
Learn about sleep routines, insomnia, when to wake up, and go to bed for better sleep. This can have negative consequences for your short- and long-term wellness, but there are ways to get a better sleep routine. Sometimes, waking up too early can disrupt your sleep routine and lead to signs of sleep deprivation. This can happen even if you’ve only slept several hours instead of the recommended minimum of seven hours. Some people find that they will occasionally wake up an hour or more before their alarm, unable to get back to sleep.

Unfortunately, this works against the way the body regulates sleep, and that can lead to frustration when you get into bed. They go to bed at the same time each day and vary the wake-up time based on how they slept during the night. This is actually the opposite of what most people assume is the best thing for their sleep. An irregular wake-up time, whether that’s on the weekend, or after a bad night’s sleep, confuses your biological clock in just the same way - in fact, sleep doctors sometimes call this “social jet lag.” Obviously then, the best way to ensure that you’re sleepy at the same time each day is to wake up and get out of bed at the same time every day, even on the weekends. Our circadian rhythm is still on the schedule of our old time zone, so it’s lagging behind by something like an hour or more a day.

We find we’re tired at awkward times, and we can’t sleep when we get into bed. The circadian rhythm doesn’t respond instantly, it adjusts gradually over several days, and this adjustment is exactly what’s happening when we experience jet lag. This is because your circadian rhythm, also known as your body clock, is guided by your wake-up time rather than your bedtime. People are often surprised when I tell them this, but if you want to sleep well on a regular basis, the single most important thing you can do is to have a consistent wake-up time.
