I aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night, however, for a while now I have been sleeping at 3-4 A.M. and waking up around 11-12 A.M.. I have decided to start waking up at 8 A.M., but I am having difficulty falling asleep before 3-4 A.M. Should I slowly push my alarm back to 8, or should I just wake up at 8 no matter the time I fall asleep, even if it means being tired during the day until I get used to sleeping earlier?
Getting up early and dragging yourself through the next day even though you're tired might be the best way to reset your sleep/wake cycles I've found. The hard part is making sure you don't sleep in again the day after that because you're still playing catch up on sleep for a couple of days. After the second day it becomes much easier to fall asleep early and get up early. My sleep/wake cycles are fucked because I have Covid at the moment. I'm quarantined in my room and there's almost no reason to get myself up. Trying again tomorrow though! I've been through this before. Persistence is key.
When i fall asleep at 2-3 a.m i am able to wake up early, like 6am and being immediatly active. But if i sleep 7-8 hours i feel super tired and retarded, and there is no Black Tea, Coffee, exercice or run that can improve the situation. Sleep less was something that Pitagora itslelf praticed. And from what i know both Tolstoj and Gurdijeff also did. No self-styled scientists that say you need to sleep 8 hours please
To each their own. I feel very low energy if I sleep for less than 6 hours for more than a day or two in a row. I feel at my best when sleeping 7-8 hours daily which is widely considered the average amount of sleep a human should get. You may need less which doesn't disprove the average, just proves you need less sleep than the average person.
If you have difficulty falling asleep, find some simple activity to do from a set "bedtime" (or an hour before bedtime), making sure there are no screens (turn off phone, no computer/TV/tablet). Reading is ideal, although a very gripping book might persuade you to stay up, it is difficult to read if you get really tired. If you are having difficulty concentrating or following what is going on then it's time to put it down and try to sleep. If you can't fit 7-8 hour sleep in before your chosen waking time, aim for 7-8 hour relaxation and sleep. At the very least this should be time without screen use.
I had the exact same experience before. And what I did was pushing myself to get up early. I have to admit on that day you will fell extremely tired due to lack of sleep. But that night you may be able to fall asleep earlier. One myth is that if we stay up late at time, we must sleep more during to day as a compensation. However, I prefer te=he reverse version: we must get up early, so we need to go to bed earlier in order to get more sleep.
I think it's more important to keep a regular schedule than to get enough sleep. Your body clock has to be working right to get enough restorative sleep. Obviously you want to get enough, it's very important, but if you only focus how much you get into trouble. You can end up with your body clock out of whack, which is worse than not getting enough sleep. If your body clock is messed up your sleep is no good. It's ok to sleep in once and a while, even intentionally, but don't allow it to become a habit. Regular sleep/wake times are very important.
