Does it Matter When i Sleep

[SQAAD]

Does it matter if i sleep at night or during the day??

I've heard about the importance of the circadian rhythm , all though i know little about it. I try to sleep during the night but i've noticed that if i don't force myself to wake up with an alarm then eventually i wake up later and later. Until i reach a point where i sleep during the day and wake up at night... But i feel normal. 

If i sleep good it doesn't seem to matter when i sleep. But still i am concerned.

 

[Shiva99]

Try not setting a particular sleep or wake time and just follow your bodys needs. Sleep when your tired, eat when your hungry.

[undeather]

Consistency is king when it comes to sleep.

A person's chronotype is the propensity for the individual to sleep at a particular time during a 24-hour period. Its mostly genetically determined and therfore fixed - if you want to get as much out of your sleep as possible, its really important to get in sync with your underlying mechanisms. That means, if you are a night owl and go to sleep very late, then do that - but do that consistently. After a time your whole body will undertake adjustments and you will feel much more tired right around your typical sleeping period. Our modern word, as sad as it is, discriminates against certain chronotypes and priviliges type A, rise early and grind personalities - which is in my opinion one big factor for our pandemic of neurodegenerative diseases. 

The required amount of sleep to stay healthy varies as well, but for most people its around 7-9 hours. 
Personally, Iam not a big fan of "follow your bodys needs". In my opinion its the best and worst advice you can give at the same time. From a evolutionary standpoint our sleep habits are so out of touch with our what we are programmed to do. We used to wake up to the first glances of the sun early in the morning and go to bed very early at night. Our lifestyle was evolving around a very intense resting period that followed the natural light and darkness - cycles. We dont have this anymore. There is artificial light everywhere, we use obfuscators and if we are honest, who already wants to go to bed at 8 in the eveining?  Our bodies are confused, we put chemicals in us that interfere with the receptor sites regulating our sleep cycle (like caffeine). All that and a lot more leads to us modern humans having so much issues with the most natural thing ever- the quality of our sleep. 
So why is this also the best advice you can give: Well, if you start putting some consistency in your day and night cycles, your body will reprogramm itself and you will start feeling tired at around the same time every night. Thats the key, thats what we want! You will start feeling more energized druing the day, your hormone levels will balance out and your susceptibility for certain diseases will drop dramatically. Thats when you start to "follow your body needs", because now - you are body actually knows what the fuck is going on. 
 

There is great marterial out there regarding sleep and how to maximize it: I can highly recommend Matthew Walkers book "Why we sleep". 

Best regards
 

Edited September 1, 2021 by undeather

[Michael569]

Consider reading Matt Walker's - Why We Sleep and/or Sanchin Panda's - Circadian Code to truly understand the importance of sleep aligned with the rhythm of the day and why reversed, inconsistent sleep, excessive night shifting or just a sloppy sleep schedule can be a trigger of a chronic disease in a few years 

 

[flowboy]

10 hours ago, SQAAD said:

I've heard about the importance of the circadian rhythm , all though i know little about it. I try to sleep during the night but i've noticed that if i don't force myself to wake up with an alarm then eventually i wake up later and later. Until i reach a point where i sleep during the day and wake up at night... But i feel normal. 

This is because the artificial light in laptop screens, phone screens, LEDs, street light and other electronics is throwing off our natural circadian rhythm. Using your phone and laptop at 17pm is already confusing for the body, because it has frequencies of light that would not occur naturally around that time.

So if you want to have a consistent rhythm, but also live in a city and use technology, you have to force it a bit. With alarms and stuff. This is why people have blackout curtains and blue-blocking glasses. But it doesn't catch everything.

To verify this, spend a week in a cabin in nature, where there's no glare from street lights coming in, and don't turn on any devices the whole week.

You'll sleep like a baby after 9pm and be up and ready at dawn after a couple days.

Disclaimer: I haven't personally done this, this is what I hear from people who have.

[Ora]

its true ive done that. when i came back to city/residential life i always woke up automatically at 6am when the sun started shining.

[SQAAD]

Thank you all for the advice. I'll do my best to create a consistent routine for my sleep cycles.

Edited September 2, 2021 by SQAAD