This article was co-authored by Alex Dimitriu, MD . Alex Dimitriu, MD is the Owner of Menlo Park Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, a clinic based in the San Francisco Bay Area with expertise in psychiatry, sleep, and transformational therapy. Alex earned his Doctor of Medicine from Stony Brook University in 2005 and graduated from the Stanford University School of Medicine's Sleep Medicine Residency Program in 2010. Professionally, Alex has dual board certification in psychiatry and sleep medicine. This article has been viewed 482,451 times.

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If your sleep schedule’s gotten off course, you can gradually adjust it to help your body adapt. Try to adjust your bed and wake-up times by 15 to 30 minutes at a time so your body can smoothly adjust to the new time. For example, if you usually wake up at 10 and you want to get up at 8, first wake up at 9:45, then 9:30, and work your way slowly to 8 o’clock. Make sure you get at least 7 hours of sleep a night so your body has time to fully recharge. Avoid setting extra alarms before your wake up time, since this can disrupt your sleep and make you more tired. Once you change your schedule, stick to the same bed and wake up times every day to help your body adjust. For more tips from our Sleep co-author, including how to create the best environment for healthy sleep, read on!