How to fix your sleep schedule

Why it usually falls apart

Most people try to fix their schedule by going to bed early. They lie awake, give up, scroll, and end up later than before. The body clock responds most strongly to when you wake and when you see light. A late weekend, a nap at 6pm or a lie-in after a bad night all push it later, so one off-schedule day can undo several good ones.

How to fix your sleep schedule

1. Anchor the wake-up time

   Pick the time you want to wake up and stick to it every day. If that is far from where you are now, move it fifteen to thirty minutes earlier every couple of days rather than all at once.

2. Get light straight away

   Open the curtains and get outside within an hour of waking if you can. Morning daylight is the strongest signal for your body clock. Ten minutes on a bright morning does more than an hour of indoor lights.

3. Dim the evening

   Lower the lights and screen brightness for the last hour or two. Bright light in the evening tells your body it is still daytime.

4. Skip the late nap

   Naps after about 3pm take away the sleepiness you need at night. If you must nap, keep it under thirty minutes and early in the afternoon.

5. Keep weekends within an hour

   Sleeping in three hours on Saturday is like flying to a different time zone and back. Keep the weekend wake time close to the weekday one.

6. Go to bed when sleepy

   Once the wake time is fixed, bedtime follows. Go to bed when you feel sleepy. After a week or two, sleepiness will start arriving at a regular time.

What to track

Track the smallest version you would still count on your worst day. A row you can clear when tired is a row you keep:

• Same wake-up time
• Daylight within an hour
• Lights dimmed at 9pm
• No naps after 3pm

Print a tracker with these 4 habits or open them in a spreadsheet.

Your first week

1. Day 1. Choose your target wake time and today's starting time.
2. Day 2. Get outside for ten minutes within an hour of waking.
3. Day 3. Dim the lights for the last hour before bed.
4. Day 4. Skip any nap after 3pm.
5. Day 5. Move the wake time fifteen minutes earlier.
6. Day 6. Keep the weekend wake time within an hour.
7. Day 7. Note what time you started feeling sleepy each night.