How To Reset Your Circadian Rhythm To Improve Sleep

When was the last time you got some good sleep? When you are all stressed out at work or worried about a lot of things at home, finding good sleep can be quite tricky. Often, you wake up from sleep, feeling more tired than before you went to bed. 

Getting the right amount of sleep can sometimes be a challenge, and it's a problem you need to learn to deal with.

What Does The Circadian Clock Have To Do With Sleep?

If you're suffering from insomnia or general sleepiness even after getting a full eight hours, you may think to yourself, "My circadian clock might need fixing." Each one of us just wants to learn how to fix our sleep cycles so we can focus their attention on more important things. 

Losing sleep can make you lose your focus. It can make you go to work, but not focus on doing the expected work. You may be attending the parent-teacher conference, but your mind is somewhere else. 

While the circadian system is known to be the complex balance between your body's internal clock and the earth's rotation, its exact function in human life is hypersensitive. Unless you put focus on this natural mechanism, you can never tell how much help you need until you realize that you are indeed sleep deprived. 

How Do You Regulate Your Circadian Rhythm?

When it has been days since you last had a good sleep, all you wish for is some sort of sleep reset, where you will be able to get enough quality sleep. Worrying about how to fix a sleeping pattern could be anyone's problem. 

You are not alone in this. Before you lose hope, here are some tips to help you regulate your circadian rhythm. 

Tip 1: Make sure to get enough exposure to blue light or sunlight during the day

When you need to be awake during the day, make sure to give yourself enough sunlight exposure. If sunlight is not possible, then you can expose yourself to short-wavelength blue light instead. Getting enough sunlight at the time of the day when you need to be awake is a part of keeping the balance in your body. The light will trigger the cells in your body to be up and about just to see you through the day. 

It will have the same but opposite effect on your body at night. It means it will trigger the part of your brain that tells the entire body to rest and relax. This way, you will be able to put yourself to sleep just when you need to. 

Tip 2: Reduce food intake before going to bed

Are you fond of eating midnight snacks? Did you know that your difficulty sleeping at night can be caused by the amount of food you took in a few hours before going to bed? Your circadian rhythm is reset whenever you eat more food than you should.

The body ends up tailor fitting its system to allow your metabolism to work faster. So if you make adjustments to your dietary habits, you should expect yourself to miss out on some sleep. This is your body's way of coping with the changes you are putting in. 

The same is true if you try to eat healthily. The changes will disrupt the natural circadian rhythm process, but it will all be for the better. Since your body won't be working twice as hard to keep your metabolism going, you can expect to get better sleep at night. 

Remember, it is not just the number of hours you spend sleeping. It is also about the quality of sleep you are getting. 

Tip 3: Keep your sleeping patterns consistent, even on weekends

No matter how tempting it is to binge-watch your favorite movies on Netflix during weekends, keeping your sleeping patterns the same is important. This will allow the body to fully grasp the kind of sleeping style you want for yourself. 

Varying your sleeping and waking up patterns during weekends could affect your body negatively. A drastic change for one night might not have an effect, but consecutive nights will definitely bring variance to your sleep schedule. 

Lack of sleep can bring about drastic changes not only in your attitude towards work and life, but it could affect how you are mentally and physically. Not getting good sleep could only make you more anxious about this. 

If you keep the sleep patterns even on weekends, you don't have to worry about a thing at all. 

Tip 4: Limit your gadget exposure

The bright light on the screen of your gadget, whether it is your phone or the tablet, could cause your mind to keep on working even though it is already time to sleep. You might end up wide awake in the middle of the night, at the time when your body is supposed to be resting. 

If you can, make sure to limit your use of a phone or computer at least an hour before you go to bed. This will reduce melatonin-inhibiting blue light. In the process, it will allow your brain to be at ease. 

Tip 5: Choose to eat right

This is clearly a no-brainer. If you put a good amount of healthy foods in your diet plan, you will likely get adequate sleep at night. Like sleep, make sure that you keep the right schedule for your eating habits as well. 

Consuming foods with high sugar content is bad for your health too. Make sure that you eat right so that your body can adapt to a healthier rhythm. 

What's Your Takeaway?

As you learn more about how your body functions, you will be able to see how much help your body needs from you. In order to correct your circadian rhythm, you must help yourself set the systems in place. 

It is not just about getting good food into your diet or putting a sleeping system in place. Rather, it is about providing your body with the opportunity to survive the times.