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Wasn't sure under which forum this post fits, but thinking it could be something related to my health that I need to change, I thought of posting here.
I like to wake up early and few years back I used to wake up at 4:30am with help of an alarm, but since last few months I don't even need an alarm. I would naturally wake up between 4:00am-5:30am, sometimes even before 4am and I would feel so fresh as if I can win the world and am able to focus on everything. But just after couple of hours around 6:30am or 7:00am or so I start feeling drowsy and unable to focus on anything. If I sleep then my schedule goes haywire and if I don't then I have hard time focusing on anything for rest of the day. I sleep around 9:30pm, so it should be enough sleep even if I wake up around 4:30am.
I tried a few things to avoid this but nothing helped me much. Tried exercising as first thing in morning and with that I could feel fresh till 8:30 or 9:00, but then sleepy/drowsy again. I stopped exercising after I moved, but I would drink tea with little sugar and that didn't work either. I thought sugar was making me sleepy, so I would just drink some hot water and tea later in the day, but none of these keeps me awake till mid-day.
I go for regular health check-ups and don't have any health issues except imbalance in cholesterol. I don't take any medications except multi-vitamins, biotin and B-12 supplements.
I work 10-11 hours a day(mostly sedentary) and have to study as well for something for next 6-8 months. I was thinking to wake up early, study for couple of hours before getting to work, but my sleep is causing problems.
Anyone here wakes up early and has hard time focusing during the day? What do you do to avoid it?
When and what are you eating in the mornings? If you aren't eating properly, you won't have the fuel necessary to provide energy to stay active. Tea and sugar aren't a substitute for a nutritional meal at the right time. OTOH, if you eat an overly heavy meal that could also make you sleepy. Might consult with a sleep center. A sleep study might reveal how well you actually rest while you are asleep at night.
Each of us has our own circadian rhythm of sleep/awake which is probably not strictly 24 hrs and usually not in sync with The Sun's cycle, so sometimes you want to sleep when the sun is down and sometimes you want to sleep when the sun is up. Then the cycle starts over again.
Before electric lights and factory shift work, the natural way to sleep was to go to bed at sundown, sleep for 4 hrs, then wake for 1-4 hrs and then return to sleep until sunrise....and most of the world honors The Siesta Tradtion.
You can train yourself into another pattern, but are fighting Nature.
Seems a bit unexpected to me that lying down for an hour or so of extra sleep around 530-700 AM would mess up a bedtime sleep schedule of 930 PM.
My normal sleep routine is similar to yours:10 PM to 5-6 AM, and I eat a breakfast right away. On days that I go for a run (usually mid to late AM), sometimes I feel tired/sleepy a couple hours afterwards. A hot shower can certainly trigger this!
So sometimes I take a brief period of rest (about half an hour), usally leading to entering a semi dream state in which I'm not in control of my thoughts.
Preventing this from progressing into sleep is key for me to remain alert after the nap, rather than drowsy. Must "wake up" when recognizing this, and continue to relax for however long you decide to. If I fail to catch myself and actually fall asleep for an hour or so, it leads to feeling really sluggish for awhile upon awakening.
OTOH, there's nothing that feels so relaxing as a mid day nap where you actually fall asleep. Unfortunately, you usually pay the price later that evening when you regular sleep pattern is disrupted.
Take away: If you can rest when it feels necessary rather than falling into a deep sleep, that could possibly work to refresh you.
I'm in bed around 11:30, asleep before midnight. I wake up usually between 4-6am needing to go to the bathroom. Then back to bed for another couple of hours sleep. I wake up feeling refreshed.
How old are you?
I think age has a lot to do with it too. When I was young, 5 or 6 hrs a night would do me and I could go all day. I'm 70 now and if I don't get 8 hr, I am tired all day. Maybe I am just worn out.....lol
I swear I was thinking of posting about this same issue. My usual sleep routine (btw I work from home)
Bedtime: 11-1 fall asleep
wake up: 3-4am While awake I will clean, read, go outside and walk (in nice weather)
back to sleep: 6-7
up for the day: 9-10am
I have never been a morning person. I wish I could awake in the morning like folks do in commercials. It takes me so long to feel awake and ready for the day. As the day progresses, I become more engaged and productive. By the time everyone else is winding down, I'm sad that no one has energy to socialize, but also relieved to have the house and world to myself.
OP, once I'm awake I don't usually feel groggy. I rarely take naps as they make me anxious. But I am groggy if I have an appt and have to get up and arrive on the usual morning schedule for appts out in the community.
I swear I was thinking of posting about this same issue. My usual sleep routine (btw I work from home)
Bedtime: 11-1 fall asleep
wake up: 3-4am While awake I will clean, read, go outside and walk (in nice weather)
back to sleep: 6-7
up for the day: 9-10am
I have never been a morning person. I wish I could awake in the morning like folks do in commercials. It takes me so long to feel awake and ready for the day. As the day progresses, I become more engaged and productive. By the time everyone else is winding down, I'm sad that no one has energy to socialize, but also relieved to have the house and world to myself.
OP, once I'm awake I don't usually feel groggy. I rarely take naps as they make me anxious. But I am groggy if I have an appt and have to get up and arrive on the usual morning schedule for appts out in the community.
Maybe get a dog - because they need to be walked and need to go out to pee in the early mornings. Thats what changed me to an early person. Of course, a dog may not fit into your life so it was just something that worked for me.
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To the OP, I am wondering if there is some some problem with serotonin/melatonin(dont know what they are called, but the hormone which kicks in in the mornings to wake us up to get going). A standard blood test probably would not show that up.
Also a thought, our sleep cycle can be changed by habit so it might be a case of pushing through for a while and maybe it will get better. See above, but I had to push myself a lot to get up early to walk the dog at 5am because that was the only time we had available to do it. That was hard for a while.
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