While the more common complaints are from people who are having trouble falling asleep and getting "quality" sleep, some people have the opposite problem. They sleep too much.
While the more common complaints are from people who are having trouble falling asleep and getting "quality" sleep, some people have the opposite problem.
They sleep too much...
If you're having trouble getting yourself out of bed on time, and find yourself sleeping much more than you've planned too, you're not alone.
I personally used to sleep up to 14 hours a "night". Sometimes I'd hit the snooze button for HOURS.
Improving the quality of my sleep was absolutely necessary in order to reduce the amount of sleep I get. After replacing a few bad habits, I now sleep less and feel much more lively and energetic throughout the day, then when I had slept longer.
However, getting rid of some bad sleeping habits, and improving the quality of your sleep is only one part of the process.
As you know, when you wake up you're not completely in control of your thoughts and your actions. At this stage your subconscious is more dominant.
You may have to admit having some kind of emotional issues, which are suppressed deeply in your subconscious. The simplest way to say it is that you have a lack of motivation to wake up and get up.
Oversleeping can obviously CAUSE problems. The embarrassment when you fail to wake up on time, being late to work or loss of what could be your "free time", and the tiredness that usually comes after an excessive sleep episode, all of those aren't going to do you any good.
You should start putting your sleep system back to order, by going to sleep and waking up at the same time every day, no matter when you've gone to sleep, no matter what time you go to work, and even if you have a day off.
Practice it for at least 3 weeks (they say it takes 21 days to establish a new habit).
However, if you fail to wake up on time, you should focus on your self-discipline.
You see, most people wake up on time every morning, no matter how much or how well they had slept.
Don't beat yourself up when you fail. Instead, try to think what went wrong. Try to remember your actions and your thoughts at that morning. Then come up with a plan for tomorrow.
If you can't even remember what went through your head when the alarm went off, try going to sleep earlier or setting the alarm to a later time. The idea is to get yourself used to be in control of your sleep and wake up habits.
Most importantly, dig inside yourself to find the reason you oversleep. Ask yourself a simple, yet hard question: "What are you running away from"?
Short note about the author
Rotem Cohen is an "ex-oversleeper" who has recently setup a unique web site about sleep and energy. If you would like to learn how to stop oversleeping, wake up easily and increase your energy level, I encourage you to visit http://parabots.net/x.cgi?id=677&tid=36 Now!
Author: Rotem Cohen