Resetting Your Circadian Rhythm in 4 Steps

Your circadian rhythm, often known as your body's internal clock, regulates how you go to sleep and wake up each day. It plays a critical role in maintaining a consistent sleep-wake cycle.

A consistent circadian rhythm makes for a consistent sleep schedule, providing you with the energy you need for each new day. But when your circadian rhythm is thrown off, you’ll find yourself waking irritated and tired — or not falling asleep at all.

Fortunately, it’s possible to reset your circadian rhythm and improve both your sleep quality and your overall health.

What Can Throw Off My Circadian Rhythm?

Various factors, from your lifestyle choices to your sleep environment, can affect your circadian rhythm. Here are some of the most common things that disrupt your sleep-wake cycle:

Irregular sleep schedule: Going to bed and waking up at different times each day can confuse your internal clock and make it challenging to maintain a consistent circadian rhythm.
Inconsistent meal times: Irregular eating patterns and late-night snacking can impact your circadian rhythm, since your body's digestive processes are closely linked to your internal clock.
Exposure to artificial light: Exposure to bright artificial light, especially blue light from screens (phones, tablets, computers), close to bedtime can suppress the production of melatonin. Without this sleep-inducing hormone, you might experience a disrupted sleep-wake cycle.
Medication: Some medications, like certain antidepressants and stimulants, can disrupt sleep patterns and affect your circadian rhythm.
Age: As people age, their circadian rhythms may naturally shift, leading to earlier bedtimes and wake times.
Medical conditions: Certain medical conditions, such as sleep disorders (sleep apnea, insomnia, etc.), can disrupt your circadian rhythm and impact your sleep quality.
Stress and anxiety: High stress levels and anxiety can disrupt your sleep and, consequently, your circadian rhythm.
Substance consumption: Consuming caffeine, particularly in the afternoon or evening, and excessive alcohol intake can interfere with your sleep patterns.

Napping, oversleeping, a lack of physical activity, and jet lag can also be factors that throw off your circadian rhythm.

4 Steps to Reset Your Circadian Rhythm

Resetting your circadian rhythm isn’t a one-step process. You’ll need to first understand your own circadian rhythm, and then limit certain factors like light and diet that can compromise it.

Step #1: Understand Your Circadian Rhythm

To reset your circadian rhythm, you first have to understand it. Your circadian rhythm regulates various physiological processes over a 24-hour cycle. It influences your sleep-wake patterns, body temperature, hormone production, and cognitive performance. This intricate system is governed by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a brain region that controls your body’s master clock.

External cues, particularly light, can significantly influence this master clock. Exposure to natural light during the day helps synchronize your circadian rhythm with the day-night cycle. Just as easily, exposure to artificial light at night — particularly blue light from screens — can disrupt it.

Disruptions to your circadian rhythm can lead to sleep disorders, mood disturbances, and cognitive slow-downs.

Step #2: Take Steps to Avoid Artificial Light

One of the key factors in resetting your circadian rhythm is reducing exposure to artificial light, especially during the evening and nighttime hours. Artificial light can be a significant disruptor of your internal body clock.

Screens are a prevalent source of artificial light. To mitigate this issue, set a limit on screen time exposure before bed. Avoid screens for at least 60 minutes before you start your bedtime routine. You can also use a blue light filter on your smartphone or tablet, adjusting your screen’s color to reduce how it stimulates your circadian rhythm.

As evening approaches, consider proactively dimming your lighting. Switch to softer home lighting once the sun sets, which can help encourage your body toward rest. You can also use white noise and blackout curtains to further dim your sleep environment.

Step #3: Maintain a Consistent Sleep Schedule

One of the most important principles for resetting your circadian rhythm, and improving your sleep quality, is maintaining a consistent sleep schedule. Your body's internal clock thrives on routine, and changes to your regular sleep pattern can disrupt this delicate balance.

Your circadian rhythm operates most efficiently when it aligns with a consistent sleep-wake cycle. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day reinforces this synchronization. When you maintain a consistent schedule, your body learns when to expect sleep and wakefulness, making it easier to fall asleep and wake up naturally — without the need for an alarm clock.

Consistency in your sleep schedule not only helps you fall asleep more easily; it also enhances the overall quality of your sleep. When your circadian rhythm is in harmony with your sleep patterns, you experience more restorative and deeper sleep, leading to increased daytime alertness and better overall well-being.

Step #4: Make Healthy Diet Decisions

Your diet includes the nutrients and minerals you consume each day, and plays a large role in helping regulate your sleep patterns.

For best results, start with appropriate meal timing when resetting your circadian rhythm. Try to maintain a regular eating schedule, avoiding heavy or large meals close to bedtime. Eating too much or too late in the day can lead to discomfort and indigestion, making it difficult to fall asleep. Going to bed hungry can also disrupt your sleep. Opt for a balanced dinner with a mix of carbohydrates, protein, and fiber — ideally a few hours before bedtime.

It’s also important to choose sleep-supportive foods for your diet. Some foods can actually promote better sleep and help reset your circadian rhythm. Incorporate foods rich in tryptophan, an amino acid that aids in the production of melatonin, such as turkey, chicken, nuts, and seeds. Additionally, consuming complex carbohydrates like whole grains in the evening can help promote the release of serotonin, a precursor to melatonin, further supporting a good night's sleep.

After resetting your circadian rhythm, it’s important to maintain a regular sleep schedule. That process requires discipline, commitment, and consistency — along with the right sleep materials.

At Mattress Warehouse, we’re committed to delivering the best-quality sleep. It’s not enough to sell mattresses; we want to sell you your best night’s sleep. That’s why we developed our patented bedMATCH program: to pair you with mattresses that can actually provide the high-quality sleep you’re looking for. BedMATCH analyzes your height, weight, body type, and other factors before identifying mattress options — at every price point — made for sleepers like you.

Visit Mattress Warehouse to try bedMATCH for free today, or take the five-minute online bedMATCH quiz to browse mattress options right now.