Early awakenings
Hello,
I’ve followed Daniel from The Sleep Coach School for years, but I still struggle with early morning awakenings, often waking 2–3 hours before my desired wake time and having trouble falling back asleep. For those who’ve recovered, how important was being strict about your sleep window and wake time? I work from home, so after a bad night I sometimes sleep in or take a 15–30 minute nap (or just rest with my eyes closed). Could those habits be reducing my sleep drive and slowing my recovery?
Hi Geno, I'm new here — thanks for asking this so clearly. I write about dreams and sleep, so early awakenings are something I think about a lot.
From everything I've read and experienced, the strict sleep window is really about building sleep pressure: if you wake at 2am and stay in bed trying to force more sleep, the frustration itself can keep you awake, and sleeping in afterwards can shift the whole rhythm so the next night starts late too. Getting up at a consistent time, even after a short night, is usually what keeps the pattern anchored — hard in the moment, but it tends to pay off over days rather than hours.
On naps: a short early-afternoon nap (around 20 minutes) rarely hurts, but a long late nap can take the edge off the sleep drive you need at night, so if you're testing things, that's a useful thing to change one at a time and notice. And on dreams — I keep a short dream note in the morning, and I've found early awakenings often follow nights where my mind is busy processing something, so a calm wind-down and a notepad by the bed (to park any thoughts) can help more than lying there worrying.
You're not alone in this — thanks for starting such a practical discussion.You aren't alone in waking much earlier than you like. You may be interested in this article from one of our health leaders, about being up before the birds. She also shares some possible causes, other than insomnia, that might contribute to the situation. About your naps, sometimes your body tells you what it needs (a nap)! A short nap probably isn't a worry, but it'd be a good idea to chat with your doctor about it, as each person is different. Warmly, Kathy (Team member) Hi
Those are some good questions. I hope others jump in with their own experiences. We are not medical experts, but, from what I understand, a power nap will not generally disrupt your night time sleep schedule and sleeping in is only a problem if it prevents you from falling asleep on your usual schedule that night. Have you ever read Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker? It's a fantastic book about all aspects of sleep and a surprisingly engaging read (I listened to the audiobook.). I highly recommend it. Best wishes. - Lori (Team Member)
