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  • ColonBowel
    +1

    At what time would you wake up if you didn't use your alarm?

    Is your room completely dark?

    • Schwut
      +1

      If I didn't have an alarm I would end up sleeping for about 11 hours. My room is not completely dark.

      • ColonBowel
        +1

        Well, shoot. This is a difficult one.

        Suggestions. 1) Keep a sleep log. This will help you get some insight on what's going on. Track When you A) go to bed, B) fall asleep, C) wake up, D) get out of bed, E) exercise, F) eat), and consume G) alcohol, H) nicotine, i) caffeine, and J) any other drug.

        2) Try waking up at different times. Maybe your alarm is set to wake you up when you're at your deepest sleep.

        3) Maybe the caffeine and nicotine are stimulating you, so you don't feel tired during the day. However, if you cut it off, you would notice that you need more rest. Try cutting down (I know would be difficult to accomplish) on both or at least the coffee (again, both would be best and it's your health!) and see if your need for sleep increases or you actually start sleeping better. 3a) Also, caffeine has a half-life of 5.7 hours. So if you drink two 8oz cups of coffee (a medium at most coffee places I think) at 6pm, you would still have about 8oz of coffee worth of caffeine in your system at 12am (probably even more since there's a delay between drinking coffee and getting caffeine in your blood stream). You might be able to fall asleep, but your sleep quality could be affected.

        4) Maybe you have something medical going on. Perhaps, you would want to go check out a doctor and see what they say.

        • Schwut
          +2

          Great advice. I think I'm actually going to start keeping a log like you suggested. After I've built up some notes I'll consider taking them to a doctor just to see what they say about my sleeping habits.