Early Bird Gets The Worm, Right?

By Camille

One of the worst things imaginable is waking up early, especially on days where you are allowed to sleep in. You spend hours tossing and turning, hoping sleep will eventually happen, except it doesn’t. If you have ever experienced waking up too early for your liking, you are not alone. Up until recently, I spent years waking up at 4:00 in the morning, even on weekends. This was especially bad since I ended up going to sleep too early.

Some people who don’t experience this might see this more as a blessing than a curse because they are unable to wake up early without an alarm clock. However, waking up too early can be detrimental to one’s health, especially because a good chunk of teenagers go to sleep very late.

Waking up too early was something that I absolutely hated about my body. Sure, I can brag about being able to rise before my alarm, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be up and about at that time. Problems that have occurred to me waking up too early include:

• I was sleepy throughout the day and found myself nodding off after lunch in school.

• I went to bed between 6-8 PM. That meant less time for me, and I was unable to text my friends back until the morning. (It’s always embarrassing explaining myself to friends).

• I was extremely moody during the day whenever I became sleepy. I became snappier and found myself becoming unreasonably angry at small things.

• It was harder to concentrate in my classes in the afternoon.

In order to understand our bodies, and why we arise too early in the morning, it is essential that we learn about our circadian rhythm. A circadian rhythm includes physical, mental, and behavioral processes that occur in a 24-hour cycle. A healthy circadian rhythm allows you to go to sleep and wake up at consistent times. However, you still need to aim for 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

Finding a good circadian rhythm for me took years, because my body was waking up despite being constantly tired. Below, I have provided some tips that have helped me gain control of my circadian rhythm again.

• Avoid caffeine. As someone who loves Dr. Pepper, I realized cutting down to just one can a day has allowed me to sleep in.

• Establish a cool environment. I always have my fan on the highest setting, and on those extra warm nights, I turn on the AC.

• Stay up later. As I mentioned before, waking up early has caused me to go to sleep early. By fighting against my tiredness, I was able to sleep in a little later.

• Exercise regularly. Whenever I exercise, I find myself sleeping in later because my body is exhausted.

Now, these may not necessarily work for you. Everyone’s body is different, so you may have to try new methods to fix your circadian rhythm. Below, I have compiled a list of even more solutions in case mine didn’t work.

• Try getting off electronics at least an hour before bed time. Try reading a book, or another activity.

• Only use your bed for sleeping, do not do any sort of work on your bed.

• Meditate before bed to reduce stress.

• Listen to music that is meant to make you relax, you can find these tunes on YouTube.

• Invest in an app to help you sleep. (These apps do not sponsor TWE)

• ShutEye

• Sleep Cycle

• Pzizz

Waking up early is a part of life, it is something that is necessary for everybody. However, it is possible to wake up too early. It is important to listen to your body and figure out how you can maintain a healthy circadian rhythm so you’re getting as much sleep as necessary.