Advice for Sleep Schedule

Comments

• 4 Likes

  Derek Kunhee Kim Member

  November 2014 131 karma

  It's something you really have to prepare for in advance. I.e. if you want to go to bed at 10 p.m., then you should be winding yourself down starting from 9 p.m. You can Google stuff, but I have found that your body has a natural rhythm that it adjusts to, and if you discipline yourself enough, you will start waking up the same time every day without an alarm. This, of course, presumes, you are consistently going to bed around the same time as well.
  
  All goes to say that the LSAT requires a tremendous amount of discipline, both physically and mentally.
• 10 Likes

  madeleine Alum Member

  November 2014 259 karma

  I took in September and one month beforehand set several guidelines for myself, which seemed to help. Maybe you will find them helpful:
  1. No screens starting at 9:30pm. If you can help it, no bright lighting either. I can't fall asleep easily in the dark and quiet, so I listen to this podcast called "sleep with me." It has stories that get progressively less interesting over time... I am always knocked out 20 minutes in.
  2. No coffee after 1pm (everyone is different, but coffee in the afternoon/evening makes going to bed early much harder for me)
  3. If you have a restless night's sleep, this is a good way to reset yourself. do NOT nap, no matter what. It will be terrible. But at night you will crash early and likely stay asleep all night.
  4. Always wake up at the same time, weekends included. For me, this meant no social life on weekends in the month of September. I didn't drink alcohol either. I was up at 6:30 every morning, ate the same thing, drank the same cup of coffee, and LSAT'ed either before work or did a whole PT if it was the weekend.
  
  @Derek is right, discipline is everything. Imagine the leisurely possibilities you can treat yourself to when it's all over!
• CallMeJazzy Alum Member

  November 2014 65 karma

  Like others have said, it's really all about discipline and setting a schedule that's conducive to getting to bed around 10. It's mostly a head game, in my opinion. Set a schedule and stick to it and in about a week, you'll find that the routine gets easier to stick to. The key for me was to start getting ready for bed/winding down about 40 minutes beforehand. I also stopped taking my laptop and cell phone to bed with me. I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, so I charge my cell phone in my bathroom at night and it forces me to get up to turn the alarm off in the morning. It sucks but it works.
• AnkushSax Alum Member

  November 2014 59 karma

  Cut back on carbs. Eat dinner 1.5-2 hours before bed time. Go to sleep at least seven hours before you need to wake up.
• danballinger5 Alum Member

  November 2014 198 karma

  One thing that I had to do - if I wanted to go to bed at 10pm - was stop any LSAT training by 8pm. My mind needs a couple of hours to relax. I even meditate for 10 to 20 minutes before I crawl into bed to make sure that my mind has let go of the test and any other stressors from the day. When I do get into bed, I try to read something informative yet not rigorous - like a textbook from a 101 level class. If it is monotonous enough to put me to sleep during the daytime, it usually works even better at night.
  
  Also, you might want to check out Melatonin. It is the naturally occurring hormone in animals that regulates the body's day-night cycles. It is very cheap and can be found in any vitamin section.
  
  Hopefully some of this helps.
• Quick Silver Alum Inactive Sage

  November 2014 1049 karma

  Thanks all - very helpful!