An update on my journey to adjust my sleep schedule – plus actionable tips to help you change your sleep schedule.

When I published the How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule article, introducing a series where I document my journey to make changes to my sleep schedule and share my experience and the strategies that help me, I mentioned that I had a life event coming up that was going to throw things off. I was in the hospital for a week recovering from a medical procedure. I have been home for several weeks now and am doing well overall. If anything, this is evidence that we can return to our goals, even if we take a break.

This article shares my experience with this sleep journey over the 3 weeks right after leaving the hospital. I also share some advice on the strategies I am using when implementing this new habit feels difficult.

Sleep Schedule Adjustment Updates

A week with a Guest in Town (waking up around 8:30-9:00 am)

After getting back home, I thought I would return to my regular routine, but I ended up having a friend stay with me for a while. I thought this would extend my break from this journey, but we ended up waking up between 8:30 am and 9:00 am most days. He thought this was too late, but it was a success for me and got me back on my journey.

2.6.23

This was the first day I was back on my own. I woke up at 8:00 am, which was my goal time for this week. 

2.7.23

I woke up at 8:30 am! I remember waking up naturally before my alarm went off, checking the time, and seeing it was 7:30 am. I don’t think it was a dream, and I don’t know the last time I woke up that early without an alarm.

I am so proud of my progress these past two days. I’m making a point to celebrate after I get up by thinking positive phrases to myself, such as:

“Yay!” 

“Good job!”

“I’m proud of you!”

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Next steps

The past couple of nights, my goal was to go to bed by midnight and get up by 8:30 am. Since that is going well, my plan is to stay consistent with this pattern for a while.

2.8.23

I got up just a little past 8 am. It was only while making note of this that I realize I said I was planning on staying consistent with 8:30 am.

2.9.23

I ended up going to bed later than I wanted to last night (around 1 am). I debated pushing my wake-up time later but decided to keep it the same. When my alarm went off this morning, I did not want to get up. I wanted to hit snooze so badly, but I powered through. I think I got out of bed around 8:15 am. 

I’m a little tired today, but not terrible, so I’m glad I got myself out of bed at the same time.

2.10.23

I woke up at 8 am. I am so proud of how well I am doing! I went to bed at 11:15 pm last night to catch up on some of the sleep I lost the night before.

2.11.23

I woke up at 8 am with no alarm. Today is Saturday, and I made the point that I don’t intend to wake up early on weekends, which I think is fine, but I was impressed that my body naturally woke up at the same time without an alarm. I was also happy I was still able to go back to sleep.

2.12.23

I got up around 11 am since it is Sunday.

2.13.23

My parents so kindly sent me a sunrise alarm clock, which I set up last night. I woke up at 8 am but ended up falling back asleep. I’m trying to be okay with that because I was really tired. I actually got out of bed around 11 am.

2.14.23

Full transparency, I gave myself a day off to reset. I don’t remember exactly when I went to bed, but I think it was after midnight. I got up a little before 11 am. This was an intentional decision I made to take a break from this challenge. Even still, I found myself feeling a little upset/frustrated when I woke up late. I’m working on being okay with not doing this “perfectly” (whatever that means).

2.15.23

Today was another late-start day. I didn’t plan for it to be that way, but it was. I’m trying not to feel frustrated. I didn’t intend to become someone who wakes up early every single day no matter what. So, I’m reminding myself that that is okay.

2.16.23

I woke up late again (a little before 11 am). I didn’t stay up very late – I don’t remember exactly, but I think I was in bed before midnight. I vaguely remember turning off my alarms this morning. I’m feeling down on myself, and I know I need to do something to shift this energy.

Reframing to Help Achieve Goals

I am viewing the past couple of days as a sign that my body needed more sleep than I realized, and that I would benefit from taking a step back and regrouping. My plan is to do some journaling to reflect on why this goal is important to me. I think reminding myself of why this matters will make a much bigger impact than beating myself up and stressing over the past few days. At the end of the day, waking up early is something I’m excited about, not something I have to do.

Learn how to reframe your mindset to help you achieve your goals.

Photo by Vraj Shah: https://www.pexels.com/photo/flower-bloom-during-sunrise-633814/

2.17.23

I decided to give myself some grace and push my wake-up time to later. I set my alarm to go off at 9 am and got up a little after that. Journaling helped me get clear that part of my focus is on getting up, instead of turning off or snoozing my alarm. It isn’t just about how early it is.

I was extremely tired today. This was the first time during this challenge that I felt so tired during the day. It is interesting because I think I got a decent amount of sleep the night before. Again, I guess that is a sign that I needed more sleep than I realized, and that there are probably more factors contributing to how tired I feel than I realize.

2.18.23

I slept in a lot today. I still feel pretty tired right now. I’m looking forward to getting some good rest this weekend and feeling refreshed on Monday. I’m excited to give the sunrise alarm a real try.

I’m planning on sleeping in again tomorrow. Then, I am going to think about the week to come and brainstorm how I can implement habits to achieve my desired lifestyle. For example, small steps I can take to save time, so I can start winding down earlier.

2.19.23

I ended up getting woken up by my roommate around 9:30 am. We thought we had a gas leak, so we ended up leaving the house. It turns out I accidentally left one of the knobs on while I was cooking dinner the night before. Whoops. I didn’t get enough sleep and felt very tired today, but I’m happy we were safe.

2.20.23

I got up around 9:30 am. I remember hearing my alarm going off at 8 am, but I stayed half asleep. I didn’t even snooze the alarm. I just fell back asleep while it was playing. I also realized that I’m not getting the full effect of the sunrise lamp, since I sleep with my curtains open. Granted, that is already letting light in, but it isn’t as bright as a sunrise. I’m going to try closing them to see if the lamp lighting up a dark room makes a difference.

While I was still feeling a bit frustrated today, reading over my progress from the past couple of weeks re-motivated me and reminded me that I am capable of making my desired lifestyle changes when I set my mind to it. So I am going to keep moving forward, knowing that I can make these changes. I’m also going to keep reminding myself that this is all an experiment, and whatever happens is just allowing me to learn more about myself and my habits, which will help me with implementing habits in the future. 

Image by LUM3N from Pixabay