In this week’s Sleep Diaries, a 43-year-old business owner and marine volunteer wonders whether it’s a good or bad thing to wake up before her alarm.

A little about me:

Age: 43

Occupation: business owner and marine volunteer

Number of hours of sleep you get each night: 7-8 hours (maybe 9 some weekends if I’m really tired)

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: no, but I do have very vivid dreams.

How much water you drink on average per day: not enough! This is something I need to work on. I have two glasses of water but maybe six mugs of caffeine-free tea a day.

How much caffeine do you drink on average per day: none. I have caffeine-free tea and coffee and no fizzy drinks.

How much exercise do you do on average per week: over the last few years I’ve been so busy running my business that I haven’t done as much as I’d like. A month ago I started going out for a walk twice a day to hit my 10,000 steps goal and doing yoga twice a week.

Day 1

My alarm goes off at 6.45am and I start my day with a breakfast of cinnamon and raisin porridge made with oat milk before spending four hours on a beach looking after a seal in the rain (we spent yesterday evening together too).

By the time I get home, I feel very cold. I log off from work at about 7pm and decide to make a vegan mac and cheese to warm me up. I eat it in front of the TV and have some water.

As it’s Friday, I chill out on the sofa after dinner watching a film. I put the heating on for the first time in months as I’m so cold, and at 9.15pm I can feel myself starting to get sleepy, so I make a caffeine-free tea, turn off the heating and head to bed.

I end the day feeling positive but also worried about the seal. He was injured but went back out to sea and couldn’t be found again. I’m also feeling tired and cold from standing on a cold beach in the rain for four hours.

I end up messaging friends in bed until 10.40pm, when I put on a sleep meditation. I’m asleep within five minutes of putting it on. My alarm is set for 7am. 

Day 2

I wake up at 5am feeling refreshed and warm, which after the previous day spent shivering on the beach was a blessing. I head to the loo and get back into bed, where one of my cats jumps up for cuddles. I go back to sleep five minutes later. My alarm goes off at 7am.

I’m off to see friends at some local gardens today, but my eyes feel a little dry and I have to fight the urge to close them and go back to sleep. Other than my eyes, I don’t feel tired, though.

I end up watching some short videos on social media for around 20 minutes while having cuddles with my cats in bed. Afterwards, I get up and head into the shower, and an hour and a half after I wake up, I have some avocado on sourdough toast with a caffeine-free tea.

I spend most of the day walking around the gardens with my friends and don’t get home until 8pm. I reheat some vegan mac and cheese and have that with a glass of water and a caffeine-free tea. I put on a film, but at 10pm I’m too tired and decide to finish watching the film in bed. I turn the light and TV off at 11pm, put on my sleep meditation and fall straight asleep.

Day 3

I wake up at 7am after a very strange night of dreams. I got home from a solo diving holiday to Baja California, Mexico, about three weeks ago, but I always felt totally safe while I was there (even walking around on my own at night).

However, I dreamt that I was in a big Mexican supermarket and I was chatting to these two American girls that I didn’t know when a gunman opened fire. We ran and these American girls took me to an empty flat in a block of high rises that was full of young tourists waiting out the shooting.

In the other dream, I was in a hotel and we knew this gang was coming for us so we got big guns and sat in wait. Both of these dreams are strange for me as I do not allow any violence to enter my subconscious, I’m very aware of not watching horror or violent films. And I felt totally safe while on holiday in Mexico, so where have these incredibly aggressive dreams come from?

Other than the very strange dreams I feel well rested but my eyes feel a bit dry. I pick up my phone to look at what’s happened while I’ve been asleep. I do some stretches in bed and then go to get some breakfast and a cuppa. I have avocado on sourdough toast and a caffeine-free breakfast tea with oat milk.

I eat dinner at 6pm, and as it’s Sunday, I decide to get into bed at 9.30pm and watch a bit of TV. I cleanse, tone and moisturise my skin and then pop the telly on until I start feeling a bit sleepy at 10.15pm. I turn out the light, put on my nighttime meditation and within minutes I am asleep. 

Day 4

My alarm goes off at 6.45am but I still feel tired so I turn it off and go back to sleep. The next alarm goes off at 7am but as I still feel tired I do the same. I wake up at 7.20am naturally and feel like I’ve had enough sleep.

I jump straight in the shower and have some cinnamon and raisin porridge made with oat milk and a cup of tea before starting work at 8am.

In the evening I go for a five-mile walk on the beach before coming home and having leftover roast dinner at around 7pm. At 9.30pm I am feeling tired so head to bed.

Once I’m in bed I start looking at my phone and fall into a hole of social media videos where I’m just scrolling and lose track of time. At 11.30pm, I put my meditation audio on and put my phone down and am asleep within a few minutes. 

Day 5

I wake up with my first alarm at 7am. After checking my phone and having some cuddles with my cats I get up at 7.30am and head straight into the shower.

I have a busy day at work lying ahead so I log on as soon as I’m dressed and grab a bowl of cinnamon porridge with a cup of tea at about 9.30am.

Once work is done I have dinner and watch a bit of TV before heading to bed at 10pm. I cleanse, tone and moisturise my skin and clean my teeth as I do every night before getting into bed. I am on my phone chatting to friends until 11pm when I put on my sleep meditation and close my eyes. 

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

Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, sleep expert and professional physiologist, says: “You are a perfect example of how living a life of purpose and self-awareness not only helps you to sleep well but also helps you to cope better with life when you haven’t slept well and are feeling tired: it doesn’t take as much of a toll.

“You seem to put a lot of thought into the choices you make and how they make you feel. Clearly, you care deeply about the work you do and especially your volunteer work – what a worthwhile cause! When we are running high on ‘mission and purpose’ energy it can really help to carry us through those days when we haven’t slept so well. In other words, we all deserve to do work we love doing and we would all sleep better for it!”

Dr Nerina continues: “You’ve been waking up a lot at 5am but you don’t seem to be too worried about it. Quite rightly so – if you’re in bed at a reasonable time (around 10pm) and your sleep quality is good, then the sleep after 5am (although nice to have) is of limited value. You listen to your body and get a few more minutes if you really need to.

“Less nighttime scrolling would probably reduce your tiredness in the mornings as well as drinking more water – this might be why your eyes are often dry. The body is approximately 70% water and dry eyes are often one of the first signs of dehydration.”

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

Lead image design: Ami O’Callaghan

Other images: Getty