30 Day Challenge - wake up at 6:30 am everyday

[laughingmatter]

I would like to wake up at 6:30 am everyday.

Day 0 - Pre-Challenge

Went to sleep at 4:00 am yesterday.
Woke up at 11:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 7.5 hrs

Analysis
I like to party, but staying up very late every weekend screws up my sleep cycle for the rest of the week.

This is negatively affecting various areas of my life, so it is something I need to get handled.

Next Steps

• Have to go to a friends bday party tonight (Saturday), leave by 12:00 am.

• Track caffeine intake.

• Try Steve's early rising alarm trick.

[Winter Goddess]

Good luck! You can do it!

I had to change myself as well; I used to have an erratic schedule and a period of working 20 hours a day 4 times a week and 8 changing hours a day the other 3 days of the week screwed me up so badly.

It made me depressed and dysfunctional after I quit/got fired of the 2 jobs that caused it and a year later I was still suffering from the physical damage. Getting away to India for a few months helped me somewhat stabilize myself, but what made the BIG change was when after I came back, I started waking up at 5am, every single day.

It took me about a month and a half to get used to it, and other than some minor adjusting around the changing of the clocks twice a year, it's perfect.

Now remember, most important of all... Is to just have fun with it!

I'm rooting for you!

[laughingmatter]

@Winter Goddess it is good to hear a success story, specially considering the disastrous first day I had.

I have had an erratic sleep schedule somewhat on and off for the past 6-7 years. It is pretty horrible, I have figured out ways to work around it to an extent. But this is not the way I wish to live life.

Day 1

Went to sleep at 4:30 am yesterday.
Woke up at 12:30 pm today.
Total hrs sleep: 8 hrs

Analysis
Feels like crap. I actually got worse. Uggh.

I actually got home at a decent time (12 am) but couldn't fall asleep, so decided to watch a movie.

Had no caffeine yesterday. So that wasn't the problem.

Didn't set up my alarm clock properly. But woke up around 10 naturally, but was kinda upset I missed my goal, so went back to sleep.

Next Steps

• Taking a Melatonin supplement at 12 tonight, to hopefully put me to sleep.
• Set up multiple alarm clocks.
• Steve's early riser trick.

[Winter Goddess]

Have you considered going to bed a few hours earlier and reading yourself to sleep?

Or, in the case of finding yourself still awake so close to wake up time (4:30am vs 5am), stay awake until the following evening?

[BSlighdistributors]

I think you need to set an alarm or something because you are not doing good hitting your targets. At least try to wake up close to the time. Like set the alarm for 8 or 9 to change your body clock somewhat.

[laughingmatter]

@Wintergoddess - I'd have to be reading something very boring for that to work. Staying up could work as well but in the past I have found it needs to be done slowly over a few days to work well. Otherwise it messes me up even more.

@Bslightdistributers - I set two alarm clocks today. It worked!

Day 2

Went to sleep at 12:30 am yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 6 hrs

Analysis
Today I hit my target!! Feel great right now.

This is what seemed to work.

- Felt drowsy so did 10 pushups right after waking up. It is great.
- Set two alarms. For some reason my brain tunes out the sound of my main alarm, but the sound of my cell phone ringing wakes me right up.
- Took 3mg of meltonin supplement to help me fall a sleep at 12 am.
Melatonin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This might have helped:
- Around 15 mins of kenpo cardio around 8 pm last night.
- Heavy meal, 6 egg whites + vegetables + 1 oz of cheese right before bed time
- 1000 micrograms Methylcobalamin (Vitamin B12) supplement

This was irrelevant:
- Drank 700 ml of Diet Cola, 1/2 cup of coffee worth of caffeine before 7 pm.

Next Steps

• Continue setting 2 alarms
• Continue to track and experiment with workout and meals to see what works.
• Add a cold shower right before bedtime, try to perfect some kind of pre-sleep routine
• Lower Melatonin dosage by 50% and take it by 11 pm if not sleepy (it's a natural hormone, but can be addictive).
• Increase Vitamin B12 to 3000 micrograms, 3 doses distributed evenly throughout the day. (Humans don't produce B12 naturally, and its water soluble, virtually no chance of addiction or overdose)

[laughingmatter]

Day 3


Went to sleep at 1:30 am yesterday.
Woke up at 6:34 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 5 hrs

Analysis
Hit my target!! Feel good about waking up. Worried that maybe I am not getting enough sleep. Felt low energy all of yesterday, though it might have been low carb diet I started

Good:
- Went back to sleep for 5 minutes, but doing pushups work me right up.
- Cut melatonin dose down to 1 mg, I had at around 1 am.
- Phone alarm, somehow I am automatically hitting the snooze on my other alarm.

Bad:
- I had a lot of caffeine: 1050 ml of Diet Cola (105 mg of caffeine) + 1 grande Iced Tea at around 6:30 pm (100 mg of caffiene). This time the caffeine affected my sleep but didn't really wake me up.

Meh:
- High protein / low carb meal day.
- Only took 1000 mcg of B12. Need to up this.


Next Steps
- Continue setting 2 alarms. Move regular alarm further away from bed and place it sideways to avoid hitting snooze automatically.
- Continue to track and experiment with workout and meals to see what works.
- Add a cold shower right before bedtime, try to perfect some kind of pre-sleep routine
- No more Black Iced Tea
- Increase Vitamin B12 to 3000 micrograms, 3 doses distributed evenly throughout the day.
- Go to sleep at 10:30

[laughingmatter]

Day 4

Went to sleep at 8:30 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 10 hrs

Analysis
Felt exhausted and low energy yesterday, but naturally fell asleep early.

Woke up today at 6:30 feeling refreshed, probably because I got 10 hours of sleep last night.

Instantly awoke to my regular alarm and went into my pushup routine. Instead of dragging out the waking process

Good:
- Slept for 10 hours, so caught up on some sleep I have been missing out on.
- No melatonin tonight just went to sleep naturally at an earlier time.
- Push-ups / some kind of physical stress, immediately after waking up seems pretty important to become alert soon after.
- No caffeine after 5 pm.
- 3000 mcg of B12
- Cold shower before bed time.

Bad:
- Felt like crap all of yesterday.

Meh:
- Another high protein / low carb meal day. Low energy levels, no impact on sleep.
- Drank about 100 mg of caffiene in the form of cola before 5. Didn't seem to affect my ability to fall asleep.


Next Steps
- Continue setting 2 alarms. Move regular alarm further away from bed and place it sideways to avoid hitting snooze automatically.
- Continue to track and experiment with workout and meals to see what works.
- Continue all the other good / effective stuff.

[laughingmatter]

Day 5


Went to sleep at 1:30 am yesterday.
Woke up at 7:50 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 6.5 hrs

Analysis
Couldn't fall asleep yesterday. Ended up taking 1 mg of melatonin, but it was probably too much as it left me feeling drowsy.


Good:
- 3000 mcg of B12
- Cold shower before bed time.

Bad:
- Doing too much thinking work before bed.
- Hungry before bed time.
- Drank about 100 mg of caffiene in the form of cola before 5. Didn't seem to affect my ability to fall asleep.
- Didn't go immediately into pushups after turning off the alarm.


Next Steps
- Continue all the other good / effective stuff.
- Add a workout in the evening
- Go to sleep by 11.

[bluestar]

Originally Posted by Winter Goddess

Have you considered going to bed a few hours earlier and reading yourself to sleep?

Or, in the case of finding yourself still awake so close to wake up time (4:30am vs 5am), stay awake until the following evening?

That's what I do if things start to get very messed-up, and I really need to start getting up early. I stay up all night and all the next day and go to bed earlier as a result. I then have the most marvelous deep wonderful sleep and wake 9 hours later feeling great. Then the cycle gets sorted out for a while.
I do that every now and again. If I start to slip into the old default of getting to bed very late. I don't stay in bed late enough in the morning (get up to walk my dog etc)so I start to get really exhausted. But doing this helps kick start a new phase of more healthy sleep.

[Medusa locked]

I used to have this really irregular sleep pattern, where I used to sleep for 10-12 hours and be awake for 20-24 hours, regardless of the time of day. that emerged when I gave up trying and stressing over getting myself to sleep. That was 4 years ago.

Now, I take valerian supplements, drink cocoa(I swear, I cannot sleep without it) and if all else fails, I use this attitude whereby instead of stressing or going to do something in hopes of having better success of sleep when I return to bed, I tell myself, "the next best thing to sleep is lying down." I find that even if I'm lying awake for x amount of hours, it still counts as rest and I'm not as tired the next day as I would have spending energy hoping that it'll help me sleep.

[Medusa locked]

Meditation helps too

[laughingmatter]

Day 6


Went to sleep at 12:30 am yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 6.0 hrs

Analysis:
Felt 'sleepy' but couldn't fall asleep yesterday. Ended up taking 1.5 mg of melatonin at 12. Its going to take a while for my hormones to adjust.


Good:
- 3000 mcg of B12
- Cold shower before bed time.
- Stretching after turning off alarm

Bad:
- Hungry before bed time.

Next Steps
- Continue all the other good / effective stuff.

[laughingmatter]

Originally Posted by bluestar

That's what I do if things start to get very messed-up, and I really need to start getting up early. I stay up all night and all the next day and go to bed earlier as a result. I then have the most marvelous deep wonderful sleep and wake 9 hours later feeling great. Then the cycle gets sorted out for a while.

I have done this before, sometimes it works, at others it just messes my sleep up even more putting me into a non-24 hr sleep cycle.

I think forcing myself to wake up everyday at 6:30 for an extended (1-2 month) period of time is probably the best way to get my body to adapt.

Originally Posted by Medusa locked

that emerged when I gave up trying and stressing over getting myself to sleep. That was 4 years ago...

..Meditation helps too.

That is interesting. I am going to move my sitting meditation practice to before bedtime.

[laughingmatter]

Day 7


Went to sleep at 10:30 am yesterday.
Woke up at 5:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 7.0 hrs

Analysis:
Started P90x yesterday and did their intense 1 hour arms/shoulders work out last night, this was probably a way too much after not working out at all for months.

I woke up multiple times tonight because my arms were hurting. I have been working out on and off for a few years, and this has never happened to me.

Woke up without an alarm at 5:30 because my arms were so sore.

Good:
- 3000 mcg of B12
- Cold shower before bed time.
- Darkening the room a couple hours before bed time
- Meditation prior to bed time.
- Physical and mental winding down a couple hours before falling asleep.

Bad:
- Workout was waaay too intense, arms in pain.

Next Steps
- Might go party tonight, need to make sure I get back by 1 am.
- Continue all the other good / effective stuff.

[Clint Cora]

Here's my 'secrets' for getting to bed at a decent hour every night and waking relatively early between 6:30 am and 7 am.

1) Do NOT watch late night movies/TV
2) Read instead - there should always be a book by bedside and this is good for your personal development too
3) My dogs get me up by about 6:30 am

No supplements needed!

[laughingmatter]

Day 8

Went to sleep at 3:20 am yesterday.
Woke up at 7:50 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 4.5 hrs

Analysis:
Got home at 3:00 am yesterday and went straight to bed.

Woke up without an alarm at 5:30. But decided to sleep in a little because I knew I had come home late last night.

Good:
- 3000 mcg of B12

Bad:
- Got home pretty late. Missed my target of getting home by 1 am

Next Steps
- Go to sleep at 9 tonight get caught up on all the sleep debt.
- Continue all the other good / effective stuff.

[laughingmatter]

Originally Posted by Clint Cora

2) Read instead - there should always be a book by bedside and this is good for your personal development too...

... No supplements needed!

Yes I going to start reading a book prior to meditation as part of winding down for the night.

As for supplements I don't want to use Melatonin anymore. But I have a B12 deficiency, so I want to continue using that.

There is evidence linking B12 to better sleep
Effects of Vitamin B12 on Performance and Circadian Rhythm in Normal Subjects
Circadian rhythm abnormalities in adrenoleukodystr... [Brain Dev. 1995 Nov-Dec] - PubMed result

[laughingmatter]

Day 9

Went to sleep at 8:30 am yesterday.
Woke up at 6:29 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 10 hrs

Analysis:
Woke up naturally without an alarm at exactly 6:29 about 30 seconds before my alarm clock wen off.

Went to sleep early yesterday because I was feeling sleepy.

Good:
- Wind down process a couple of hours before sleeping
- Going to sleep when sleepy, caught up on sleep.
- Stretches / Exercizes right after waking up


Next Steps
- Continue all the other good / effective stuff.

[eudj]

I'm glad to read about your progress with your challenge! I'm going to do the same

[laughingmatter]

Day 10

Went to sleep at 10:00 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 8.5 hrs

Analysis:
Woke up naturally without an alarm at around 6 and went back to sleep.

Been under the weather with fever and coughing. So don't feel the greatest right now.

Good:
- Wind down process a couple of hours before sleeping
- Going to sleep when sleepy, caught up on sleep.


Next Steps
- Start the winddown process a bit earlier.

[bluestar]

Is a cold shower a good idea before bed/sleep/relaxation etc?
I always found stimulating things like this better for mornings.....
Cold water on the body is a good idea, it strengthens the immune system. It encourages good circulation. But for my taste, before bed would feel so wrong! I wonder if that could be why your arms hurt in sleep? Perhaps the muscles got too cold?

[laughingmatter]

@bluestar: I have been skipping the night time shower since I got sick a couple of days ago. But tried the cold shower in the morning today. Definitely feels awesome.

Day 10

Went to sleep at 9:00 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 9.5 hrs

Analysis:
Woke up to the alarm at 6:30. Got a lot of sleep last night. Still a little bit sick, but I think it is starting to improve.

Good:
- Wind down process as soon as I started feeling sleepy
- Going to sleep when sleepy, caught up on sleep.

Bad:
- No morning stretch. Almost didn't want to get out of bed, till my phone alarm went off.

Next Steps
- Move cold showers to the morning

[laughingmatter]

Day 11

Went to sleep at 11:00 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 7.5 hrs

Analysis:
Been feeling like crap the last week, cuz I have been sick with a high fever. Coughing was making me stay up to 1/2 a melation pill to help put me to sleep.

Good:
- Wind down process as soon as I started feeling sleepy
- Going to sleep when sleepy, caught up on sleep.

Bad:
- Melatonin

Next Steps
- Rest and improve health.

[laughingmatter]

Day 12

Went to sleep at 10:30 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 8 hrs

Analysis:
Still sick, was coughing so much last night I could barely fall asleep. Still think I need to rest and improve health.

Good:
- Wind down process as soon as I started feeling sleepy
- Going to sleep when sleepy, caught up on sleep.

Bad:
- Ridiculous amounts of coughing

Next Steps
- Rest and improve health.

[laughingmatter]

Day 13

Went to sleep at 11:00 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 8:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 9.5 hrs

Analysis:
Woke up at 6:30 but decided to stay in bed a bit longer because I wasn't feeling well.

Starting to feel better.

Good:
- Going to sleep when sleepy, caught up on sleep.

Bad:
- Over slept a little
- Didn't do the stretches

Next Steps
- Start waking at 6:30 again.

[laughingmatter]

Day 14

Went to sleep at 11:30 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 7.0 hrs

Analysis:
Didn't do any wind down yesterday. Pushups immidietely after waking up and then starting to do stuff rather than resting made me wake up faster and get more done.

Starting to feel better.

Good:
- Going to sleep when sleepy

Bad:
- No wind down

Next Steps
- Keep doing push up right out of bed and then immediately moving on to morning chores[/QUOTE]

[laughingmatter]

Day 15

Went to sleep at 11:30 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 7:00 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 7.5 hrs

Analysis:
Didn't do any wind down yesterday. Woke up at 6:30 but went back to bed to take a nap afterwards.

Starting to feel better.


Bad:
- No wind down
- Not waking up right after alarm clock went off

Next Steps
- Do push up right out of bed and then immediately moving on to morning chores

[dogstar]

Originally Posted by Clint Cora

3) My dogs get me up by about 6:30 am

No doubt! Get a puppy. Mine has me up between 5-5:30 every morning whether I want to get up or not.

[laughingmatter]

Day 16

Went to sleep at 11:30 pm yesterday.
Woke up at 6:30 am today.
Total hrs sleep: 7 hrs

Analysis:
Didn't do any wind down yesterday. Woke up at 6:30. Getting pretty comfortable with the wake up, now focusing on how to get more done right after waking up.


Bad:
- No wind down


Next Steps
- Do push up right out of bed and then immediately moving on to morning chores