Poor Sleep Patterns (questions/advice needed)
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi everyone,
Im an 18-year-old college student currently on summer break. I decided to work two jobs, one being a desk job and one being manual labor (getting the best of both worlds you could say), but its mostly Mon-Fri ~40 hour work week. Since Im finally back home where my friends are, im usually working all day and up until 1am to then get up at 7am everyday, and im aiming to get up at least 6am everyday so I can shower, eat, and prepare mentally and physically for the day. Ill set my alarm closer and closer to 6, but i will always wake up at the last minute and do the bare minimum to get to work on time. My questions are: 1) what can i do to help myself get to bed earlier? 2) what can i do to help myself get up on the first alarm?
also side question:
Since the start of 2019, I have had three different instances of sleep paralysis, where people normally get one instance of this (I know its a rare thing). Is there something going on I should be concerned about?
Thanks,
Mike
0 likes, 2 replies
michelle70460 miked50204
Posted
Hi. First off i admire that you work 2 jobs considering your age but you asked how can i get up earlier. I would suggest trying to go to bed earlier. If you are a night owl by nature this can be difficult to do but it can be done. Instead of going to bed at 1am try going to bed at 12am instead & then slowly getting it down to 11pm. It can take time but bare with it. As for your sleep paralysis, this is caused by when you wake up in the middle of REM sleep. When we fall asleep our muscles go into a paralysed state to stop us from getting up & doing things in our sleep that could be dangerous. It is a harmless condition but could be being aggravated by you not getting enough sleep. Hope that helps.
lily65668 miked50204
Posted
Amen to everything Michelle said! Sounds like you're really aiming to get a good start in life. Well done!
I also agree that six hours is probably not enough sleep for you, and five hours certainly isn't. People vary quite widely in their sleep needs, and the old eight-hour, one-size-fits-all rule has largely gone out the window these days. However, most 18-year-olds will need quite a bit more than six hours. Somehow or other you're going to have to work on getting yourself to bed earlier. I can't give you any pointers on that one, but clearly this will mean tweaking your lifestyle a bit.
There's absolutely no need to worry about the couple of episodes of sleep paralysis. It's actually not rare at all. As you say, most people will get an occasional episode, but something like 5% of the worldwide population is reckoned to get it on a regular basis. (I'm one of the 5% btw!) In your case, it's probably just a stress reaction to all the pressure you're putting on yourself, and will stop happening once you improve your sleep pattern. However, most people who get it regularly find that the age of onset is between 15 and 25, so that would put you in the right bracket. It's quite strongly hereditary, so it might be worth asking around in your family. All my father's family had it. However, these things always have to start somewhere.
In the unlikely event the sleep paralysis becomes more frequent or troublesome, don't hesitate to contact me again, either by posting here or via a private message (click on the envelope icon under my name). I've had it on a regular basis for 52 years, so can give you plenty of tips on managing this completely harmless brain glitch if need be.