I'm a night howl. Having a work schedule helps this, but when I was a student doing my thesis I had awful sleeping schedules (6 am - 2 pm) which affected my social life a lot.
I wanted to improve this, but going to bed earlier would make me restless, and have even worse sleep. Forcing myself to wake up earlier was torture - be exhausted during the day, only to feel energetic at evening again, and not being able to sleep earlier.
So I "rotated the day". Each day, I went to bed 3 (or 4?) hours later, slept 8h, and woke up. This was a bit tiring, but not more than the other alternatives! It worked for a few weeks but later I went back to my old habits.
After 2 rotations, I went to the doctor and got calming medications and the the recommendation to go to sleep 1h earlier each day. This was much easier and I didn't get dependent on the medication.
Later, having a job with a schedule (not that rigid but also not super flexible) helped me get on track, and things haven't gotten so bad.
I wanted to improve this, but going to bed earlier would make me restless, and have even worse sleep. Forcing myself to wake up earlier was torture - be exhausted during the day, only to feel energetic at evening again, and not being able to sleep earlier.
So I "rotated the day". Each day, I went to bed 3 (or 4?) hours later, slept 8h, and woke up. This was a bit tiring, but not more than the other alternatives! It worked for a few weeks but later I went back to my old habits.
After 2 rotations, I went to the doctor and got calming medications and the the recommendation to go to sleep 1h earlier each day. This was much easier and I didn't get dependent on the medication.
Later, having a job with a schedule (not that rigid but also not super flexible) helped me get on track, and things haven't gotten so bad.