Comments on: How to Reset Your Body Clock

By: lyn

lyn — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:11:37 +0000

I’m interested in :
. eating regular meals in helping to reset the body clock
. early morning exercise starting at 7am for 20 mins without fail for 3 weeks letting light into the eyes
. fact there are two sleep periods at night and if you miss the first then know when the second sleep phase will come
. use of melatonin .. I have been told it doesn’t work
. the single amino acid which apparently if lacking can cause disturbances to the circadian cycle
Anyone care to discuss these specifically?
Lyn

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:35:31 +0000

My body clock has always been broken. Even as a child I never slept well.

By: AndrewAlan.com » Me and my body clock

AndrewAlan.com » Me and my body clock — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:35:01 +0000

[...] Jul, 2008 Uncategorized Web Worker Daily and my recent UK trip inspired me to write this post. I’ve never been one for that sleep [...]

By: Celine Roque

Celine Roque — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:02:24 +0000

Rich – are you referring to what I read on the weekends that keep me up all night? I read all sorts of things, mostly fiction and almost anything I can get my hands on. But the instance I was referring to, I was reading “Art and Lies” by Jeanette Winterson.

By: Rich

Rich — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:10:08 +0000

No clock tips. But I’d like to know what your reading? :o)

By: links for 2008-07-04 at Ip’s.

links for 2008-07-04 at Ip’s. — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:47:27 +0000

[...] Web Worker Daily » Archive How to Reset Your Body Clock « “So how can we fix a broken body clock?: (tags: health sleep) [...]

By: Ellie

Ellie — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:32:14 +0000

I take medication that makes me soooooooooo sleepy! So, I have (under my doctor’s supervision) tinkered with the times I take my medicine to ensure that I can now get sleep during normal times (i.e. night time) rather than all day!

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:10:39 +0000

I have Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, but didn’t know it was a medical condition until recently. I’ve spent years trying to work “normally” with a body that’s on a 4PM-8AM schedule. Although I kept beating myself up for not being able to reset my sleep schedule, I eventually became a freelancer working from home, one of the most common ways of accommodating DSPS.

You can’t imagine the relief I felt when I learned that it was a medical issue, not my fault, and that it has a name. Though there is medication that can help, I accept and embrace my DSPS and have found that it works perfectly to live 4PM-8AM; I sleep when others work, and work when others sleep, and the evening is free for social activities and the like.

My advice is, if you’ve been struggling with a sleep schedule that doesn’t match your time zone for months or years, and nothing you try (including sedatives) helps you reset it, see your doctor and ask about a sleep disorder. They’re not the best publicized of conditions, so you may want to do a little research and take it with you. The peace of mind that comes from learning you’re not alone and it isn’t the result of personal weakness is indescribably liberating.

By: Tal Ater

Tal Ater — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:04:34 +0000

I've been suffering from a similar condition called Non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome, which basically meant I was going to sleep each day a couple of hours later then the day before, causing my days to shift wildly between being up at 4am one weeks and then at 4pm the next one. What Celine is describing in this article is more like Delayed sleep phase syndrome, a similar but different condition. I was lucky to be diagnosed by Dr. Yaron Dagan (the same Dr. Dagan who wrote half the articles referenced on the DSPS page on Wikipedia), and prescribed Melatonin which I now take daily and has really saved me from a life of bad sleep, and constant jetlag like tiredness. If you are suffering from something like this for more than a few months, and can't fix it... It may be more than a symptom of your web working life style... Get it checked by a good sleep doctor (there's very little awareness of these syndromes in the general MD community). If anyone has any questions, I'd love to help. This thing was ruining my life, and a simple treatment did miracles to me.

By: Marcin Grodzicki

Marcin Grodzicki — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 22:01:43 +0000

Also check out http://www.powerfulsleep.com for other sleep performance techniques. But do use mailinator or other service for signup, as their web design screams ’spam’.

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:54:21 +0000

Look into melatonin supplements. It helps reset your internal clock.

By: Emily Williams

Emily Williams — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:39:04 +0000

@Mark is right, when traveling it really helps to plan ahead and try to start living in the new time zone as soon as you get on the plane.

I’m going to add another recommendation of how to get your body clock regular: get a puppy! Now that I get up at 7:30 every morning for the dog, by 8:30 on weekends I’m waking up without an alarm clock. And if I decide to sleep in, someone else comes running into the bedroom to lick my face – if that doesn’t wake you up on time I don’t know what will!

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:15:43 +0000

There was an interesting article I found via Reddit about using food to deal with jet-lag. The same principle should apply… Apparently we have a secondary food clock that can override our primary (daylight-based) clock. To trigger this, plan on having breakfast at the regular time in your new (or existing, in this case?) timezone and then don’t eat for 16 hours before that breakfast. It worked for me on a recent trip!

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:06:22 +0000

I’ve had the issue a revolving sleep schedule where my body seems to think that a day lasts 25 hours and every day I go to sleep later and later. I’ve tried for a while to fix it but still have trouble with it, these tips sound good though and I’ll have to try them.