The secret to getting enough sleep

(MoneyWatch) Your alarm is set for 6 a.m., but every morning you hear it blaring and hit snooze. Nine minutes later, you hit snooze again, and again, until your back-up alarm goes off and you get out of bed a bit after 6:40, groggy and pretty sure that planned workout isn't going to happen before you need to leave the house by 7:15.

Is there any way to break this cycle?

Sure, says Patty Tucker, a Northern California-based sleep consultant. The key is to realize that if you really can't pull yourself out of bed at the time you intend to get up, you're probably not getting enough sleep. So you sleep in -- but not in a way that's helpful (snooze button sleep is pretty much useless). If you want to get up at a certain time, then getting adequate sleep means you need to stretch your sleep back earlier in the night. That means going to bed on time. And that means setting a bedtime alarm.

A bedtime alarm? "I get this shocked look," says Tucker, whenever she suggests it. She says that "it's so simple, and I think we have a tendency to ignore the simplest things or discount them if we think of them." But she notes that "simplest things are the most powerful."

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Set an alarm for 30 minutes before you need to be asleep, and when it goes off, you have to make a conscious decision. "We get so caught up in what we're doing, even if what we're doing is watching the Kardashians," says Tucker. "It takes something to actually pull you out of that reverie." An alarm will do that, and force you to decide if you're giving up on your morning plans in advance or not.

An alarm also has the benefit of telling whoever you're with that you intend to wind down, too. Often, couples get into a cycle where both parties are tired, but neither wants to be the one to turn off the TV. An alarm can bring a neutral outside perspective to this dilemma. The alarm isn't judging. It's just telling you that it's 10:00, and if you plan to be asleep at 10:30 in order to get 7.5 hours of sleep before 6 a.m., then now is the time to start the bedtime process. More often than not, says Tucker, "it works."

Do you give yourself a bedtime?

[UX08]

Interesting, but I've lived all my life with an irregular sleep pattern, I need almost 10 hours in bed to ensure I get enough rest and sleep, and if I go to bed early I can't sleep anyway until a certain time (like 1am). I also hate any kind of alarm!! And every time I hear the alarm in the morning my body reacts refusing to wake-up, where if I wake up in other ways (somebody calling me, noises, etc.) I don't have the same reaction!

Any solutions?!! XD

[Jeffp77100]

The reason you can't get to sleep until 1AM is because you are sleeping in too late (and getting 10 hours), of course you can't sleep. Need to change your sleep pattern. Gradual change will work best. 1/2 hour per week. Get an alarm that has a CD player. Make a recording on a CD that has somebody calling you, and after a few seconds, some noises, and whatever else wakes you up, have those sounds get louder (most MP3 recording programs have that feature, if you don't know how do it, ask someone to do it for you). Put the alarm on the other side of the room, so you have to get out of bed to turn it off.

[marshablake]

I agree with Jeff. I have a nephew who suffers from sleep deprivation. I have told him many times, to work on a Sleep Pattern. Try going to bed, not sleep at a decent hour 10-11 is not bad for most.If you wake up early, your body received a decent amount of sleep, also go ahead and get up, take a shower and get active. He calls me Sleeping Beauty, no phone calls after 9pm, I'm not sleep, just cruising my way down for a good night's sleep and I'm up around 4:30-5am. My alarm is set to my local jazz station. Yes, I hit snooze buttom every now and then if I feel i need a few minutes. Your bed can be an enemy for the body, mine aches if I stay in it too long, I also wake up with a headache if I try to "Sleep In" waking up at 8 or 9am on the weekends. When my body wakes up @ 6 or 7, I just hit the floor and keep moving. Strategic Sleep Rhythm

[gregromero2]

Great article! But can you provide some advice on how this can be done with an infant who's nearly a year old and has not slept through the night, despite sleep training? HELP!? ;-p

[marshablake]

Set a get ready for bath and bed/crib time 8:30pm.
NOT it's time to go sleep time.
Lower the lights, (1) Special Soft Toy for them to play with until they are tired and fall asleep naturally. Also maintain normal activity/noises, No Shhh's the baby's sleep.

[ronzoni2]

If you have an iPhone, try Sleep Cycle, the app. It attempts to wake you up, within a 30 minute window, when you are in a phase of shallow sleep. I find it works.