Sleep Rhythm Revisited
A year ago I wrote something about my sleep rhythm problem and the migraines I get due to it sometimes. Well, it seems that I have successfully fixed that problem. Exactly three months ago I started following Steve Pavlina’s Early Riser program (part 2) and all headaches are gone. The first time I read about it was in one of Ian Murdock’s posts.
The first week was hard but then it has been quite easy (this may depend on the level of discipline). I chose 7:30 as my wake up time since it allows me to go to bed late sometimes but isn’t that late in the morning. I can still get to my lectures or other appointments on time with ease.
A few remarks about the program, experiences and things/research I read1:
- It is really important to go to bed when you are sleepy. This may look simple, but it is not. It’s easy to get entangled in something exciting (TV show, coding, music) just when you ought to get some sleep, so you’ll miss the first melatonin wave.
- When the alarm goes off, don’t allow yourself to linger in bed just for a few moments, it is disastrous. Get out!
- It is impossible to catch up sleep and bad to try it as well, just let it correct itself.
- It is even more impossible to sleep ahead, the it confuses the body much more than it does good.
- Did I mention that one should go to bed when one is sleepy?
- Sometimes, mostly due to social circumstances, it just gets much later then you would’ve wanted to. Getting out of bed at 7:30 with only 4 hours of sleep is possible, but sleeping a bit longer is better in this case. Just don’t over due it.
- The body knows quite well when sleep is required but not when waking up would be a good thing.
- For me, the key thing is keeping the rhythm in the weekends. I’ve found out that in the past the weekend always distorts the rhythm and it takes until Thursday to get it right and then it’s almost weekend again.
- Power naps are really not that bad. They don’t make you look like an old person, they’re great for purging incoming headaches or stress/brain load.
The program may look fragile, but after some weeks it isn’t really. It feels a bit like having all the time in the world without having to stretch each day with 4 hours or should I say, 24 hours ought to be enough for everybody. ;-)
1 I really wished I would’ve bookmarked the research, but that is too late now and I am too lazy to trace it all back at the moment.