Sparkle1984
04-03-13, 19:45
I've pretty much cracked most of the other aspects of my anxiety, but I still have problems with my sleeping patterns. The problem isn't actually getting to sleep - once I'm in bed, I usually get to sleep fairly quickly. The problem is more about motivating myself to go to bed at a reasonable time, particularly at weekends.
During the working week I try to go to bed by about 11pm and get up at 7.30am. However, sometimes I don't manage to get to bed and fall asleep until nearly midnight. On Friday night I'm tempted to stay up later as I know I don't have to go to work the next day. So then on Saturday morning, I get tempted to lay in bed until 11am in order to catch up on sleep that I lost during the week. Then on Saturday night, I don't feel like going to bed until almost 2am as I just don't feel tired, so then on Sunday morning I don't get up until 11am either.
Sunday night is the worst time as I know I have to go to work the next day, but as my sleeping patterns are totally out of kilter I often don't manage to get to sleep until after 1am, so by the time I have to wake up on Monday morning I've only had about 6 hours sleep. Then I feel awful all day Monday. It feels as if I've been jetlagged. Although I know this is self-inflicted, this sleeping pattern has become ingrained over many years and I'm finding it really hard to break it. If anything, it has got worse over the years - I seem to go to bed later and later at the weekend.
I was actually supposed to go out this evening, but I've stayed in as I just can't face going out when I feel so lethargic. The reason I find it hard to go to bed early at the weekends is because there are so many distractions - for example I'll stay up on the internet, play games or watch TV until about 1am and I find it hard to pull myself away from it. I tend to feel better in the evenings than I do in the mornings - I think I'm somewhat a "night owl" in this respect.
However, I'm getting fed up with my Mondays being ruined like this and I also don't like the way I miss the mornings at weekends, so I'd like to try and break this cycle. What is the best way of solving this? Would it be best if I try and go to bed at 11pm and get up at 7.30am all the time (including at weekends)?
During the working week I try to go to bed by about 11pm and get up at 7.30am. However, sometimes I don't manage to get to bed and fall asleep until nearly midnight. On Friday night I'm tempted to stay up later as I know I don't have to go to work the next day. So then on Saturday morning, I get tempted to lay in bed until 11am in order to catch up on sleep that I lost during the week. Then on Saturday night, I don't feel like going to bed until almost 2am as I just don't feel tired, so then on Sunday morning I don't get up until 11am either.
Sunday night is the worst time as I know I have to go to work the next day, but as my sleeping patterns are totally out of kilter I often don't manage to get to sleep until after 1am, so by the time I have to wake up on Monday morning I've only had about 6 hours sleep. Then I feel awful all day Monday. It feels as if I've been jetlagged. Although I know this is self-inflicted, this sleeping pattern has become ingrained over many years and I'm finding it really hard to break it. If anything, it has got worse over the years - I seem to go to bed later and later at the weekend.
I was actually supposed to go out this evening, but I've stayed in as I just can't face going out when I feel so lethargic. The reason I find it hard to go to bed early at the weekends is because there are so many distractions - for example I'll stay up on the internet, play games or watch TV until about 1am and I find it hard to pull myself away from it. I tend to feel better in the evenings than I do in the mornings - I think I'm somewhat a "night owl" in this respect.
However, I'm getting fed up with my Mondays being ruined like this and I also don't like the way I miss the mornings at weekends, so I'd like to try and break this cycle. What is the best way of solving this? Would it be best if I try and go to bed at 11pm and get up at 7.30am all the time (including at weekends)?