Sleep Regularity: The #1 Sleep Habit

One of the most important steps for better sleep is sleep regularity.

Have you ever been in a rhythm where you wake up at the same time every day, and all of a sudden your body starts wanting to fall asleep at the same time each night?

You start waking up in the morning before your alarm even goes off.

That’s because your body’s internal clock—your circadian rhythm—has locked into a regular schedule.

Building sleep regularity through consistent wake and bedtimes is one of the most powerful sleep habits you can develop.

It improves both sleep quality and quantity.

The First Step: Lock in Your Wake-Up Time

If you’re trying to build better sleep habits, start with your wake-up time.

Why not bedtime?

Because if you wake up at the same time every day, no matter how tired you are, your body will naturally start wanting to fall asleep at a consistent time.

Locking in your wake up time kills two birds with one stone.

What if it’s really hard at first?

If you’re setting a wake-up time earlier than you’re used to, or you’ve been off schedule during summer or the holidays, the first few days can be rough.

Day one isn’t fun.

Day two usually isn’t either.

But if you stick with it, after about 3-5 days, something changes.

Waking up gets easier.

You may start waking up before your alarm.

You naturally want to fall asleep earlier.

That’s your body clock finding its rhythm.

A few sleepy mornings can lead to a huge long-term payoff.

Do I have to wake up early on the weekend?

This question comes up all the time.

“If I get up at 6:30 during the week, do I have to do that on the weekend too?”

Short answer: no.

For a lot of us, the weekend is a time when we can catch up on some sleep.

The key is to avoid getting completely out of rhythm.

A common problem is weekday consistency followed by weekend chaos:

• 10:30pm → 6:30am during the week

• 1:30am → 11:30am on the weekend

Now your body doesn’t know when it’s supposed to sleep or wake up.

That’s why falling asleep on Sunday night can be brutal, and Monday morning hits like a truck.

A better approach:

You don’t have to stick to the same exact schedule, but don’t get too far off track.

Here’s an example:

• 10:30pm → 6:30am during the week

• 11:30pm-12am → 8-9:30am on the weekend

You still get extra sleep, you can still stay up later, but now you’re not totally destroying your rhythm.

A few tips to make this easier

Light plays a huge role in setting your body’s clock.

• Morning sunlight tells your brain, “Okay, this is when we wake up.”

• Darkness at night tells your brain, “Okay, this is when we sleep.”

Try to:

• Get sunlight soon after waking up.

• Dim / turn off your lights in the evening.

• Get off technology before bed (we’ll cover this more in depth in another article).

Sleep Regularity Checklist

1. Lock in your wake up time, even if it’s hard at first.

2. Sleep in a little on weekends…but don’t go too crazy.

3. Get sunlight soon after waking up.

4. Make your evenings darker.

This habit has a downstream impact on nearly every aspect of sleep.

Go lock in your wake up time for tomorrow…and stick to it!