than in their normal routines. The biggest changes were seen in evening types, or “night owls.”

4. Pull An All-Nighter (or All Day-er)

One approach to reverse temporary sleep clock setbacks is to stay up one full day until the next normal bed time. This method is essentially planned sleep deprivation, so it is best done under doctor supervision.

There is not a lot of specific research on this method outside of anecdotal accounts for overcoming sleep clock problems, but it is a clinical part of chronotherapy and has been researched for depression treatment.

If you have been going to bed at 4 a.m. and waking at noon, you would wake at your normal time (perhaps on a Friday) then not sleep again until perhaps 10 p.m. the next day (Saturday). Light and mild activity could be helpful for staying awake.

Be aware that you should expect to be tired, and that you should never drive or perform any other dangerous tasks when sleep deprived.

5. Take Gradual Steps

For many people, slow and gradual changes are best when it comes to achieving long-term results. Small changes can also be easier on you physically and mentally, especially if you don’t have days to recover from sleep deficits.

Adjust your schedule by no more than 30 minutes per day, and remain at each phase until your body catches up to the changes. Once you are sleeping and waking at ideal times, don’t forget to maintain a consistent schedule every day of the week.

For example, if your sleep clock is running late by two hours, here’s a potential plan for getting back on track painlessly within one month. Each week, set your bedtime and wake time 15 minutes earlier on Sunday nights, then again on Wednesdays. After four weeks, you should be on back on track.

For large delays, it may actually be more helpful to push bedtimes forward by one to two hours until you reach a normal bedtime. If your sleep clock is delayed by several hours and gradual steps aren’t cutting it, a doctor or therapist may be able to plan a more regimented chronotherapy approach for your situation.

Practice Healthy Sleep

Don’t forget to follow essential sleep hygiene principles during, and after, your sleep clock reset.

• Stick with your plan.
• Go to bed early enough to ensure you’re getting the recommended hours of sleep (the CDC says adults need 7 to 9).
• Maintain a strict and consistent sleep schedule—go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day (even on weekends).
• Don’t take naps longer than 20-30 minutes.
• Limit caffeine after lunch.
• Create a relaxing bedtime routine.
• Avoid electronics, bright lights and stress in the hours before bed.
• Keep your bedroom quiet, dark and cool.
• Don’t stress about not sleeping—think in positive terms.

If improving sleep hygiene doesn’t help or your sleep schedule is impacting your daily life, you may also want to reach out to your doctor or sleep specialists. They would be able to help you set up a plan, suggest supplements, and diagnose any sleep disorders or underlying conditions to help you fix your sleep cycles.

Are You on the Right Mattress for Your Needs?

Everything we mentioned above assumes you aren’t sleeping on a bed that is so uncomfortable you spend all night tossing and turning.

It may surprise you to know we can actually pinpoint the best mattress for you based on your factors such as sleeping position, weight, body shape, and more.

For example, side sleepers tend to prefer softer mattresses. The plushness of a soft mattress helps alleviate common pressure points on their shoulders and hips.

Finding the right mattress for you will help you practice better sleep habits and, once your clock is reset, keep up a consistent sleep schedule.

Have you ever had to reset your sleep clock before? What tricks worked for you when trying to reset your sleep clock?

This article is for informational purposes and should not replace advice from your doctor or other medical professional.

About the author

Rosie Osmun regularly contributes to the Amerisleep blog writing about topics including, reducing back pain while sleeping, the best dinners for better sleep, and improving productivity to make the most of your mornings. She finds the science of sleep fascinating and loves researching and writing about beds. Rosie is also passionate about traveling, languages, and history.

View all posts

Reset Your Clock for Better Rest

Whether you’re dealing with jet lag, night shift work, or insomnia, an inconsistent sleep schedule can impact your mood, concentration, and weight.

But you can re-tune your sleep cycle to get better rest and more of it.

Your Internal Clock

This is also called the circadian rhythm, and it tells your body when to sleep and wake up. Many of the important things going in your body rely on this sleep-wake cycle. That’s why an out-of-whack sleep schedule can hurt your overall health while robbing you of shut-eye and leaving you groggy during the day.

Get the Rest You Need

Fall asleep faster and snooze better by following these tips:

1. Ban blue light. The light that comes from your electronics and energy-efficient lightbulbs, called blue light,has a powerful effect on your “master clock,” says Michael J. Thorpy, MD, director of the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at the Montefiore Medical Center.

At night, blue light keeps you from being able to wind down and fall asleep, he says. Turn off your TV, phone, and tablet, and dim the lights at least an hour before you hit the sack.

Continued

Night workers can buy glasses that block blue light during their daytime drive home to “trick” their brain into thinking it’s night time.

2. Skip naps. Avoid taking them if you can, Thorpy says.But if you feel so tired you can’t function, he says it’s OK to give in to a brief snooze. “But keep it to less than 20 minutes. It will refresh you but won’t take away from sleep later.”

3. Get out of bed if you can’t sleep. If you’re still awake 20 minutes after turning in, get up and do something relaxing instead of staring at the ceiling. Staying in bed and tossing and turning trains your brain to stay awake night after night, he says.

4. Wake up at the same time every day. “You can’t always control when you fall asleep, but you can decide when you start your day. Having a regular routine sets the tone for your body for the whole day,” he says.

Continued

If you typically work the night shift but have the day off, go to bed later than normal, and wake up later, too. This will help you adjust more easily when it’s time to be up all night again.

5. Practice good bedtime habits. These can go a long way to helping you fall asleep faster:

• Filter out noise. Use a white-noise machine to block sound when you sleep.

• Keep a cool room. The best temperature for good sleep is 67-68 degrees, Thorpy says.

• Avoid caffeine. Drinking coffee, soda, or tea after lunchtime can make you toss and turn at night.

• Exercise daily. Get your heart rate up during the day to boost your odds of good sleep, or do yoga before bed to relax.

Resetting Your Sleep Cycle – Clayton Sleep Institute

Now that we are in the full swing of 2014, it may be time to reset your internal clock and get your circadian rhythm back on track. If you have been traveling, stressing, over-working or even over-indulging in holiday activities outside of your routine, you may have thrown you off of good, restful sleep.

Ready to get the rest you need and get in tune with your body clock? Try these tips to get your sleep cycle back in sync.

Use Bright Light in the Morning

Your body’s clock is “set” by cues like light, darkness, and when you eat or exercise. Light is the strongest of these cues. It tells your brain whether it’s night or day, and that tells you when to sleep.

• When you wake up, turn on bright lights and throw open the curtains to bring in daylight.

Dim the Lights in the Evening

Too much light at night pushes your sleep time later. To cut down on light at night:

• Keep lighting low near the end of the day. Turn off bright overhead lights.
• Ban laptops, tablets, cell phones, and TVs from your bedroom — and don’t use them in the hour or so before sleep. There is new research that shows that light specific to electronics can disrupt your circadian rhythm, so get those screens away from your bedroom.

Time Your Meals

When you eat may affect your internal clock; shifting meal times may help you handle changes in time zones or work schedules.

For example, if you are traveling from the U.S. to Europe — an 8-hour time difference—fast for 10 hours, about the length of the flight, and then eat as soon as you arrive. Re-setting meal time helps some ease jet lag.

At home, keep a regular routine for meals and exercise. That helps set a pattern for your internal clock and your sleep cycle.

Limit Your Time in Bed

Go to bed and get up at about the same times, even on weekends. Save the bed and bedroom for sleep and sex, not for excessive napping, watching television or playing video games!

Limit Caffeine

You may be tempted to use caffeine to get over the afternoon hump. Don’t. Instead, avoid caffeine after lunch. It can affect your sleep that night.

Adapt for Travel by Shifting your Sleep/Wake Cycle

You can take the edge off jet lag, especially when traveling east, by shifting your sleep before you leave.

• If you’re flying east to a time zone where its three hours later — say from California to New York  — go to bed and get up an hour earlier each evening and morning for the three days before you leave. By the third day, you should be on, or closer to, the time zone where you’re heading.
• If you’re going west, go to bed and get up an hour later each evening and morning for as many time zones you will cross, or as many as you can manage given the distance you are traveling.

If you don’t adapt your Sleep/Wake cycle ahead of time, do it as soon as you get there—get on that local time as quickly as possible.

Ask Your Doctor About Melatonin

Melatonin is a powerful hormone that your brain makes at night to help bring on sleep. A melatonin supplement may help, but be careful. Don’t self-medicate with melatonin! Get your doctor’s advice on whether you should use it, what dosage, whether you are a candidate for prolonged-release melatonin and the best time to take it.

Go Low-Tech

High-tech devices that monitor your sleep cycle promise better sleep — like wrist or head bands that monitor your sleep cycle to find the best moment to wake you. But you might not need a fancy device.

Blackout shades, a soft fan to drown out noise, eye mask, ear plugs and unplugging the telephone are other low-tech and inexpensive options.

Get Help

If you try these tips, practice good sleep hygiene and still have sleep problems, talk to your doctor.  Restorative sleep is a serious health matter and you may have more complicated issues that need medical attention.  There are many options to help treat sleep disorders, so you don’t need to just suffer!  Take the steps reach out to a medical professional.

For school, work, travel, and night shift

A person’s circadian rhythm regulates when their body sleeps and wakes. Travel, shift work, and frequently staying up late can disrupt the circadian rhythm.

Disruption to the circadian rhythm may make it difficult to sleep and wake at appropriate times.

In this article, we look at ways a person can reset their circadian rhythm and shift their sleep schedule into a more usual pattern.

The sleep schedule refers to the times that people naturally awaken or fall asleep each day and night. Their circadian rhythm regulates this.

Circadian rhythms last approximately 24 hours. The 24-hr sleep-wake-cycle is one of the most obvious rhythms, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are several other circadian-guided functions in the body, including digestion, hormonal activity, and body temperature.

The hypothalamus in the brain contains the “master clock” that dictates the sleep-wake cycle.

The clock responds to external cues, such as light levels, to keep people synchronized to a 24-hr day. Humans are diurnal, which means they naturally sleep when it is dark and awaken when it is light.

A person’s sleep-wake cycle and how much sleep they need overall can change naturally as a person ages.

However, some aspects of modern life also influence a person’s sleep-wake patterns. This includes:

• work or school commitments
• travel and jet lag
• shift work
• certain medications
• artificial light

If a person continually ignores their body’s sleep signals, they might have difficulty returning to a regular sleep schedule.

Learn how to cope with night shifts here.

The main symptom of a disrupted sleep-wake cycle is difficulty sleeping and waking at appropriate times. A person may experience insomnia at night or excessive sleepiness during the day.

Other symptoms may include:

• difficulty concentrating
• decreased alertness
• memory problems
• difficulty making decisions

People may also feel worried about their sleep schedule or experience stress due to the disruption it causes in their lives.

Lack of sleep also has a significant impact on mental health.

Learn why sleep is essential for health here.

Getting ready for school or work often means getting up early. After a break from work or school or a transition to a new schedule, people may struggle to adjust their circadian rhythm.

Here are some ways people can reset their sleep schedule.

Set a consistent routine

While a person adjusts to a new routine, they may feel tired and want to sleep longer on weekends or take naps in the daytime.

However, a 2019 study suggests that “recovery sleep” does not help with sleep deprivation and may make an irregular sleep cycle worse.

According to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, most adults need 7–8 hours of sleep per night, while most teenagers need 8–10 hours.

Try to set a regular schedule, waking and sleeping at the same times every day.

If a person finds it difficult to achieve this, they can try gradually changing the times they go to sleep by 15–30 minutes until they reach their goal.

Use light and dark

Light levels have a significant impact on circadian rhythm. People often feel sleepy in low light or darkness and feel more awake when it is light.

A person can use this to their advantage by:

• getting exposure to natural daylight upon waking or using a light therapy device or daylight alarm clock to simulate it
• using brighter lights during the daytime and softer lighting in the evening
• making use of blue light filters on phones and other devices
• ensuring total darkness during sleep by using blackout curtains or blinds

Exercise in the daytime

Regular exercise is important for overall health, but a busy schedule may mean a person exercises in the evening. This can disrupt sleep because exercise wakes the body up.

If possible, try shifting exercise to another time of day, such as in the morning.

Eat early

Eating large meals late at night can also make it difficult to get to sleep. Try eating evening meals several hours before bedtime.

Similarly, avoid caffeine and alcohol in the afternoon and evening as both reduce sleep quality.

Relax in the evening

Working into the evening or feeling stressed may make it more difficult to get to sleep at a suitable time. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommend winding down by:

• spending 15 minutes completing any unfinished tasks to avoid dwelling on them at night
• making a to-do list for the following day
• practicing mindfulness, meditation, or journaling to slow down and calm the mind
• trying a relaxing activity, such as reading, before trying to sleep
• avoiding looking at screens at bedtime

Change the sleep environment

Temperature also has an impact on sleep. A room that is too hot can prevent sleep or lead to lower sleep quality. Try to set a thermostat or heating system so that the temperature becomes slightly cool before bedtime.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommend making the sleep environment quiet and calming. A person can try:

• putting homework or electronic devices away in the evening or keeping them out of the bedroom entirely
• using soft, comfortable bedding
• using carpets, rugs, or curtains to muffle sounds from outside or wearing earplugs

Learn how much sleep a person needs here.

After a long journey, people can experience jet lag while they adjust to a new time zone.

Many strategies for adjusting to a new school or work schedule will also help people with jet lag, but the following tips may specifically help frequent travelers.

Planning ahead

If possible, begin changing the sleep-wake cycle ahead of long journeys. A person can start sleeping or waking an hour earlier or later each night, depending on the time zone they are visiting.

Drinking caffeine

Strategically drinking caffeinated drinks at certain times may also help with adjusting to a new time zone. It may help someone wake up earlier when in a timezone that is ahead of their own. However, continue to avoid caffeine in the afternoon and evening so as not to disrupt sleep.

Using light devices

A light therapy device may also help people plan for a long journey. These devices simulate daylight, which can help people wake up earlier if it is dark.

Trying melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone the body secretes to induce sleepiness. Taking melatonin at the right time may help someone adjust to a new bedtime. A person should speak to their doctor if they are considering trying melatonin.

Learn more about melatonin for sleep here.

People who occasionally stay up all night can try the same strategies as those adjusting to a new schedule.

However, people who often stay up all night or work night shifts may experience more long-lasting disruption. A 2020 article suggests that people:

• stick to a consistent schedule when working a series of evening or night shifts
• wake up close to the start of a night shift and avoid going to sleep as soon as it ends
• split sleep, which involves sleeping some after getting home from work and then taking an extended nap before work
• use caffeine at the beginning of a shift, but avoid it 3–4 hours before it finishes
• try to make any new sleeping environment as comfortable as possible
• avoid using alcohol to fall asleep as this lowers sleep quality overall

Anyone who has trouble adjusting to a new sleep schedule or finds it difficult to get to sleep and wake up at appropriate times should talk to a doctor.

Sometimes, persistent insomnia or daytime fatigue is an indication of a sleep disorder or another underlying condition.

When a person experiences a disrupted sleep schedule, it can be hard to get back to normal. However, setting a consistent routine for exercise, eating, relaxation, and sleep can help establish a better sleep schedule.

People with jet lag or who regularly work at night may need additional support. If a person’s sleep is frequently irregular, they should discuss this with a doctor.

How to Reset Your Sleep Schedule When Your Routine Changes

• Your daily routine might be off these days. Fortunately, you can take steps to get better sleep.
• Your circadian rhythm is a specific pattern for sleep that is wired into your body’s system.
• Follow these tips to discover your circadian rhythm and reset your sleep habits so you can get the best sleep of your life.

For many people, their sleep schedule depends on their daily routine. But if your new quarantine routine doesn’t include a reason to leave the house, you might sleep in until 8:58 a.m. and wake up just in time for your 9 a.m. Zoom call. Enter: the need to reset your sleep schedule.

To get quality sleep, you need to follow a regular cadence. That was easier when places were open and the days didn’t just bleed into each other. It’s understandably more difficult now. If you’re wondering how to reset your sleep schedule for your body’s best sleep, read on.

Your body wants a regular sleep schedule

Your body has its own unique circadian rhythm. This rhythm is a pattern of ramping up your alertness and energy when you wake, and cycling down those systems at the end of the day.

To power down at night, your body gets used to releasing melatonin at the same time every day. Melatonin is a hormone that signals to your body it’s time to prepare for bed. Melatonin takes its cues from the amount of light present in your environment so when the sun goes down, the flow of melatonin gradually begins to ready your body for sleep.

Ever notice it can be hard to get to sleep on Sunday night? Some people attribute this to work-related stress, but it has more to do with how late you stayed up Friday and Saturday night. Those late nights upset your regular sleep pattern. This is a big reason to stick to a sleep schedule, even on weekends.

Now is the perfect time to adjust your sleep pattern

Imagine this — the reason you might have trouble falling asleep and waking up is that you’re not listening to your body’s natural cues.

Below, we’ll dig into a few foundational tips to reset your sleep schedule. Before you do anything else, you need to cover your bases — stop drinking caffeine within a few hours of bedtime, limit blue light before bed and take steps to manage your stress so you can drift off more easily.

Inconsistent sleep schedules can cause restless sleep — when you find yourself waking several times in the night. This waking doesn’t allow you to enter the deep stages of sleep where your body does its best regenerative work.

The thing is, you’ll have to experiment to find what consistency looks like for you. Now’s the perfect time to do it.

People are hardwired to be more alert, productive and engaged at different times of the day. You know this is true if you’ve ever struggled to become a morning person (not everyone is), or if you shut down as soon as the clock hits 9 p.m.

The secret? Your sleep chronotype. Learn how to identify your sleep chronotype and adjust your schedule to match your body’s needs.

How to reset your sleep schedule

If you don’t prioritize a sleep schedule you definitely won’t get your best sleep. These tips make it easy to optimize your sleep to your Bulletproof rhythm.

1. Discover your sleep chronotype: This will determine your body’s optimal sleep schedule. Get the details on sleep chronotypes.
2. Start gradually: Have you been going to bed too late or sleeping in too late? Begin shifting your sleep schedule a few minutes every day over the next several weeks.
3. Stick to a bedtime routine: Just like you have a morning routine to start your day, you should have a bedtime routine to wind down and cue to your mind and body that it’s time to sleep. Revisit your current routine and consider what you could adjust that would help you get to sleep when you need to.
4. Reserve your bedroom for sleeping: Keep your computer and TV out of the bedroom so it becomes a sacred space for sleeping. You’ll be less likely to find yourself at 3 a.m. playing video games wishing you had gone to sleep three hours earlier.
5. Don’t eat or workout too late: Avoid caffeine, big meals and intense workouts too close to bedtime. If you’ve been working later and pushing your dinner and exercise routines back a few hours, that’s going to push your body’s wind-down time later into the evening.
6. Try supplements for sleep: There are non-habit-forming supplements for sleep that promote relaxation so falling asleep is easier. Sleep Mode delivers plant-based melatonin, stress-beating amino acids and Brain Octane MCT oil to fuel cellular recovery during sleep. For best results, take it 30 minutes before bed.
7. Manage your stress: Your body can’t unwind if you’re wired. Take steps to manage  stress throughout the day: try these self-care ideas to support overall wellness, and add supplements for stress to your routine like Zen Mode.

Sample routine to fix your sleep schedule

Here’s a sample routine to start creating a better sleep schedule — feel free to make this routine your own:

• During the day: Hit these two goals: get some sunshine and exercise. One caveat: Avoid working out too close to bedtime.
• Afternoon: Switch to decaf. Even if you tolerate caffeine well, it can linger in your system up to six hours and interfere with sleep quality.^[1]
• Evening: Stop eating about two hours before bed. If you’re feeling snacky, try a soothing and nourishing tea like Sleepytime Tonic or Cardamom Ginger Bone Marrow Broth.
• Two hours before bed: Dim the lights, including your electronics. Bright light signals to your body that it’s still daytime. Learn more about the problem with blue light.
• One hour before bed: Do something soothing, like journaling, meditation, reading a book or a gentle yoga session.
• 30 minutes before bed: Now’s the time to take Sleep Mode or hop on an acupressure mat to stimulate relaxation.
• Lights out: And really, lights out. Sleep in a cool, dark room, like you’re a bear in a cave.

Looking for more tips to help you get better shut-eye? Find out how to sleep better with more science-backed sleep tips.

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How to fix your sleep schedule after it’s been thrown off

Maintaining a sleep schedule makes waking up easier.

Getty Images

After a fun evening of binge-watching reruns of your favorite sitcom, you look at the clock to see if you can squeeze in another episode and — oh, crap — it’s already three hours past your usual bedtime! 

You know it’s going to hurt to wake up at 6 a.m. tomorrow, so you have to make a decision before hitting the hay: Will you push through and wake up at your usual time, or will you sleep in to “catch up” on missed sleep? 

The first option, though tough, is your best bet if you want to maintain a healthy sleep cycle that supports energy, productivity and good moods. If you do choose to sleep in, you risk pushing your bedtime back further and further until waking up at your usual time (such as for work) feels impossible and you spend the day fighting fatigue. If you find yourself in this situation, you can try to reset your sleep schedule with these tips from sleep experts.

Read more: Insomnia: What causes it and how many of us have it?

Why your sleep cycle is important

Consistent sleep cycles are linked to healthier daytime choices.

Getty Images

Having a consistent sleep schedule makes it easier to fall into restful sleep, Annie Miller, therapist at DC Metro Sleep and Psychotherapy tells CNET. 

“Our brains respond very well to routines,” Miller says. “When we create healthy bedtime routines for ourselves, our sleep can greatly improve. And as your brain begins to associate bedtime with relaxation instead of stress, sleep will become easier.”

When you fall asleep faster and spend less time tossing and turning in bed, your overall sleep duration and quality improve, leaving you more rested and energized for the next day. “Regular, consistent sleep is the first line of defense in combating anxious or depressive thoughts or lack of energy” during the day, Dr. Max Kerr, dental sleep expert at Sleep Better Austin, tells CNET. 

Plus, sleep stages are time-dependent, Dr. Kerr says, so inconsistent sleep schedules can “shortchange” your sleep stages and result in less time spent in the important REM and deep sleep stages.

How your sleep cycle gets thrown off

Miller says keeping your morning wake-up time the same every day — no matter what time you go to sleep — is the key to keeping your body in rhythm (although, ideally, you’d have the same bedtime and wake-up time each day). “Typically, varying your wake times is more detrimental to sleep than going to bed later. If you push your wake time by sleeping late, we create a jet lag type of response,” Miller explains. “If you go to bed later and still get up at the same time, you will get less sleep, but it won’t throw off your sleep cycle.”

Dr. Kerr argues that pushing your bedtime back can throw off your sleep cycle. From a scientific standpoint, research suggests that if your bedtime varies by more than 30 minutes each night, it can lead to less healthy daytime behaviors such as lack of physical activity. Other research points to consistent wake-up times as a predictor of better sleep quality. It’s best to try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day — but only you can know if waking up at 6 a.m. is doable whether you went to sleep at 10 p.m. or 12 a.m.

Other things can throw off your sleep cycle, too. Doing shift work, drinking alcohol, sleeping with a disruptive bed partner (like kids, your spouse or pets), snoring or sleep apnea or temperature changes in your bedroom can all throw off your sleep cycle, Dr. Kerr says. 

How to reset your sleep cycle

Dr. Kerr offers these tips for resetting your sleep schedule: 

• Get outside and get moving. “Fresh air and exercise can help calm and tire you out while vitamin D from the sunshine helps regulate circadian rhythms to keep your sleep consistent,” Dr. Kerr says. 
• Set up your bedroom for sleep. Keep temperatures cool, electronics to a minimum and bedding comfy yet simple. Check your pillows to make sure they’re right for you — pillows should comfortably support your head and neck. 
• Nix daytime naps. “With extra time on your hands, or perhaps because of working from home, it may be easy and enticing to sneak in a daytime nap,” Dr. Kerr says. “While the occasional nap can be a great reset for the rest of the day, it may rob you of the more important and restorative sleep that your body needs at night.”  
• Watch what you watch on TV. Listening to discouraging reports on the evening news before bed might keep your mind racing throughout the night, Dr. Kerr says. If you must watch TV before bed, opt for shows that are lighter and more entertaining — and ideally stop watching all TV an hour before bed.
• Take a melatonin supplement. If all else fails, you might need a dose of melatonin to push your body back into your preferred sleep cycle or if you’re just having trouble falling asleep in general. Melatonin is a safe sleep supplement and shouldn’t cause you to become dependent on it. Magnesium may also help.

How to keep your sleep schedule in check

Once you successfully reset your sleep cycle, the actual hard work begins: keeping your schedule in check. Miller offers these few tips for creating a bedtime routine: 

• Create a “buffer zone” about an hour before bed. During that time, don’t do work, watch the news or do anything that may create stress. The buffer zone is just for unwinding, Miller says. Stretch, listen to calm music, meditate, read a book, or talk to your spouse or roommate.
• Wake up at the same time every day, no matter what time you go to sleep at night. “We often think we can ‘catch up’ on sleep over the weekend or if we have a bad night of sleep,” Miller says, “but in fact, that can make sleeplessness worse by creating what’s called social jetlag.” It’s important to keep your wake up time consistent and understand that you may be tired in the short term, but this will build up sleep drive and eventually allow you to fall asleep faster at night, Miller explains.
• Only use your bed for sleep. “This is one many people have heard before, but it is really important,” Miller emphasizes. “When you create a conditioned response that the bed is only used for sleep, it allows you to create an association between bed and sleep.” This means no reading in bed, no watching TV in bed, no tossing and turning and no snoozing in the morning. 
• Stop trying to sleep. This sounds counterintuitive, but “[w]hen we put too much effort into sleep, it backfires,” Miller explains. “Spending time in bed trying to sleep can make insomnia worse.” If you can’t sleep, get up and out of bed and do something quiet until you feel really sleepy. Sleep should be effortless and we should minimize time spent trying to sleep, Miller says.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

How to Reset Your Sleep Schedule

Moving our clocks in either direction changes our main cue — light — for setting our circadian rhythm. How well your energy level adapts depends on many factors, including your personal health, sleep habits, and lifestyle.

The good news is that in general, gaining an hour in the fall is generally easier to adjust to than losing an hour in the springtime. While either event can disrupt our sleep schedule, it’s also a great time to reset your sleep habits in addition to your clock. These tips also work for resetting your body clock any other time of year, for example, after traveling or when you experience multiple time adjustments over a week or more.

How to Reset Your Sleep Cycle

1. Stick to a schedule – The trick to a healthy sleep cycle is to get into a routine. If you can, go to sleep and wake up at the same times every day. You may also want to avoid spending more time in bed than needed.
2. Use bright light to help manage your internal clock. Expose yourself to sunlight in the morning and avoid bright light in the evening.
3. Keep your bedroom dark. Create a sleep environment that’s quiet, dark and cool. These are cues to your body that it’s time for sleep.
4. Use your bedroom only for sleep. That strengthens the association between your bed and sleep. It may help to remove work materials, computers, and televisions from your bedroom.
5. Exercise regularly. Working out is not only good for your body, it’s also good for your sleeping habits. Studies show that people who exercise regularly sleep better at night and are more alert during the day.
6. Keep naps short. An afternoon nap can give you a burst of energy to help you get through the rest of your day, but if you sleep too long, your body will see the nap as your main sleep time. The perfect nap is about 20 minutes long.
7. Limit caffeine. The cup of coffee that wakes you up in the morning has the same effect at night. Cut out the colas and coffee entirely, or avoid anything with caffeine for at least six hours before bedtime.

How to restore sleep mode correctly

It does not matter what exactly reasons led to the fact that you cannot fall asleep and wake up at the desired time – a change in the time zone or insomnia. Only one thing is important: it is quite possible to normalize the sleep mode.

Here are some of the scientifically-backed recommendations of ^{from experts at the renowned medical resource WebMD.}

1. Control the light

The obvious fact: we fall asleep when it’s dark and wake up when it gets brighter.The hormones melatonin and cortisol are responsible for this.

The first is produced in the pineal gland (pineal gland) only in conditions of darkness: the part of the brain that is responsible for the biological clock, the suprachiasmal nucleus in the hypothalamus, beeps about it. Melatonin lowers body temperature, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels. Together, these processes make our body go into hibernation. When it brightens again, melatonin levels drop and drowsiness subsides.

The amount of cortisol, on the other hand, decreases in conditions of darkness and an increase in the level of melatonin.Less cortisol – less stress – deeper relaxation and easier sleep.

If the complexity is dark, melatonin is not produced in the required amount. And cortisol is on the rise.

The conclusion is simple. If you want to fall asleep at the desired time, make your brain dark. Hang blackout curtains on the windows, turn off all lights, and do not surf social media before bed. The last point is especially important.

Electronic devices are a source of so-called blue light, which is particularly effective in reducing the level of melatonin.And at the same time it increases concentration. We would like to relax and sleep, but if you’ve seen enough of the “blue” screen, the body will resist. In general, turn off your TV and computer, put your mobile and tablet aside at least an hour before going to bed.

2. Forbid yourself to sleep during the day

If you need to restore the regimen, give up the siesta. Sleep during the day is likely to make it difficult to get back to the night.

An important point: if you feel so tired that you literally fall off your feet in the middle of the day, you can still take a nap.But try to devote no more than 20 minutes to this. And preferably before 15:00.

3. Don’t just lie in bed

If you can’t sleep for 20 minutes or longer, get up and do something relaxing (take a deep breath, do some meditation, turn on the dim lights and read a book), and do not look in ceiling.

By staying in bed, you train your brain that you can lie in the dark and not sleep. This risks becoming a bad habit.

4. Wake up at the same time every day

It is not always possible to convince the body to fall asleep at the right hour.But it is quite possible to schedule a wake-up time.

Waking up at the same time every day, you set a rhythm for the body and thus adjust your biological clock to function according to a certain schedule.

5. Practice good sleep hygiene

Here are some rules to help you fall asleep at the desired time:

• Provide silence. Close windows, doors, try to keep outside sounds from entering your bedroom. If it doesn’t work, use a white noise generator.
• Sleep in a cool room. The ideal temperature of ^{is 15–19 ° C.}
• Avoid caffeinated drinks, especially in the afternoon. These include not only coffee and tea, but also all kinds of energy drinks and often even regular soda.
• Make sure your bed is comfortable. A too soft (or, on the contrary, very hard) mattress and lumpy pillows lead to the fact that you will unconsciously turn around in bed in search of a more comfortable position.And these movements reduce the quality of sleep.
• Be sure to exercise during the day. Regular exercise will increase your chances of a healthy rest.

6. Do not eat before bedtime

Your body clock also reacts to your diet. We eat during the day, we do not eat at night. Therefore, if you are eating (or your gastrointestinal tract is busy with active digestion of what you have eaten), the body believes that it is still a day. So, it’s too early to fall asleep.

Try to eat no later than 2-3 hours before going to bed.

An additional unpleasant effect: knowing that they feed in the evenings, the body will try to stay awake at this time tomorrow (the day after tomorrow and so on). Therefore, it would be nice to make early dinners regular, so that the body gets used to it: there is nothing to wait for food late, it is better to sleep.

7. Try to starve

Scientists at Harvard have found that in animals, circadian rhythms (as the internal biological rhythms of the body are called) shift depending on the availability of food. Based on this, the researchers suggest ^{that 12–16-hour fasting may help with jetlag insomnia – jet lag.}

To restore sleep mode, even without jetlag, try a 16-hour fast. Eat early dinner for several days (for example, around 4:00 pm) and then avoid eating until breakfast (around 8:00 the next morning). When the regimen is normalized, switch to a 12-hour interval between dinner and breakfast. It is good not only for sleep, but also for overall health.

8. Go hiking

With backpacks and tents. At least three days, but preferably a week – to increase the effect.

The natural change of day and night helps to restore the body’s circadian rhythms.

For example, a study published ^{in Current Biology provides a test of this theory.}

Eight participants in the experiment went on a hike, where they spent a week without artificial lighting, phones and laptops. During this period, the biological clocks of all volunteers were rebuilt, synchronized with the solar time: people began to easily wake up at dawn and fall asleep at nightfall.This effect was most pronounced in those who, before the start of the experiment, positioned themselves as an owl.

9. Try not getting enough sleep

Another effective, albeit controversial, way to restore sleep is to stay awake for exactly one day. When the long-awaited evening finally comes, you will surely fall asleep as soon as your head touches the pillow.

This method is pretty cool, of course. But the researchers were able to prove ^{the connection of daily sleep deprivation with the activation of a certain type of brain cells that produce the protein adenosine.It is extremely important for the regulation of sleep: a sufficient amount of adenosine helps to normalize the sleep-wake cycle.}

Important nuances:

• Since the method is rather harsh, you can resort to it only after consulting a doctor – the same therapist.
• During periods of sleep deprivation, stop driving and other tasks that require alertness and concentration.

10. Talk to your GP

It is normal to have trouble sleeping from time to time.In most cases, it is enough to change your lifestyle according to the list above and you will get enough sleep again.

However, if, despite all your efforts, insomnia and other inconveniences persist, it is worth contacting a therapist. You may have an undiagnosed sleep disorder. Such conditions require treatment – sometimes even medication.

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How to restore sleep and wakefulness

Sleeping Girl: Pixabay

Sleep disorders affect many people, both adults and children.If your sleep routine is out of order, you do not fall asleep for a long time, or you wake up in the middle of the night and stay awake until the morning, you belong to the 15% of the world’s population who have trouble sleeping. As a result of this, serious illnesses often occur, insomnia also threatens early death. Let’s figure out how to restore sleep mode.

Sleep mode: how it affects health

Correct sleep mode is the key to mental and physical health of a person, Professor I.M. Voronin. Scientists have not yet come to a consensus as to why a person sleeps.Doctors from Sweden are convinced that the need to sleep arises from the concentration of metabolic products that have a detrimental effect on the body. In a dream, they break down faster, and the person recovers strength.

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This explains why after stress, emotional stress, people feel an urgent need to take a nap at least for a while. Sometimes in the middle of the working day, the eyelids become heavy, thoughts get confused, everything falls out of hands.There is an urgent need to fall asleep.

As you can see, healthy sleep is important not only for children, but also for adults. My colleagues agree that:

• An adult needs about eight hours of sleep.
• Teenagers and toddlers should get even more sleep – 9-11 hours.
• People after 50 will spend about 7 hours on sleep and will feel rested, the authoritative Internet publication WebMD notes.

Based on the individual characteristics of the organism, this indicator can vary within one or two hours in one direction or another.If sleep is restored, life expectancy will increase. If you cannot normalize the regimen on your own, contact your doctor for professional advice.

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Based on my practical experience, I want to note that the optimal period for sleep is from 23:00 to 7:00. Once your disrupted sleep schedule is normalized, you will be able to sleep well, feel cheerful throughout the day, and not need to take a nap.

Before rebuilding the sleep pattern, you need to take into account the processes occurring in the body, which were laid down by nature:

1. By 22:00 the body begins to prepare for sleep.
2. From 23:00 to 1:00, the metabolism becomes slower, the temperature decreases. At the same time, the maximum amount of melatonin, the hormone of youth and sleep, is produced. It is produced by the pineal gland. The synchronicity of human biorhythms depends on it. Melatonin is responsible for a strong nervous and immune system.It is worth noting that the elderly do not sleep precisely because of the lack of this hormone in the blood.
3. Until 3:00, chemical reactions in the body are inhibited, hormones are not produced.
4. From 4:00 the body produces cortisol – a hormone that promotes awakening.
5. By 5:00, the metabolism becomes faster, the concentration of sugar increases.
6. At 7:00 the body is awake and ready for physical activity. The digestive system is activated.

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Lack of sleep leads to a catastrophic decrease in melatonin.If a person sleeps less than 7-8 hours a day, irritability, absent-mindedness, chronic fatigue, and decreased immunity await him. Scientist A.T. Bykov writes in the article that long-term sleep disorder is the cause of such disorders as:

• depression;
• atherosclerosis;
• hypertension;
• mental change (hallucinations).

Lost sleep mode? Why is this happening? The authoritative Internet publication WebMD in the article says that the following factors are most often the reasons:

• exhausting work;
• abuse of alcoholic and caffeinated beverages;
• snoring;
• unhealthy work of the digestive system;
• excessive workload;
• too acute reaction to external stimuli;
• problems with the nervous system;
• obsession with problems.

Before restoring sleep, you need to deal with the cause that led to insomnia. For a diagnosis, be sure to consult a doctor so as not to face undesirable consequences for the body.

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Sleep mode is lost: what to do

Now let’s talk about how to return to sleep. If you are not Stirlitz, who had enough 20 minutes of sleep, belong to the age category from 20 to 50, then you should sleep at least 8 hours.

Despite the fact that the sleep mode is individual for everyone, the main thing is that the sleep is sound and calm. Then a person will better rest in four hours of deep immersion in the arms of Morpheus than in ten hours of restless sleep filled with nightmares.

What to do if sleep mode is out of order? Elimination of some factors or a change in attitude towards them will create optimal conditions for a night’s rest. Here are ten tips that will show you how to improve your sleep schedule:

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1. Go to bed no later than 22:00, get up at 6:00.
2. Do not watch TV before going to bed, put off your computer sessions.
3. Eat three hours before bedtime. The food should be light: a glass of kefir, a dish of eggs, a vegetable salad with baked fish or chicken fillet, herbal tea. Give up smoking, caffeinated drinks.
4. Stop any intellectual activity 90 minutes before bedtime.
5. Try to deal with the problems that bother you a few hours before bedtime. If this is not possible, remember: the morning is wiser than the evening – it is better to make decisions with a fresh mind.
6. Sleep better if you do some relaxing yoga exercises an hour before rest. Pay special attention to breathing. It is important to get maximum relaxation. Often, falling asleep immediately interferes with muscle spasm, which blocks nerve endings, especially in the neck, along the vertebra. Simple exercises will help you deal with the problem. Instead of yoga, you can do a relaxing massage or self-massage.
7. A foot bath will help you relax. Add pine-scented sea salt to warm water, light sandalwood sticks, if you are not allergic and the smell does not irritate you.Sandalwood soothes the nervous system. Do not take a bath before going to bed. This procedure does not have a relaxing effect on everyone.
8. Ventilate the area. The optimum temperature for sleeping is 18 ° C.
9. Find a comfortable bed: choose a moderately firm mattress, give up silk bedding, do not cover yourself with a duvet.
10. Leave dim light in the bedroom.

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Of course, these are not all tips on how to normalize your sleep patterns.Be sure to listen to your own body. Then you will understand what sleep rate is right for you, and you will be able to draw up the most convenient schedule.

If my recommendations do not help to restore the regimen, consult a doctor who will give professional recommendations in this regard. Also, if you’re still worried about how to restore your daily routine, I personally recommend trying to fall asleep and wake up at the same time. To make it easier to get up, set an alarm and set your favorite pleasant melody to wake up.

If you feel tired during the day, take 10-15 minutes to close your eyes and take a nap. This time is enough to recuperate and effectively complete the working day.

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How to enter sleep mode for older people and young parents? I recommend setting extra time for daytime rest. Allocate 30-50 minutes to sleep, even at the expense of household chores. So health and good mood will be preserved.

Remember that not sleeping for a day to restore the regime is not the best idea. This method has many contraindications, including hypertension. In addition, this method is not suitable if you perform tasks that require increased concentration of attention.

How to restore a child’s sleep pattern? Provide your toddler with physical activity during the day and create a routine of play, hygiene and exercise. Make sure your baby is eating at the same time. Discipline and a clear schedule can help you cope with sleep problems.Also, do not forget that insomnia in young children can signal various pathologies. If you suspect the development of any disease, visit the pediatrician with the baby as soon as possible.

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Lack of sleep is not only an individual, but also a social problem. Due to tired and irritable workers, labor productivity decreases, accidents and conflicts occur. “There is nothing sweeter than a dream,” – this is how popular wisdom says, and people never make mistakes.

Follow the recommendations on how to restore the regime, get enough sleep, be cheerful and cheerful! Share your secrets of fighting insomnia.

Attention! The material is for informational purposes only. You should not resort to the treatments described in it without first consulting your doctor.

Sources:

1. Bykov A.T. Sleep medicine. Non-drug treatment of insomnia // Medical Bulletin of the South of Russia.- 2010. – S. 23-32.
2. Voronin IM Sleep as a subject of study // Vestnik TSU. – 2014. – T. 9. – Issue. 1. – S. 10-13.
3. How to Sleep Better as You Get Older // WebMD.
4. Understanding Sleep Problems – The Basics // WebMD.

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Author: Candidate of Medical Sciences Anna Ivanovna Tikhomirova

Reviewer: Candidate of Medical Sciences, Professor Ivan Georgievich Maksakov

Original article: https: // www.nur.kz/family/beauty/1655482-kak-vosstanovit-rezhim-sna-bodrstvo/

90,000 How do I get my sleep routine?

Sleep – a special state of human consciousness, which includes a number of stages that regularly repeat during the night (with a normal daily schedule). The appearance of these stages is due to the activity of various brain structures.

In a healthy person, sleep begins:

Stage 1 – slow-wave sleep (Non-REM sleep), which lasts 5-10 minutes.

2nd stage – lasts about 20 minutes.

3-4 stages – 30-45 minutes per period.

After all the stages, the sleeper returns to the 2nd stage of deep sleep, after which the first episode of REM sleep occurs, which has a short duration – about 5 minutes. This whole sequence is called a cycle.

The first cycle lasts 90-100 minutes. Then the cycles are repeated, while the proportion of slow wave sleep decreases, and the proportion of REM sleep (REM sleep) gradually increases, the last episode of which in some cases can reach 1 hour.On average, with full healthy sleep, five complete cycles are noted.

The average sleep duration of a person usually depends on many factors: from age, gender, lifestyle, diet and degree of fatigue, to external factors (general noise level, location, etc.).

In general, sleep disorders may last from a few seconds to several days. There are also cases that an adult needs 12 hours to get enough sleep and recuperate after hard work or sleepless nights.Disruption of the physiological structure of sleep is considered a risk factor that can lead to insomnia.

Sleep deprivation is a very difficult experience. Within a few days, a person’s consciousness loses clarity, he experiences an irresistible desire to fall asleep, periodically “falls” into a borderline state with confusion.

What you need to do to normalize sleep

1. Follow the schedule

Try to go to bed and get up at the same time.If your body can’t get used to “shutting down” at 23.00, try to wake up half an hour earlier. Do not allow yourself to doze in front of the TV at 8-9 pm: this will take away from you the opportunity to fall asleep at the appointed time.

2. Eat, but in moderation!

Going to bed hungry is wrong! But eating too much at night is a sure way to get hold of insomnia. Eat for dinner foods rich in potassium and magnesium – they are known to “calm” the nervous system. Trace elements contain: nuts, honey, oatmeal and buckwheat, carrots, cabbage, bananas, dried apricots, chicken and turkey.

3. Get ready for bed

Before going to the bedroom, ventilate the room, or even better – take a walk in the evening for 20-30 minutes. If you have a hectic day at work, take a relaxing bath with a few drops of lavender or peppermint essential oil (or lemon balm or calendula infusion). Half an hour before bedtime, dissolve a spoonful of honey in a glass of warm milk and drink.

4. Use the power of herbs

Does insomnia continue to torment? Brew a soothing infusion.4 tbsp. pour spoons of motherwort herb with a glass of boiling water and leave for 2 hours in a thermos. Drink half an hour before meals 3 times a day for 1/3 cup. We recommend a “sleeping pill” drink at night. Take 1 teaspoon of valerian roots and hop cones, pour a glass of boiling water and leave for 1 hour. Then add a spoonful of honey and drink as tea before bed.

5. Visit your doctor

If you have a lack of sleep on a regular basis, see your doctor. The doctor will help determine the cause of insomnia and prescribe pills.But never take sleeping pills on the advice of friends or parents: the drugs are selected individually. In addition, some of them are addictive.

Good dreams to you!

Why you need to correct your sleep mode / Habr

Violation of the body’s circadian rhythm associated with a flight across several time zones (jetlag) is not the only cause of 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 coined the term “social jet lag” in 2006.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 due to 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 sleep off a week 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 follow 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 collection of bacteria living in the gut that help digest food. They can be influenced not only by diet, but also by meal time.Disruption of temporal rhythms also disrupts the rhythm of the microbiome, altering its structure and functioning, says 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. Many 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’s 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.

CORRECT DAY FOR CHILDREN

The correct daily routine and its timely organization are the key to the child’s health, his easy adaptation to kindergarten and, subsequently, to school. In addition, the daily routine is the basis of education.

In the body of a baby 1-3 years old, a number of changes constantly occur, for these reasons it is advisable to change the daily regimen.In the interval from one to three years, the daily routine changes three times.
It is important for parents to know that all guidelines are not strict and there are no standards. And the child’s regimen must match the needs of the child. It is impossible to abruptly transfer the baby from one regime of the day to another. This can provoke negative emotions in the child, the baby will become capricious, due to lack of sleep, frequent mood changes occur, distraction is formed, and various health problems of the baby are possible.

Baby’s day regimen 1-1.5 years old

In the second year of life, various changes take place in the baby’s body, children get tired quickly, but they do a lot of useful and important things during the day.Kids begin to actively walk, use a spoon, begin to pronounce simple words, their vocabulary is constantly replenished. All these actions require high energy costs.

Babies can sleep once or twice a day. The first sleep can be 2–2.5 hours, the second sleep a little less (about 2 hours). But most often babies sleep once during the day for about 3-4 hours. Before going to bed, it must be washed at least half an hour before going to bed. In order for the baby to sleep well, for daytime and nighttime sleep, it must be put to bed at about the same time.This will help form a certain reflex.

In the summer, the baby’s sleep should be in the fresh air. It is permissible to sleep on the street, on the veranda, if the temperature regime permits. If this is not possible, then the baby needs to sleep at least with an open window or window.

Also, in the warm season, when daylight hours are greater, the child’s daytime sleep should be slightly longer, but it is necessary to put the baby to bed at night a little later.

It is necessary to feed the baby 4 times a day with a break of 3.5-4 hours.The daily routine of the baby should be built so that after feeding there is a period of wakefulness, active games, walks, exercises, after which sleep is needed until the next feeding. It is this daily routine that will ensure the normal state of the baby.
The duration of periods of wakefulness between sleep should be 4.5-5 hours. Shortening of sleep time or lengthening of wakefulness time is unacceptable, as this can lead to mood swings, the baby will not be able to fall asleep right away, his nervous system will be too excited.

During the active period, the child can go about his business, namely, to learn about the world around him. The kid needs to be occupied with walks, games or developmental activities.

Great importance is attached to walking with a child. Walking should be done twice a day. It is advisable to take a walk after lunch and before dinner, and the walking time should be at least an hour. In winter, it can be 1.5 hours, but depending on the temperature outside in the warm season, walks can be safely increased to 2 hours.

Hygiene procedures are equally important, which should be carried out 2-3 times a week and always before bedtime. The bath relaxes babies and helps them fall asleep easier. During water procedures, babies need to instill their first hygiene skills. These skills include hand washing, washing, etc. Also, it is from this age that the baby must be taught to sit on the potty and sit next to it until the result is obtained.

Approximate daily routine for a child 1-1.5 years old

Morning rise should be at 7.30-8.00.

After waking up, morning bath procedures are required.

Breakfast – 7.30-8.00.

Wakefulness should take the period after breakfast and before lunch.

Some children may want to go to bed as early as 10.00-10.30.

After waking up in the time interval between 12.00 and 15.30, you must have lunch and be sure to take a walk with your baby.

After a walk, babies should go to bed, and if the baby sleeps once a day, then an afternoon nap is preferred.

After waking up at 17.00, an afternoon snack and a walk follow, the child is awake until the night’s sleep.

Before the night’s sleep, the baby must be bathed at 19.30.

It is necessary to feed the baby at 20.00.

The baby should fall asleep at 20.30-21.00.

Day regimen for babies from 1.5 to 2 years old

At this age, babies have even more necessary things to do, babies stand in pyramids made of cubes, participate in the dressing process, fasteners on shoes are especially loved.Babies can already drink on their own, while holding a mug or sippy in their own handles. In their games, they use what they have seen or heard, they can feed their favorite toy or try to comb it.
Upon reaching 1.5 years, even those babies who slept 2 times a day switch to a regimen with one day’s sleep. The duration of this sleep is 3–3.5–4 hours. The share of a night’s sleep is 10-11 hours. It turns out that in total, babies sleep 13-14.5 hours a day.

The child’s diet also remains 4 meals a day with intervals of 3.5-4.5 hours between feedings.The interval between feedings when the baby is awake should not be more than 3.5 hours.

The toddler is active during wakefulness, is engaged in important and active games, the body quickly expends its energy reserve.

After waking up in the morning, the child should have breakfast no later than an hour later. The same rule must be adhered to before bedtime (dinner should be no more than an hour before bedtime. Such simple rules will ensure the child has a good active morning and a good night’s sleep.

Further, the periods between sleep increase and should be 5–5.5 hours. Kids also devote all their free time to games. It is important for parents to remember about active and educational games with their baby.

Children of this age are happy to use various shovels, buckets, collect sand “Easter cakes”. For these reasons, the number of walks with the child remains the same – 2 times, but the order of walks changes somewhat. You can walk with your baby either after breakfast or before lunch, and when you come home you need to eat and go to bed.

The second walk should be after the afternoon snack. The duration of the walk remains the same as for children 1–1.5 years old, but an increase in the walk by no more than 20 minutes is permissible.
By the age of two, babies should already ask for a potty on their own, but this is not a strict rule. There are situations when kids are passionate about the game and cannot always make their parents understand about their needs. It is important for parents to know this and not to panic when this happens to their child. Mothers need to offer the baby to sit on the potty, thereby reminding and distracting him from the game.It is imperative that the baby be planted on the pot after and before bedtime.

Approximate daily routine for children 1.5-2 years old

The baby should wake up at 7.30, as mentioned earlier. Breakfast should be at least an hour later. The optimal time for breakfast is 8.00. Breakfast is followed by a period of wakefulness, during this period you can take a walk or take the child with a useful and interesting game.

At 12 o’clock it is necessary to have lunch with the baby and from 12.30 to 15.30 the baby should sleep.

After waking up, there is an afternoon snack and a walk. In the winter season, a walk can be replaced with family communication at home, and a walk with the baby when it is light, i.e. after lunch.

Upon returning from a walk at 18.30, the baby must be bathed.

At 19.30 the baby should have dinner and only after that – a night’s sleep.

The toddler should sleep from 20.30 to 7.30.

Daily routine for a child from 2 to 3 years old

This age period is especially important in the development of the baby, as the independence and creative nature of the child is being formed.The kids are already beginning to speak in sentences, often repeating everything they hear around. The child’s speech is gradually approaching that of an adult.

Toddlers can independently put on and take off socks, a shirt or a T-shirt, independently ask for the pot, indicating what actions the baby intends to perform.

During this period of time, babies may generally refuse to sleep during the day, but it is important for the parent to replace this period with quiet games or other activities, for example, looking at a book or watching cartoons.Such quiet periods during the day will help relax the child’s nervous system and prevent fatigue. If babies sleep during the day, then, as a rule, this is an afternoon nap.

The periods of wakefulness continue to increase and amount to 6–6.5 hours. For toddlers who are very active or for children who are weakened, wakefulness periods can be shortened by about an hour. The periods of wakefulness should consist of a series of active and passive activities, it is this rule that will not allow overwork of the child’s nervous system, since babies are still quickly excitable and can quickly get tired of the same type of activity.

Walking with a baby may increase in the summer season. If in winter, depending on weather conditions, walks should not exceed 1.5 hours, since the baby can quickly freeze, then in the warm season, almost all wakefulness and even daytime sleep can be transferred to the street.

Children 2–3 years old have already formed a stable perception of the potty, but it’s too early for parents to relax, it is still necessary to unload the baby and offer to go to the toilet, especially on the street when the baby is playing.

At this age, it is important to consolidate the child’s skills, for this it is necessary to praise the baby and reinforce it with constant repetitions.

Sample regimen for toddlers 2-3 years old

Awakening – 7.30

Breakfast – 8.00

After breakfast, a period of wakefulness follows, until 12 you can take a walk with your baby or do useful games or activities.

Lunch – 12.30

Sleep – 13.00-15.30

After sleep, an afternoon snack follows at 16.00 and a walk or classes until 19.00.
Dinner – 19.30

It is necessary to bathe your baby just before bedtime.

Night sleep – 20.30-7.30

It is important for parents to understand that unobtrusive adherence to the daily routine will allow your child to grow up healthy and organized, and will help prepare for kindergarten.

Pediatrician

children’s polyclinic

T.V. Drozdova

Remove (add) Hibernate from the Shutdown menu in Windows 10

Today we will look at how to remove (or add) “Hibernation” from the Shutdown menu in Windows 10.

Remove (add) Hibernation from the Shutdown menu in power management

1. In the search bar or in the Run menu (run by pressing Win + R), enter the command powercfg.cpl and press Enter.

2. On the left side, click on “Power Button Action”.

3. Click on “Change parameters that are currently unavailable”.

4. To add “Sleep” to the “Shutdown” menu – check the box next to “Sleep” to remove it from the “Shutdown” menu – uncheck the box next to “Sleep”. Click on “Save Changes”.

Remove (add) Hibernation from the Shutdown menu in the registry editor

1. In the search bar or in the Run menu (run by pressing Win + R), enter the command regedit and press Enter.

2. Follow the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ => go to the FlyoutMenuSettings section. If there is no FlyoutMenuSettings section – right-click on the Explorer section, select “New” => “Section” => name the new section FlyoutMenuSettings

3. Right-click on the FlyoutMenuSettings section, select “New” => “DWORD Parameter (32 bit) => name the new parameter ShowSleepOption

4. Open parameter ShowSleepOption => in the “Value” field enter 0 and click on “OK” – if you want to remove “Sleep” from the “Shutdown” menu. If you want to add “Sleep mode to the“ Shutdown ”menu – in the“ Value ”field enter 1 and click on“ OK ”.

Remove (add) Hibernation from the Disable menu in group policies

Group policies are in Windows Pro, Enterprise or Education, if you have a home version – use the previous methods.

1. Open Group Policy: in the search bar or in the Run menu (run by pressing the Win + R keys) enter gpedit.msc and press Enter.

2. Go to “Computer Configuration” => “Administrative Templates” => “Windows Components” => “Explorer” => open the “Show Sleep Mode in the Power Menu” option.

4. To show “Sleep mode” in the “Shutdown” menu – put a dot next to “Enabled” and click on “OK”.To hide the “Sleep mode” in the “Shutdown” menu – put a point next to “Disabled” and click on “OK”.

That’s all for today, if you know other ways – write in the comments! Happiness to you 🙂

Shutdown

PC shutdown modes

Sleep Mode is a low power mode that allows you to quickly resume normal power mode operation (typically within a few seconds) at the user’s request.Putting your computer to sleep is like pressing the Pause button on a DVD player: the computer immediately stops all operations and is ready to resume at any time.

Hibernation is a low power consumption mode designed primarily for notebook computers. When you enter hibernation mode, all open documents and settings are saved in memory and the computer enters a low power mode, while when you enter hibernation mode, all open documents and programs are saved to the hard disk and then the computer turns off.Of all the power saving modes in Windows, the least amount of power is required to maintain hibernation. If you do not plan to use your laptop for a long period of time and you cannot recharge the battery, it is recommended that you put the laptop into hibernation mode.

Hybrid sleep mode is a mode that is primarily designed for desktop computers. Hybrid Sleep Mode combines Sleep and Hibernation because all open documents and programs are saved in memory and on the hard disk and the computer is put into a low power consumption mode.In the event of an unexpected power failure, the Windows operating system can easily recover data from the disk. If Hybrid Sleep is enabled, Hibernation automatically puts the computer into Hybrid Sleep. On desktop computers, Hybrid Hibernation is typically enabled by default

The choice of the mode is up to the user. This article will offer an option to disable “Hibernation”, and delete the file hiberfil.sys

How do I disable Hibernation?

To disable “Sleep mode” do the following:

1. All settings are made with administrator rights.
2. Click Start – Control Panel – Power Supply.
3. In the window that opens, select the item “ Power plan settings ”

4. Now turn off Hibernation by selecting the value in “Put the computer into hibernation” – Never .

The sleep function can also be disabled. Select “ Change advanced power settings ” And in the window find sleep mode and disable it.

How do I delete the hiberfil.sys file?

After disabling “Hibernation”, you can delete the hidden file hiberfil.sys

The file hiberfil.sys is created by the operating system for hibernation to function. When the computer enters hibernation mode, Windows flushes the contents of the RAM to the hard disk – to the hiberfil.sys file, and when it is turned on, it loads this file into memory. The file size is equal to the size of the RAM installed on the computer.Thus, by deleting this file, you can significantly add free space on your hard disk. But in Windows 7, even if Hibernate is disabled, the hiberfil.sys file is not deleted and remains on the hard disk. To delete this file, you must have Administrator rights. Click Start – Run, or keys Win + R , and enter the command

powercfg –hibernate –off or powercfg -h off

Click OK and reboot.If you need to return the hibernation function, you can restore the hiberfil.sys file with the command

powercfg –hibernate –on or powercfg -h on

To check whether the hiberfil.sys file is present in the root of the disk, you can enable show hidden files . Start – Control Panel – Folder Options – View

Select “ Show hidden files, folders and drives ” and uncheck “ Hide protected system files ” do not forget to press Apply and Ok .Open drive C and see that there is no hiberfil.sys file.

To hide the display of protected files, return the items that you checked.

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