If you’re one of those people that literally can’t wake up without an alarm clock, you’ve got some changes to make. Having a hard time waking up in the morning doesn’t mean you should set more alarms to make sure are getting up, it means you should just go to bed at a reasonable hour!
Have you ever thought about how people woke up early before alarm clocks were invented? They had very few options: 1) they woke up with the sun; 2) their rooster woke them up- who, by the way, crows at the first indication of sunlight; 3) they drank a ton of water before they went to bed so they would have to pee sooner, and 4) the city would hire a group of people that would take a night shift and wake everyone who worked earlier than when everyone else got up. So, basically, they would wake up when the sun woke them or someone else up.
Everything about a person’s body tells them when they should wake up and go to bed. There have been numerous studies that have been conducted that show the natural sleep-wake cycle of any human being. 
This cycle is called your circadian rhythm. All living things have a circadian rhythm, which is how your body responds physically, mentally, and behaviorally to light exposure. I get more into this in another blog post, but basically, our circadian rhythm tells us that a person naturally wakes up at dawn (30 minutes before sunrise) and goes to bed at dusk (30 minutes after sunset).
At this point, you may be asking, “Why should I care about this? I’m too busy to worry about how much sleep I get.” Well, let me answer that for you. Here are 5 benefits of getting on the sun’s sleep schedule:
#1: You can get things done faster!
Even though you feel you can run on 4 or 5 hours of sleep because you’ve been doing it for years, once you start letting yourself sleep when it needs to- not when you want it to, you will notice a significant increase in how fast you can get things done and how fast you can get them done easily!
Although you may be up and doing things, if your body isn’t getting the sleep it needs, your brain can go into temporary “microsleeps” throughout the day. According to a study conducted in 2007, these microsleeps can cause attentional lapses and brief moments of inattentiveness, causing a person to blank out multiple times throughout the day. This can cause a person’s performance to be significantly slower. If you’ve ever had to read the same thing multiple times because you couldn’t focus on what you were reading, you know what I’m talking about.
#2: You’ll be more at peace with yourself
Because you will be giving your body what it needs, you will have a lot easier time being comfortable in your own skin. You will be able to have the energy you need to run miles while at the same time have the inner peace within yourself to be able to focus on things for long periods of time. You’ll be more satisfied with where you’re at in your life. You’ll be able to work at your own pace– and because you won’t be subconsciously asleep, your pace will be a whole lot faster than what your pace would be if you didn’t get the sleep you need.
Plus, you have the added bonus of being able to wake up, see the sunrise, and enjoy the sweet, sweet beauty of the morning. =)
#3: You’ll be able to think clearer
Not only it is so much easier to think clearly in the morning due to the quieter atmosphere, it is also easier to think throughout the day if you’re on the sun’s sleep schedule. This is because your body is naturally more awake when you are in a lighted area. When it’s dark in a room, your brain naturally thinks that it’s night time and that it’s time to release hormones that make you want to fall asleep.
Also, when you wake with the sun and go to sleep when the sun sets, you are giving your body the sleep it needs at the right times. Because of that, your body can focus on things other than its need for sleep. When you aren’t getting enough and the right kind of sleep, all your body can think about is how tired it is. It doesn’t care about what you want it to think about. So, by giving your body what it needs to function, you can now have the ability to think about other things clearly.
#4: You’ll be more alert
That’s right, no more extra cups of coffee! When you wake up with the sun, your body naturally wants to go, go, go! And if you went to bed at dusk the night before, you’ll have the right amount of sleep you need to function so your body will be able to effectively and quickly get the energy it needs for the day.
#5 You’ll sleep deeper!
When you are awake when it is light outside and asleep when it gets dark, your body has an easier time sleeping at night because it naturally recognizes that it’s time to sleep. When you are staying up late looking at your phone or watching T.V., it’s harder for your body to go to sleep because it thinks it’s still daytime. Then when you go to bed late, you will not get the amount of sleep you need because you will have to wake up early in the morning. And if you don’t wake up early and just sleep in, your body will still not be able to get the amount of sleep it needs because your body has a harder time sleeping in the daytime. It’s just not natural to sleep during the day!
I speak from personal experience, this will drastically change your work and home life for the better. Syncing your sleep schedule with the rising and setting of the sun is one of the best things you could do for yourself. My challenge to you is to wake up at dawn and go to bed at dusk every day for one month. Don’t forget to comment how it went for you! I would love to hear your story =)
Happy sleeping!
References
http://www.throughouthistory.com/?p=2974
https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/what-circadian-rhythm
https://www.nigms.nih.gov/Education/Pages/Factsheet_CircadianRhythms.aspx
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2656292/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377480/
Ferv Co. 