Sleep Schedule Tips
Circadiana is a new blog about sleep written by someone who seems to be a sleep researcher. The first substantive entry, while a bit rambling, is the most informative thing I’ve read on sleep since Wide Awake at 3:00 A.M.. He claims that there is a natural biological variation in sleep patterns, from “larks”, who are early to bed and early to rise, to “owls” (me). It’s better for you to conform to your natural sleep cycle if possible, he says, but he also has advice on how to shift it:
The best way to shift a clock is by using bright light. Instead of buying a $500 light-box, you can, for much less money, build your own for a fraction of that money. You need a piece of board, 3-4 strong neon lightbulbs, balasts, a switch, a plug, and some wires. An hour of fun, and you have an apparatus that is just as good and effective as the hifallutin corporate gizmo. Use the light box at appropriate times (dawn for owls, dusk for [larks]). If you are an extreme owl, when you first get up in the morning, immediately go out in the sunlight (that is thousands of lux of light energy, compared to hundreds from a lightbox) for a jog with your dog. If you do not have a dog, buy one – that will force you to go for a walk early in the morning. Well-scheduled meals also help.
Do not take anti-depressants. They tend to not work for circadian-based depression and may just mask the symptoms (i.e., you “feel” good while your body is falling apart). Do not use melatonin supplements. Do not use alcohol – it may make you fall asleep fast, but the sleep will be shallow and erratic and you will wake up feeling lousy instead of rested. Caffeinated drinks are fine, except during the last 2-3 hours before your intended bedtime, at which time a warm glass of milk may be better.
Make a routine in the evening. The last 2-3 hours before bedtime stay out of the bedroom (bedroom is only for sleep and sex), and switch off all the screens: no TV, no computer, no gameboy. Reading a book while sitting in an armchair in the living room is fine. Just sitting on the porch and thinking will help you wind down. As the evening progresses gradually turn down the lights. Once the bedtime arrives, go to the bedroom, go to bed, switch off the light (pitch darkness) and go to sleep if you can. If you cannot, get up for a few minutes, but keep your lights dim, still no screens, no caffein, no food.
The part about the light rings true to me—I wake up much more easily in a room with lots of natural light than I do in rooms with small covered windows. I’ll have to try the “reading in the living room” bit. Anyway, that’s only a small excerpt of the full entry.
January 9th, 2005 at 1:29 am
It’s interesting to see an explaination of why melatonin doesn’t work. I’ve always avoided it, because I heard it was bad to take if you had depression.
I’ve seen that list of sleep hygiene before, since I’ve always had trouble sleeping. (I even had a sleep study done once, which was a strange experience made stranger by the sleeping pill the hospital gave me.) Anti-depressants are a real tricky situation. I have to be very careful about what time of day I take them to avoid screwing up sleep. Of course, it depends on what drug you take — some are ennervating and others calming.
I agree about the light thing — in my new apartment, it’s much sunnier. I wake up earlier and stay awake more easily during the day in a bright room. It was much easier to feel tired when I was in that dark apartment in north oakland.
I find, myself, that if I start sitting in the living room reading a book 2 hours before bed, I’m still sitting in the living room reading at 5am. But I can see how that might work for a less obsessive reader. I find that there are certain screen-based things that do help me fall asleep. Watching “The Passion of Joan of Arc”, for instance, or playing Final Fantasy Tactics.
January 9th, 2005 at 7:10 am
Well, a frequent sleeptime habit of mine is to go directly from hacking → take out contacts → read in bed with glass of wine, which generally works OK, but I figure the alcohol is bad for me, and the light while I’m reading in bed is disruptive to Justina’s sleep depth. Reading in the living room with contacts out last night didn’t seem to make me feel tired (I too have definitely been known to stay up all night reading), and I still ended up reading in bed too. Maybe my body will learn the habit with practice.
I don’t have any strong leanings about the screen thing. I don’t feel that sleepy at my desk, but that could just be contextual (same way he says “the bedroom is for sleep and sex only”). And I can sit on the couch reading the web forever, but that could just be because I’m an avid reader.