Sheep carrying a suitcase jumping over the moon with planes in the night sky – illustration of jet lag and disrupted sleep after travel

Ten Tips for Resetting Your Sleep-Wake Cycle

March 17, 2026

Jet lag, shift work and early starts can all disrupt your body clock — but there are practical ways to help it re-adjust.

Key Takeaways

• Your sleep-wake cycle is controlled by your circadian rhythm.
Jet lag is simply a temporary disruption to your circadian rhythm.
• Jet lag, shift work and early starts all disrupt the same body clock.Jet lag is simply a temporary disruption to your circadian rhythm.
• Small adjustments — even 15 minutes at a time — can gradually reset your sleep pattern.
• Daylight, exercise, breathing and routine all influence your body clock.
• Hypnotherapy can help your mind adapt more quickly to a new sleep schedule.

Sometimes We Need to Change Our Sleep Patterns

Sometimes we need to change our sleep patterns.

This article tells you the top ten things you can do to adjust your sleep relatively quickly and easily. I also look at our circadian rhythms, sleep-wake cycles and how they control our sleep patterns, and give some pointers to help if you struggle to wake up and need more energy in the mornings.

These same ideas can help if you are adjusting after jet lag, shift work, exam timetables or a new job.

Jet lag is simply a temporary disruption to your circadian rhythm — and the same techniques that reset your sleep-wake cycle can help your body adjust more quickly.

When You May Need to Change Your Sleep-Wake Cycle

The clocks go forward one hour in spring and our sleeping patterns change. For many of us this change is hardly noticeable — just like returning from a trip to Europe — but many people find it hard to adjust their sleep-wake cycle when they have to get up earlier and lose an hour of sleep in the morning.

We naturally change from Lark to Owl and back again over our lives, but changing your sleep pattern on demand is harder.

We are approaching exam time, and a new set of students will be heading off to college. How can they change their sleeping patterns to get the most out of these years?

Then there’s summer holidays — and jet lag — particularly when we return home and have to get back into our routines. No afternoon naps by the pool.

If you get a new job, you may need to get up earlier or later. Shift workers have to adjust their sleep according to family and work needs. Others have to change their sleep patterns every few weeks.

My son is in the Met and has spent years working with a three- or four-week shift system, moving between day and night.

Shift work is particularly hard on sleep because the body clock keeps being pushed in different directions.

Our Circadian Rhythms

Our circadian rhythm is our natural sleep-wake cycle. It is regulated by an internal clock located in the hypothalamus region of our brain.

This clock signals to the body when it’s time to wake up and when it’s time to sleep. However, it does not work alone and can be influenced by external factors such as light, activity, food and stress levels.

Morning daylight is one of the strongest signals for resetting your body clock, so getting outside soon after waking can make a real difference.

Owls and Larks

Are you an Owl or a Lark?

This describes when you feel most awake and focused.

Larks are naturally morning people and Owls tend to be more alert later in the evening. But our sleep patterns change throughout our lives.

Young children are up at dawn, teenagers often stay up very late and struggle to wake in the morning, and later in life many people naturally shift earlier again.

I dropped out of A Levels as I couldn’t get to college before 11 and lost several temporary jobs because I couldn’t wake up. But I thrived in jobs that needed me to stay up all night.

Later on in life, I swam at 7am every day.

Now my sleep is a bit hit and miss as I am on chemotherapy and the drugs can make me sleepy or wide awake for days.

Shift Work and Sleep

Shift workers often have to sleep when the body expects to be awake and stay alert when the body wants to sleep.

This makes protecting sleep routines, managing light exposure and calming the nervous system especially important.

Many of the same principles used to recover from jet lag can also help shift workers adjust more smoothly between schedules.

How to Change Your Sleep-Wake Pattern

Luckily there are things you can do to reset your internal clock — but there are no miracle cures.

1. Understand Your Circadian Rhythm

Set a new schedule and stick to it.

Your body clock craves consistency, so once you choose a new sleep time you need to keep to it.

We sleep in cycles of roughly 90-120 minutes. If you have a regular sleep pattern, you may be able to use a sleep tracker to see when you are normally close to the top of a cycle and set your alarm around that time,

Try to avoid setting the alarm to wake you from a deep sleep, as it can leave you feeling stunned for hours afterwards.

2. The 15-Minute Rule

If you have time — or the time difference is small — start going to bed and getting up 15 minutes earlier or later each day.

Research suggests that fifteen minutes is often the easiest adjustment for the body to manage.

Consistency is the key.

3. Stay Up Late, Sleep In and Ignore It

My son’s approach to shift work is quite simple.

If his schedule changes he sleeps in, stays up later and adjusts his eating and drinking to support the new routine.

He has his routine and sticks to it so his mind and body know what to expect.

4. Hypnotherapy

For some people hypnotherapy can come surprisingly close to a miracle cure when they need to change their sleep patterns.

Hypnosis can help re-programme your subconscious so that switching to a new routine feels easier and more natural. It can also help you feel more awake in the morning.

Often this involves a couple of sessions with a hypnotherapist and a recording to listen to at home.

5. Hypnotherapy for Jet Lag

Hypnotherapy can also be particularly helpful for jet lag, especially if it is used before, during and after travel.

Before travelling, hypnosis can help prepare the mind and body for the new time zone. Many people listen to a recording for a few nights before travelling so the subconscious mind begins to accept the new sleep pattern.

During the journey, relaxation or energy recordings can help the body rest and start adapting to the destination time zone.

After arrival, listening again for the first few nights can help reinforce the new rhythm and encourage deeper sleep.

Because hypnotherapy works with the unconscious patterns that control sleep and alertness, it can sometimes speed up the process of resetting the body clock.

6. Nasal Breathing

Learn to breathe through your nose again.

Breathe slowly, silently and gently — like a sleeping cat.

You can read more in my article on Nasal Breathing Techniques.

If you are committed to improving your sleep and wellbeing, the Buteyko breathing method can also be helpful. See Patrick McKeown’s book The Breathing Cure for Better Sleep or Anders Olson‘s books

7. Clocks, Blinds and Masks

Some people use multiple alarm clocks placed across the room.

A BBC journalist who has to get up at 2am told me that a sunrise alarm clock made a huge difference to her ability to wake up.

For shift workers sleeping during daylight, blackout blinds and eye masks can make a dramatic difference.

8. Exercise

Get outside in daylight and move your body as much as you can.

Daylight and physical activity both help reinforce the signals that regulate your body clock.

9. Food and Drink

Avoid alcohol if possible, as it interferes with sleep quality.

Try to have your last meal at least three hours before bedtime.

You may also find my article Foods and Drinks That Can Help You Sleep helpful.

10. Meditation

A regular meditation practice can make it easier to settle your mind and ignore the negative thoughts telling you how difficult this change will be.

You may find my article Meditation for Sleep and a Busy Mind helpful.

What to Do if You Struggle to Wake Up

Act as if waking up easily is normal for you.

Smile — even if you have to make yourself — and watch your thoughts.

Sing – out loud and loudly as you get ready. This will get oxygen into your body and singing helps you wake up and lifts your energy and mood

Breathing exercises such as alternate nostril breathing and right nostril breathing can help restore energy.

Having something you look forward to — for me it was a swim before work — can also make waking much easier.

During the day, use The Butterfly Hug to reset your system. I. This gentle EMDR tapping technique takes just a couple of minutes and is very effective