These days, because I am a total psycho, I am waking up around 3:00 to 3:30 a.m. I truly enjoy getting up early {always have}, and in those quiet hours, I can get a days worth of work done, with zero interruption. Usually, by the afternoon, though, I like to take a quick nap, and then I am good to go until bed time.
Recently, I found this cool little tool that tells you what time to get up {from a nap} or what time to go to bed. The general idea is to plan your waking time so that you have completed a full sleep cycle {or several} before waking. If you don’t wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle, you’ll be less groggy, and a little more willing to pop out of bed. The program kind of takes the pain out of waking up–you just punch in what time you are going to get up, and it gives you several options for what time you should go to bed {for nighttime sleep, you want to try to get 5-6 full sleep cycles in}. Or, if you want to take an impromptu nap, just push the sleep now button, and it gives you wake times. Ah, it’s like science and sleep had a baby.
Who knows, maybe if you use it long enough, you won’t even need an alarm–your body will just kind of naturally wake up?
Anyway, it’s free, so check it out.
~Mavis
Mrs. Chow says
So glad you posted this!
butterflyweed says
I hate to tell you Mavis, but the 3am wake-up is something that starts happening to women when they approach menopause. Almost every woman I know has experienced it. 3am is also the Qi cycle for the liver which can interrupt sleep as well. Aging ain’t for sissies!
Mavis Butterfield says
Great.
JoAnn Moran says
So true. I’m 54 and I’m noticing the wakefulness at early hours and I’m starting to want to go to bed at 8:30. Aging isn’t for sissies.
Veronica says
I wish I could use this, but a teething infant and a potty-training toddler mean none of my sleep cycles get finished. Ever. Or at least for the foreseeable future. 🙂