This week we’re looking at constant wake times and why they’re so important.
As we’re all heading into the changes of season, whether summer to autumn or winter to spring, the daylight hours are changing, and we may find our habits changing along with them.
Therefore, now is a crucial time to make sure we’re sticking to our good habits, and a constant wake time is the first step to optimizing our health.
“Setting a daily schedule that reinforces your body’s natural rhythm is the most powerful health habit you can adopt.” — Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar
Importance
We all have internal clocks known as circadian rhythms.
These rhythms are crucial for our health, as they determine when hormones and neurotransmitters are released, when metabolic functions are turned on and off, and they activate genes at particular times of the day. These rhythms thrive on consistency, and this starts with when you wake up. When we live out of alignment with our internal clocks, it can be detrimental to our health.
“A disrupted clock is the mother of all maladies, and, conversely, in most chronic diseases, clock function is compromised.” - Dr. Satchin Panda
Waking up at the same time every single morning is therefore the first step in optimizing our circadian rhythm. An optimized circadian rhythm has numerous benefits, including optimizing the following:
Quality of sleep
Metabolic health
Physical fitness
Mental health
Cognitive functioning
It also makes waking up in the morning, even without an alarm, easier.
Implementation
Find a wake time that is suitable every day of the week
Work backward to find a consistent sleep time to ensure you get enough sleep - you can use this equation: 5 sleep cycles* x 90 min each = 450 min + 20 min to fall asleep = 470 min. Subtract 470 minutes from your wake time to find your sleep time
Stick to these times every day this week, even on the weekend
If you have to stay up late for whatever reason, still wake up at your pre-determined time
*With a cycle being about 90 minutes long, where we cycle through all the phases of sleep - from awake to light sleep to deep sleep to REM sleep
Resources
I’ve recently updated the Reading List on my website. Feel free to check it out for any book recommendations.
Here are free links to some articles you may find helpful or interesting.
Before you go
If you’d like to support this newsletter, you can buy me a coffee here: