The idea of keeping consistent sleep timing on the weekend is alluring, but what do you tell people whose forced weekday sleep schedule is not their ideal schedule? I have to be to work FAR earlier than my natural sleep schedule would like. I cannot maintain that level of waking consistently because I cannot get my body to sleep early enough to maintain it.
Hi Cam, such a great question and one that I get rather frequently.
If your work schedule requires you to wake up earlier than your natural sleep tendency, sleeping later on weekends is not automatically a problem. The first question I'd ask is whether you're actually sleep deprived during the week.
If your body naturally wants to sleep from midnight to 8:00 a.m., but you're waking at 5:30 a.m. for work, then sleeping later on Saturday might be your body trying to recover the sleep it didn't get during the week.
In that situation, I'd focus less on maintaining the exact same schedule seven days per week and more on avoiding extremes. Sleeping an extra hour or two on weekends is very different from shifting your schedule by four or five hours and creating your own version of jet lag Friday through Sunday.
The sleep hygiene and wake-up advice stays exactly the same, though: get outside within the first hour of waking, keep lights dim in the evening, exercise earlier in the day when possible, and avoid large meals right before bed. Those strategies won't turn you into a morning person, but they can help nudge your system to fall asleep earlier.
There are limits to how much biology can be negotiated with. If you're doing all the right things and still struggle with a very early wake time, that doesn't necessarily mean you're failing. It may mean your work schedule and your internal clock aren't perfectly aligned.
The goal is getting enough sleep, minimizing social jet lag where you can, and creating the healthiest compromise possible between your biology and the realities of your life :)
Wow thanks for taking the time to type all that out! 5:30 AM five days a week comes early when your body and brain are convinced a bed time any time before 10 PM is too early! Appreciate the advice!
My RingConn gives me a sleep score and sleep efficiency.
I just ordered myself a ring. I am excited to dive in to the metrics.
Well done, Kristen!
Soon you’ll experience the unique joy of waking up feeling terrible and still checking your sleep score for emotional validation.
You neglected an important demographic: baby boomers wearing RingConn rings and acting like elite athletes.
Some of us have gone from “sleep when you’re dead” to protecting our sleep score and HRVs like it determines selection for a national team.
Ha! Proud of you, Mike!
The idea of keeping consistent sleep timing on the weekend is alluring, but what do you tell people whose forced weekday sleep schedule is not their ideal schedule? I have to be to work FAR earlier than my natural sleep schedule would like. I cannot maintain that level of waking consistently because I cannot get my body to sleep early enough to maintain it.
Hi Cam, such a great question and one that I get rather frequently.
If your work schedule requires you to wake up earlier than your natural sleep tendency, sleeping later on weekends is not automatically a problem. The first question I'd ask is whether you're actually sleep deprived during the week.
If your body naturally wants to sleep from midnight to 8:00 a.m., but you're waking at 5:30 a.m. for work, then sleeping later on Saturday might be your body trying to recover the sleep it didn't get during the week.
In that situation, I'd focus less on maintaining the exact same schedule seven days per week and more on avoiding extremes. Sleeping an extra hour or two on weekends is very different from shifting your schedule by four or five hours and creating your own version of jet lag Friday through Sunday.
The sleep hygiene and wake-up advice stays exactly the same, though: get outside within the first hour of waking, keep lights dim in the evening, exercise earlier in the day when possible, and avoid large meals right before bed. Those strategies won't turn you into a morning person, but they can help nudge your system to fall asleep earlier.
There are limits to how much biology can be negotiated with. If you're doing all the right things and still struggle with a very early wake time, that doesn't necessarily mean you're failing. It may mean your work schedule and your internal clock aren't perfectly aligned.
The goal is getting enough sleep, minimizing social jet lag where you can, and creating the healthiest compromise possible between your biology and the realities of your life :)
Wow thanks for taking the time to type all that out! 5:30 AM five days a week comes early when your body and brain are convinced a bed time any time before 10 PM is too early! Appreciate the advice!
You are very welcome, it was my pleasure. I hope you get some reprieve from your schedule!