Sleep Science!

[The Linker]

So, I've been having trouble with sleeping lately -- it results in difficulty in the getting up part specifically, but I'd like to improve on the whole process. It's really starting to affect my studies -- not because I'm falling asleep in class (did that last semester, but I seem to be fine this semester in that regard), but just because I can't get myself up and come in late. If that. :smallfrown: I'm starting to fall behind... in the early classes, that is.

I'd go to bed earlier, but it usually doesn't seem to work. I'll sleep four hours one night, and get out of bed easily. I'll sleep like ten hours the next night, and bluuuuuurgh.

I've got the whole 'alarm clock across the room' (well, two of my three alarm clocks) thing going on, but I crawl back into bed rather quickly in my sleep-deprived state. I can't get too fancy with hiding it, lest I annoy the crap out of my roommates and the guy who lives downstairs. I often set it like a half-hour before I should get up, but I've gotten diminishing returns on that strategy.

What I really want to ask is in the title; is there any science behind sleep that could help me wake up more rested during the night? Positions, lighting, etc. I'd really like to kick this and start getting up earlier. I thought I could ask the Playground for some tips; what gets you a restful night?

Main point (tl;dr): If I can figure out why I wake up so much easier some nights than others, I can apply it to other nights. Help me isolate the relevant variables! :smallbiggrin:

[Dogmantra]

Now supposedly you have a MUCH easier time waking up and feeling refreshed if you awake at the end of a sleep cycle. Apparently most people's are roughly 90 minutes. Try to set your alarms for a multiple of 90 minutes from when you go to sleep and see if that helps? That's assuming a bunch of stuff, and for more effective timings you'll just have to go to bed at the same time every night and experiment with your alarm to find the perfect time.

[The Linker]

Hmmm, that's really interesting. I'll have to try that. :smallconfused:

[factotum]

Speaking personally, I find I actually sleep better if I go to bed a little later. For instance, if I go to bed at 11pm I wake up at 6:15am feeling more refreshed than I would if I'd gone to bed at 10pm!

[Icewalker]

Dogmantra is correct about the point, but probably less so about the method. The single biggest influence on how well you wake up is whether you are getting jerked out of delta state deep sleep, or whether you are being tapped awake out of lighter theta state REM sleep.

Now, the best way to help yourself get the right timing here likely isn't to base your alarm on the time you go to sleep, but instead, to go to sleep and wake up consistently at the same time for a while. Probably just about a week at the outside. Our bodies are REALLY GOOD at recognizing patterns in sleep and aligning to them. It's scary. I've found myself often waking up one minute before my alarm goes off.

Second, lighting is good, yes. Specifically, you want to be waking up with rising light: ie, the sun. If you can sleep next to a window, with shades open, then in the morning the room will be starting to light up when you awake. This helps.

Past that, I'm not sure what advice to give. The best thing to do is to pick up a consistent pattern in your sleep.

[Deth Muncher]

If you can hunt down a copy - and I do mean hunt down, the book is out of print and hard as hell to find - Claudio Stampi wrote a book on Polyphasic Sleep: aka naps. It really helped me write my epic paper on naps and assorted sleeping things a few semesters ago. It's good times.

[The Linker]

Dogmantra is correct about the point, but probably less so about the method. The single biggest influence on how well you wake up is whether you are getting jerked out of delta state deep sleep, or whether you are being tapped awake out of lighter theta state REM sleep.

Now, the best way to help yourself get the right timing here likely isn't to base your alarm on the time you go to sleep, but instead, to go to sleep and wake up consistently at the same time for a while. Probably just about a week at the outside. Our bodies are REALLY GOOD at recognizing patterns in sleep and aligning to them. It's scary. I've found myself often waking up one minute before my alarm goes off.

Second, lighting is good, yes. Specifically, you want to be waking up with rising light: ie, the sun. If you can sleep next to a window, with shades open, then in the morning the room will be starting to light up when you awake. This helps.

Past that, I'm not sure what advice to give. The best thing to do is to pick up a consistent pattern in your sleep.

Hmm... one issue with that is that my school schedule varies wildly. On two days, my first class is 9:00 AM. On two other days, my first class is 1:00 PM. On the last day, my first class is 6:00 PM. (Well, I say 'last day' but it's really Monday. Awesome chance to make up lost weekend sleep staying up late.)

Of course, it would be possible to simply wake up at 8:00 AM every day, even the weekend, and going to bed at midnight... that would be a giant lifestyle change. My sleep-in days! My late nights! And inevitably as a college student I'll be stuck at 11:55 with an assignment due the next morning at least some days...

I think I'll try it out at some point, though. Maybe the week after Reading Week, I'll resolve to follow that schedule explicitly for that week, and continue until my next 9:00 AM day and see if it starts getting really easy.

[Icewalker]

See how it works. It might not really easy, but it will definitely get easier. And honestly, once your body is actually operating better, it shouldn't fall apart if you sleep in on occasion. More you do it the more you'll probably start losing the pattern though.

[Mathis]

I had your problem my first year at college and it was a mean cycle to get out of. But considering you are in college I think you should realize that sleep-in days are a luxury you really can't afford. Sure, they're amazing but you're not in college to sleep in. It sounds condescending and moralistic I know, but you really have to realize that college isn't about taking it easy and sleeping in; it's about educating yourself and working hard. My classes start as irradically as yours, but I get up at 9 every morning nonetheless and 6 for those days I have classes at 8.am. I honestly think that 9 is pretty fine actually, it's not as early as you'd think but it'l be an aquired taste.

I'll second Icewalkers suggestion about getting up at a regular time though. Make it later than your earliest class, but not by much as an hour or so will be enough. Also, consider not studying at home. The single smartest thing I did this year was to decide to do all my studying at school. Of course, some times you'll want to just read a book at home but that's fine. Just make sure to make home a place of relaxation and you'll find that going to bed and sleeping there will become easier over time.

Another suggestion would be to consider taking waking up at regular intervals to the next level. Let's say you decide to wake up at 10am. Every day from 10 to 16-17-ish is school-work and studying time. Make it a job that requires several hours every day. You'll give your own life structure and routine, and you'll find it will become easier to divide your time between activities. I hope this will be helpful and didn't make me sound like a condescending bastard, but this is what helped me get out the same situation you're in right now.

[factotum]

I think I'll try it out at some point, though. Maybe the week after Reading Week, I'll resolve to follow that schedule explicitly for that week, and continue until my next 9:00 AM day and see if it starts getting really easy.

It'll be good practice for when you leave college and have to work for a living. :smallsmile:

[shadow_archmagi]

Trying to wake up at noon some days and 8 am other days is definitely going to wreak havoc on you. Keep yourself to a routine for sure.

[Dvandemon]

Ugh, my sleep cycles are really out of wack. Sometimes I'm really tired only to immediately come awake in a short time, other times I'm drop dead groggy, or incredibly hyper, I can't get asleep etc. all in a week. Thanks to this and dehydration, I had the trippiest dream once :p

[Keld Denar]

Try to avoid things in the evening that raise your heart rate. Don't watch scary shows, don't play video games, etc. Read a book or something. I'd suggest the NFPA 25 sprinkler regulations...that never fails to put me to sleep. I used to play a lot of video games till late, especially competative games like DotA that can be pretty intense. When I quit doing that in the evenings, I noticed I have a MUCH easier time falling asleep. At LEAST an hour of cooldown prior to bed is critical, I think.

When you wake up, do something to get your heart rate spiked. Run in place, dance around the room, do 20 pushups, something. Anything. Get that heart rate up, and between the increase in BP and happy drugs that are given off by that, you should be good for a while. FORCE yourself to do it. Once you do it a handful of times, it'll become habit and will be much easier to do. You'll be leaping out of bed in no time just because your body is craving it.

[Sholos]

If you can hunt down a copy - and I do mean hunt down, the book is out of print and hard as hell to find - Claudio Stampi wrote a book on Polyphasic Sleep: aka naps. It really helped me write my epic paper on naps and assorted sleeping things a few semesters ago. It's good times.

Naps can be good, but polyphasic sleeping schedules will screw you up pretty badly. They're only good for when you absolutely must get by on little sleep, and even then only for short periods of time.

[Cealocanth]

Another thing, try not use your bed for anything but sleeping. That means no computer in bed, no eating in bed, and no reading in bed. This helps your brain identify that your bed is an object used for sleeping, and I've often found myself falling asleep the second I get in bed no matter what time of day because of this. If the aforementioned hourly resting sessions involve reading, try a comfy chair instead of your bed.

[THAC0]

Another thing, try not use your bed for anything but sleeping. That means no computer in bed, no eating in bed, and no reading in bed. This helps your brain identify that your bed is an object used for sleeping, and I've often found myself falling asleep the second I get in bed no matter what time of day because of this. If the aforementioned hourly resting sessions involve reading, try a comfy chair instead of your bed.

Well... there might be SOME other things a bed ought to be used for... :smallbiggrin:

[Dvandemon]

When I can't sleep, it's generally because I either, fell asleep earlier and took an accidental nap or, suffer from a massive brainstorm. Sometimes I wonder if I'm accidentally inducing polyphasic sleep
Try to avoid things in the evening that raise your heart rate. Don't watch scary shows, don't play video games, etc. Read a book or something. I'd suggest the NFPA 25 sprinkler regulations...that never fails to put me to sleep. I used to play a lot of video games till late, especially competative games like DotA that can be pretty intense. When I quit doing that in the evenings, I noticed I have a MUCH easier time falling asleep. At LEAST an hour of cooldown prior to bed is critical, I think.

You know, my brother would always get on my case when right after avoiding doing something for him because I was tired, I would suddenly gain energy from playing a video game or using the computer (sometimes I'd do it in reverse :smallwink:).

[grimbold]

the book
sleep thieves
is very useful for this

[Fontaine]

Well... there might be SOME other things a bed ought to be used for... :smallbiggrin:

Like meditating! :smalltongue:

[Don Julio Anejo]

One thing that continues to baffle me is that my roommate runs right before sleep. And I don't mean a light jog in the park. I mean a hardcore 40-something minute route that takes him around 3.5 miles if Google Maps is any indication. After which he comes home and passes right out in the span of 20 minutes.

If I did that at midnight, I wouldn't be able to sleep till easily the next morning, and the same with most people if my knowledge of physiology is any indication.