In this week’s Sleep Diaries, a 40-year-old retail worker shares her habit of falling asleep in front of the TV with Dr Nerina and asks whether waking up early without an alarm is a good sign.

A little about me:

Age: 40

Occupation: retail worker

Number of hours of sleep you get each night: 7-8 hours

Number of hours of sleep you wish you got each night: 8 hours

Any officially diagnosed sleep-related problems (insomnia/sleep apnea): no 

Do you grind your teeth/have nightmares: I grind my teeth.

Do you measure your sleep in some way (e.g. using your phone or wearable): I use a Fitbit.

How much water do you drink on average per day: 2 litres

How much caffeine do you drink on average per day: 3 cups of coffee

How much exercise do you do on average per week: I do some yoga and fitness kickboxing classes plus some swimming and lots of walking. 

Day 1

I wake up naturally at 6.30am and lie in bed scrolling on my phone for around 20 minutes. I get up and do a 30-minute yoga session; I drink a cup of coffee and then get into some admin work.

I have dinner with my family around 7pm with a glass of wine and then watch TV until I start to doze off on the sofa around 11pm, when I decide to take myself off to bed.

I only wake up once around 1:30am but manage to sleep through otherwise. 

Day 2

I wake up naturally at 6.40am. I lie in bed scrolling my phone for around 20 minutes before I get up and do 30 minutes of yoga. I follow that with some coffee and breakfast while doing some work admin, and then do a few household chores.

I eat dinner around 7pm with my family before doing the bedtime routine with my eight-year-old daughter. I then sit down to watch a bit of TV while knitting.

I take myself up to bed around 9:30pm with a hot water bottle and a book as I’m feeling very cold and sleepy. I only manage to read for 10 minutes before I start struggling to focus, so I put down my book and go to sleep.

I sleep really well – I wake up three times that I remember around 12am, 2am and 5am but I manage to go straight back to sleep every time. My Fitbit says I had eight and a half hours sleep. 

Day 3

I wake up naturally at 7am and scroll on my phone in bed for around 10 minutes. I follow that up with 30 minutes of yoga before having some coffee and breakfast and reading my book for about an hour.

I have a quiet day of chores and resting because its Sunday and eat dinner around 6:30pm. While my other half does bedtime duties, I clean up the kitchen and do a few more chores.

Once that’s done I play some computer games with my eldest for a little while, then we all watch TV together. I fall asleep on the sofa around 10:30pm (one of my worst habits), and only wake up when it’s gone midnight.

I go straight to bed and fall asleep pretty quickly but I sleep pretty badly, waking up around four times and struggling to get back to sleep for a little bit each time.

I’m too hot and have to keep rearranging my blankets, and have a lot of long, vivid dreams. My Fitbit says I had seven hours and 16 minutes of sleep. 

Day 4

The Easter holidays are over so we’re back to our usual morning routine. I wake up at 6.20am naturally, get up, make coffee and pack the kid’s lunches. I also do 30 minutes of yoga before I shower and get myself and the kids ready for the day.

My other half does the school run while I head off to work around 9am.

When evening arrives I cook dinner and we all eat together around 6pm before doing some chores together. I then put my youngest to bed and we read for about an hour together.

The rest of us go to bed at 9:30pm because we’re tired after our first day back after the holidays. I read for around 30 minutes and then go to sleep pretty much straight away around 10pm.

I have another restless night. I wake up at 11:30pm, 2am, 3:30am and 5am. Each time I wake up it takes me around 10 minutes to get back to sleep. One of the times I get up to pour myself some water but I don’t think I’m awake more than 30 minutes. 

Day 5

I wake up naturally around 6:30am but lay in bed until my alarm goes off at 7am. My Fitbit says I had seven hours and 52 minutes of sleep.

I get up, shower and get dressed (I’m not doing yoga today as I’m going to a kickboxing class later). I make the kids’ packed lunches and get them ready for school before moving on to my own breakfast and a mug of coffee. I get through this while I do some admin work.

I take my daughter to school around 8:30am before walking to my kickboxing class for 9:30am. 

So, what does it all mean? A sleep expert offers her thoughts

Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, sleep expert and professional physiologist, says: “I like that you wake naturally and early without an alarm – this tells me that your energy levels are pretty balanced. Many people who are tired and stuck in a fatigue cycle tend to need an alarm to wake them up and then they snooze because they’re too tired to get up. 

“Waking to your body’s own energy rhythms without an alarm and early enough to get some morning exercise in – even gentle stretching – is a great way to start the day.”

Dr Nerina continues: “However, you are breaking some of my rules and the big one is falling asleep in front the TV. This is a big no-no for getting good sleep. In the evenings, as the light levels drop, the body starts to shift into rest and restore mode and we produce the sleep hormone melatonin.

“Ideally, you want to stay awake and alert and watch TV until you begin to feel pleasantly sleepy and then make your way to bed. When you fall asleep in front of the TV, you end up depleting your levels of melatonin so that when you get into bed you then can’t sleep or your sleep is fitful – as you’re finding.

“I also want you to take your sleep data with a small pinch of salt. Your device tells you you’re waking x times per night and at certain times but it doesn’t seem to be telling you something important – that these awakenings are normal and that we all have them. There is a form of insomnia called orthosomnia which is poor sleep caused by anxiety due to overly fixating on (often inaccurate) data from your wearable! You don’t seem to be suffering from this but you need to keep an eye on it (or not, as the case might be).” 

If you would like to take part in Stylist’s Sleep Diaries, please email us at lauren.geall@stylist.co.uk with your name, age and any sleep problems you’re dealing with, using ‘SLEEP DIARIES’ as the subject. We look forward to hearing from you.

Lead image design: Ami O’Callaghan

Other images: Getty; Dr Nerina Ramlakhan