How To Fix Your Sleep Schedule

Passing out in the small hours. Sleeping your weekend mornings away — or rising before the roosters. Zombie-walking to that first jolt of caffeine. Tossing, turning, peeing and getting increasingly frustrated between those scant bits of shut-eye.

Seem familiar?

Sounds like your sleep schedule could use a fix. And you’re far from alone.

“Sleep deficiency is an epidemic. About 40% of Americans aren’t getting enough sleep,” says sleep medicine specialist Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer, DO, MS.

But what can you do that will actually work to fix your sleep schedule? And why does it matter for your health? Dr. Foldvary-Scheafer shares advice

Tips to fix your sleep schedule (that actually work)

What works for one person to get the sleep they need may not work for another. And that’s OK.

“There are common approaches to building a sleep schedule that work well most of the time. But they don’t all work for every individual,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer points out. “There’s not a cookie-cutter approach that works for everyone. We all have different ways of managing our habits, and there are many effective ways. We just have to find what works for us.”

Even still, there are some healthy bedtime tips and sleep hygiene routines that can help most people to get their sleep schedule on track. Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer shares some of the most effective.

1. Set a consistent schedule

Your body thrives on routine. And your sleep schedule is no different.

Staying consistent with a bedtime and wakeup schedule is the No. 1 way to improve your sleep schedule, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer states. “Set a wake-up time that’s the same every day, including work days and non-work days. That’ll drive your brain to feel sleepy around the same time every evening.”

For most people, getting eight to 10 hours of sleep per night should be the goal. So, if you need to be up by 6 a.m. for work, aim to be closing your eyes no later than 10 p.m. Every. Day.

What if you don’t get to bed till midnight one day? Can you push back your alarm?

Ideally, no.

“Setting a consistent wake-up time that’s the same every day is really important,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer emphasizes. “That may lead to some nights of sleep loss if you go to bed a little bit later. But over the long haul, it’s the most effective strategy.”

2. Don’t rely on caffeine

There is no shortage of ways to get your caffeine fix. And a bit of caffeine isn’t a bad thing. A small amount of coffee can even have some health benefits.

But if the only thing getting you out of bed in the morning is the promise of your cup of joe (or soda or energy shot), that’s a red flag that your sleep schedule needs a makeover.

“If you really need the caffeine to wake you up, rather than having that cup of coffee that you enjoy, then it’s probably a sign that you’re not getting enough sleep, or that the quality of your sleep is inadequate,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says.

And over-caffeinating to make up for a poor sleep schedule isn’t doing you any favors.

Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer recommends setting a cutoff time for caffeine. And it may need to be earlier than you think. “For some people, that’s maybe 10:00 in the morning or noon. For others, it may be closer to 1:00 or 2:00. Anything later than that is probably not a good use of caffeine.”

3. Give yourself plenty of wind-down time

Think about your evening routine. If you’re on the go right up until it’s time to close your eyes, you’re not setting yourself up for success.

Starting about three hours before you go to bed, begin to cue your brain that night is falling and that bedtime is around the corner.

“Light exposure is absorbed through our eyes into our retina, and our brain starts to think it’s daytime when we’re in a well-lit environment,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer explains. “So, it can be helpful to stay off electronics and dim the lights in the hours leading to bedtime.”

Think of the hours leading up to bedtime as a period where you set the tone for sleep. That means:

• Turning off the TV
• Walking away from your phone or tablet
• Using low lighting
• Not exercising
• Avoiding alcohol

4. Practice relaxation

If your mind starts racing the moment you put your head to pillow, it’s bound to keep you up.

Replaying the day’s events. Fixating on deciphering the tone in your sister’s voice on your last phone call. Dreading that thing you have to do tomorrow.

Whatever it is, it’s certainly not helping you get to sleep. Or stay asleep.

Lighten your nighttime mental load with relaxation techniques, like:

• Bedtime yoga
• Journaling
• Meditation
• Reading

5. Be careful with naps

Nothing may sound better to you than taking an afternoon snooze. Especially after a bad night.

People with conditions like hypersomnia (an inability to stay awake despite getting enough sleep) may be advised by a healthcare professional to take a short nap each day.

For others, naps can easily backfire and thwart your attempts at fixing your sleep schedule.

“Naps can really undermine nighttime sleep for some people. And nighttime sleep is your most restorative sleep,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer warns. “Sleeping during the day can be a recipe for chronic insomnia because you’re sleeping off some of that sleep debt, rather than holding out for bedtime.”

But remember, extreme sleepiness can put you at risk for things like car accidents and falls.

If you need to nap to ensure your safety, keep it short. A 20-minute power nap can help take the edge off without putting your nighttime sleep at risk.

6. Seek help for long-term sleep trouble

If you’ve already tried strategies like cutting back on caffeine and keeping to a strict sleep schedule, and your sleep is still out of whack, it’s probably time to call in reinforcements.

Most sleep disorders are defined as having sleep-related symptoms for three months or longer. But too often, we neglect to get professional healthcare support. And so our sleep schedule suffers for much longer than that.

That’s bad news for your well-being. And for your ability to course correct.

“Sleep disorders have their way of becoming chronic by not addressing them early on,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer cautions.

Why fixing your sleep schedule matters

For some people, it can seem like the downside of a poor sleep schedule is nothing more than a case of grogginess. Annoying enough, sure. But nothing all that damaging.

That’s because a lot of us go through our days blissfully unaware of just how much our sleep (or lack thereof) is affecting us.

“Many of us just don’t recognize that every little cell in our body, including the billions of cells in our brains, need sleep to function normally,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer shares. “If we’re pushing ourselves to be awake later than we naturally would be, or waking later in the morning, then our sleep circadian rhythm won’t be aligned with the functions in our bodies that work on a 24-hour schedule.”

In other words, the impacts of a bad sleep schedule go beyond feeling sleepy. Long-term sleep deprivation impacts systems across your body that depend on you getting some quality, uninterrupted ZZZs.

Over the long term, a poor sleep schedule can wreak havoc across your body. That can contribute to troubles like:

• Heart disease
• Brain dysfunction
• Weakened immune system response
• Accidents and injuries
• Mood changes and mental health conditions
• Weight gain

How long will it take to fix a broken sleep schedule?

Just how quickly can you fix a poor sleep schedule? A day? A week? More?

It depends on the situation, Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer says. But if you’re following healthy and research-backed methods for better sleep, you might not have to wait too long to see improvements.

Fixing a messy sleep schedule is all about building healthy sleep-promoting habits. And like any new habit, it might be tough at first. But if you can stick with it, it shouldn’t be too long before you start to see some results.

“When you start setting some changes in motion, those first few days might feel like a struggle because you’re acclimating,” she acknowledges. “But after that, I think most people are going to start to feel that their sleep quality improves pretty quickly.”

Not sure where to start? Talk with a primary care physician or other primary care provider. They can help steer you in the right direction. That may be by providing personalized recommendations or referring you to a sleep medicine expert.

“Sleep is foundational to health and wellness — no less important than diet and exercise,” Dr. Foldvary-Schaefer emphasizes. “There’s really no threshold that’s too low to talk to a healthcare provider.”