How to Reset Your Sleep Schedule After the Holidays

December creates the perfect storm for circadian disruption. Your sleep schedule doesn’t fall apart overnight — it drifts slowly as your environment and habits shift.
Here’s what typically happens:

• Late-night socializing:Holiday gatherings push bedtime later, sometimes by hours.
• Extra screen time: Time off often means more scrolling, gaming, and TV — especially at night.
• Blue light delays melatonin release, making your brain think it’s still daytime.
• Sugar + alcohol spikes: Sugar disrupts stable blood sugar at night. Alcohol fragments sleep and reduces REM quality.
• Travel across time zones: Even short trips disrupt your internal clock, especially without consistent wake times.
• Staying up later “because you’re off”:When you don’t need to wake early, your sleep timing slides later and later.

Within a week, your natural rhythm can shift by 1–3 hours — enough to cause grogginess, morning fatigue, and difficulty resetting once work or school resumes.

Your circadian rhythm is like a biological clock that needs clear, consistent cues.
These steps help realign your sleep-wake cycle quickly and gently:

1. Pick a Wake-Up Time — and Stick to It
   This is the single most important habit.
   Wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
   Consistency anchors your entire circadian rhythm.

2. Get Sunlight Within 30 Minutes of Waking
   Light is your brain’s strongest timing signal.
   Natural sunlight — even on cloudy days — triggers:

• earlier melatonin release at night
• better alertness
• reduced grogginess
• improved mood
• more stable energy

If sunlight is limited, a therapy lamp (10,000 lux) works too.

3. Stop Napping During Your Reset Week
   Naps confuse the circadian system and delay nighttime tiredness.
   If you must nap: keep it under 20 minutes, avoid napping after 2 PM

4. Avoid Screens for 1 Hour Before Bed
   Blue light delays melatonin, keeping your brain in “wake mode.”
   Instead, try:

• warm lighting
• light stretching
• reading
• calming music
• journaling

Even a 30-minute screen-free buffer helps.

5. Use Dim Lighting After 7 PM
   Your environment should send a clear message:
   “It’s evening. Slow down.”
   Lowering lights helps shift melatonin earlier so you feel sleepy at the right time.

6. Go to Bed Only When Sleepy — Not Stressed
   Forcing sleep makes insomnia worse.
   Wind down with relaxing, low-stimulation activities until your body signals readiness:
   heavy eyes, reduced thinking, slower breathing.
   Trust your body to guide the timing.

If you can only do one thing to fix your sleep schedule, make it this:

• Get natural light within the first 5–10 minutes of waking.
• Even five minutes of exposure tells your brain:
• “Wake up. Shift melatonin earlier.”

This single cue helps:

• regulate your internal clock
• improve mood
• increase morning alertness
• reduce evening restlessness
• stabilize sleep timing within a few days

It’s simple, free, and biologically powerful.

Sometimes sleep struggles go beyond routine.
If you’re dealing with:

• persistent insomnia
• anxiety affecting sleep
• post-holiday stress
• early waking
• low mood
• nighttime racing thoughts
• difficulty regulating sleep timing
• fatigue despite adequate hours

CallOnDoc clinicians can help guide your January sleep reset safely and effectively.
We offer support for:

• circadian rhythm alignment
• anxiety or mood-related sleep issues
• insomnia treatment
• light therapy guidance
• nighttime routine planning
• hydration and nutrition factors
• adjusting medications (if necessary)

You don’t have to push through your sleep struggles alone — we make rest more accessible.
A healthier sleep rhythm sets the tone for better mood, more energy, and clearer thinking all winter long.