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The global pandemic has led to many changes in our lives, including changes in sleep. As different parts of the world make transition back to the pre-pandemic, changes to sleep are expected. This guide helps make this transition easier. You can also use this for adjusting to different sleeping schedules in the future (e.g., going back to work after a long break).
If you struggle with a sleep disorder such as insomnia or body clock disorder, this guide may not work well. Please consult a health professional for your condition.
First, take a moment to review the following:
- Before the pandemic: what time were you going to bed and getting up? How much were you sleeping most days? How were you feeling during the day?
- During the pandemic: what time have you been going to bed and getting up? How much sleep have you been getting most days? How are you feeling during the day?
- How is your current sleep pattern different from the past?
Now, write down your current bedtime and get up time for a typical day.
If you have mostly followed your body's cues, going to bed when you are sleepy, waking up naturally, feeling alert during the day, then your current sleep patterns serve as a reference point for the future. It tells you what your body's preferred sleep timing is, and how much sleep you need.
If you have been sleeping longer and are feeling good, then remind your future self to protect your sleep time and not trade it for other things - remember how good you feel when you get the sleep you need.
Below are 4 features of a good sleep pattern to work towards. It will take time to make adjustments in sleep routines, and give yourself at least 1 week, ideally 2 weeks for this transition.
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Your get-up time is like an anchor to your day and night. The timing of morning light will tune your "body clock", and a consistent get-up time helps other parts of your day and night fall into place. Therefore, this is the key to making the transition.
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Set a target get-up time. Think ahead and write down what time you are likely to be able to get up everyday of the week in your new schedule.
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Calculate the difference between this target and your current get-up time.
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If your target is earlier than your current get-up time, you will need to shift your body clock earlier by doing the following:
- Seek bright light as soon as you get up in the morning for at least 20 minutes (30 - 60 minutes would be great!). Try opening curtains and let in direct sunlight; if you don't have access to natural light, turn on bright indoor lights.
- Avoid light 1 to 2 hours before bedtime. Keep lights dim and block blue light on electronic devices (turn brightness of the screen to the lowest setting, and turn on apps such as f.lux and Night Shift [iOS, Macs].
- Wind down 1 to 2 hours before usual bedtime. Go to bed when you are feeling that “wave” of sleepiness is arriving. For some people this may feel like alertness is lower, eyelids are heavy, thoughts are slowing down. Learn to “surf the waves” of sleepiness, and “catch” it to go to sleep.
- As you do the above, start getting up about 15 minutes earlier than the previous day, so that you progressively move towards your target get-up time.
- Different people may adjust to earlier get-up time at different pace. You could adjust the pace by moving slower (e.g., 5-10 min earlier per day) or faster (e.g., 20 min earlier per day), or taking pauses for a day or two. The goal is to be able to comfortably get up before you move to the next earlier get-up time.
- For bedtime, continue to follow your body's cues, and only go to bed when the "wave" of sleepiness is arriving, and NOT when you feel alert. As you get up earlier and get bright light earlier in the morning, your body clock will gradually shift earlier, and the "wave" will arrive earlier gradually.
- Once you have arrived at your target get-up time, you could continue with the morning bright light and evening dim light as they are helpful in keeping your body clock in place.
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If your new schedule requires you to stay up past your current bedtime, you need to shift your body clock later by doing the following:
- Set your earliest bedtime to be 15 min later than your current bedtime. Stay up until the "wave" of sleepiness is arriving, and that the time is past this later bedtime. For example, if you currently go to bed on or after 10 pm, make 10:15 pm the new earliest bedtime. Stay up until after 10:15 pm, and when it's after 10:15 pm, AND you are feeling the sleepiness wave is arriving, go to bed.
- Move the earliest bedtime 15 min later each day.
- It is likely that you do not need this step, but if you struggle to stay up, seek bright light in the evening could make this easier. You could seek bright light up until 1 hour before your bedtime, then shift to dim lights to prepare your body for sleep.
- As you go to bed later, you will gradually wake up later. If you wake up earlier than you wish to, try to avoid light for the first 2 hours. You could try using low level nightlights around the house, or wear sunglasses to avoid light.
- This transition may take several days, and you could adjust your pace faster or slower than the 15 min per day, or pause for a day or two before continue delaying.
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If there is a large difference between your current and target sleep times, or if you have difficulty with the steps above, it would be a good idea to speak to a health professional.
Many things in our modern society compete with sleep for our time. The time we spend doing things that we "have to do", and sometimes "love to do", is the time we do not spend sleeping. However, trading that 1 hour's sleep for other things often means you lose many more hours' productivity and well-feeling. It is simply not a fair trade.
If this sounds familiar, then it is time to remind yourself now, and frequently in the future, that prioritising sleep is a "win-win" choice. Remember what it was like to have enough sleep? You feel alert, productive, and have better mood. Choosing sleep over other things is a smart move that is good for your health, and good for your productivity.
So, try to get the sleep opportunity you need on most days. If your sleepy wave arrives around your usual bedtime, follow it and go to bed without delay.
It is normal to have some fluctuation in our sleep from day to day. Social jet-lag happens when our sleep is very different between days when we have external commitments, and days when we don't. A typical example is sleeping in much later and longer over the weekend.
Social jet-lag often means that on days when you have commitments, you get less sleep than you need, and sleep at a time that is not well aligned with your body clock. This is why we want to reduce social jet-lag.
Following steps in #1 above, you could minimise social jet-lag after transition into the new schedule. If you notice that on commitment free days (e.g., weekend), you have to sleep in for more than 30 min, it is a good idea to review your sleep and prevent further increase in social jet-lag.
- Are you getting enough sleep on weekdays? If not, review #2 above to get enough sleep on most days.
- Has your body clock drifted later, such that you are alert later into the night and struggle to get up in the morning? If so, repeat steps in #1 to to move your body clock earlier.
Please refer to this guide, especially Part 2, on healthy sleeping habits, and what to do after a poor night's sleep.
In addition, for many people, there may have been a blurred boundary between work, activities, and sleep.
- Try to keep things related to waking activities (e.g., desk, computer, exercise equipment) out of the bedroom.
- Have a few hours' buffer zone between alerting acvities (e.g., work, socialising, exercise) and your bedtime.
- Try not to go to bed when you are alert or having strong emotions. Unwind and go to bed when the sleepiness wave is arriving and your alertness drops. Mind and body exercises such as those offered by Smiling Mind are useful tools for quieting a busy mind.
If sleep problems persist for a while, happening on more days than not, severely interfere with what you do during the day, or you are very concerned or distressed about them, it's a good idea to check with your physician. Most sleep problems respond well to treatments. For example, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is a highly effective non-drug treatment for insomnia, the most common sleep disorder. In Australia, you can see a psychologist for sleep problems through Medicare, speak to your GP about options. For more information about sleep, check out National Sleep Foundation and fact sheets from Sleep Health Foundation.
This article is written by Drs Bei Bei, Shantha Rajaratnam, and Sean Drummond from Monash University Healthy Sleep Clinic, Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, Monash University, Australia. Contribution to this via Github, for example, translation into other languages, is welcome. For questions and comments, please contact [email protected]