Entrikin 1

Action Research Report Brittney Entrikin Azusa Pacific University Professor Joanne Gilbreath

Entrikin 2

Abstract This action research study involves gradually going to bed earlier so that I can wake up at an earlier time to get more things finished throughout the day. I plan, for four weeks, to go to bed thirty minutes earlier each week to reach the goal of going to bed around 10:00PM every night. This is a good study to be a part of because I definitely lack discipline when it comes to going to bed earlier. I always end up staying up way too late and sleeping in too late. Because of this, I do not always finish the things I need to get done for the day. Going to bed thirty minutes earlier each night for four weeks will help me establish a good habit of falling asleep around 10:00 PM each night.

Entrikin 3

Section 1: Introduction For as long as I can remember, I have been a night owl. I love staying up late and sleeping in late. As a result of this habit, I tend to stay up late on the days that I have to wake up early the next morning for school and work. I have always tried in the past to have a better sleep schedule, but it is hard because I work in a restaurant and sometimes do not get off work until almost midnight. By the time I get home, it takes me over an hour to wind down and get in sleep mode because I am so wired from running around at work. Luckily, I currently only work on the weekends. I chose this topic because I noticed that during my student teaching in my credential program that when I was in the habit of going to bed earlier, I woke up earlier and I was much more productive during the day. Overall, I felt more rested and refreshed. It seemed to me when I was on a better sleep schedule I got more things finished during the day and even had time to get ahead on my homework and lesson planning. The problem with my current sleep schedule is that now that I am a substitute teacher, I am on-call and sometimes have to wake up around 6:00AM. It is imperative that I try to get to bed early so I can be awake and alert during the day to teach. Sometimes on the days that I sub, I am up until almost 1:00AM and waking up after that is extremely difficult. As a result of this, I am always exhausted throughout the day. Sometimes I even take a nap when I get home, which causes me to stay up later because I am not tired by 10:00PM. So by going to bed thirty minutes earlier each week, I will be able to get more sleep and wake up earlier to become more productive throughout the day. Section 2: Implementation I have a strategy that I think would work well for me. What I plan on doing is each week, I will go to bed thirty minutes earlier than the previous week. I will be in bed with the lights off at a specific time. I will also be turning off all my electronics a half hour before bedtime.

This is my plan: Week 1 Bedtime- 11:30PM 1. At 11:00PM I will shut off all electronics (iPhone, iPad, TV, etc.) and start to wind down.

Entrikin 4

2. On the days I do not have to wake up early, I will set an alarm to wake up for 9AM. 3. I will turn all the lights out at 11:30PM and get into bed. Week 2 Bedtime- 11:00PM 1. At 10:30PM I will shut off all electronics and start to wind down. 2. I will set my alarm for 9AM if I dont have to wake up early for work. 3. I will turn off all the lights and get into bed by 11:00PM Week 3 Bedtime- 10:30PM 1. At 10:00PM I will shut off all electronics and start to wind down. 2. I will set my alarm for 8:45AM if I dont have to wake up early for work. 3. I will turn off all the lights and get into bed by 10:30PM Week 4 Bedtime- 10:00PM 1. At 9:30PM I will shut off all electronics and start to wind down. 2. I will set my alarm for 8:45AM if I dont have to wake up early for work. 3. I will turn off all the lights and get into bed by 10:00PM I used the strategy of turning off all electronics a half hour before bedtime because using electronics before bed can be stimulating to your brain and may keep you awake. I agree with this because many times when I am using my electronics before bed, it takes me longer to fall asleep because I find myself thinking of the tasks I was doing on my electronics. By turning them off, I will be able to fall asleep more easily. Section 3: Results The results of the study were not exactly what I expected. I thought everything would go smoothly and I would have enough discipline to go to bed at the required time each night. This was not always the case. I jotted down notes each morning talking about how I slept and if I really did adhere to my scheduled bedtime. The first week was the hardest. My bedtime was 11:30, which means that I had to have all my electronics off by 11:00PM each night. After staying up very late the weekend before, it was hard for me to get into sleep mode by 11:00PM on Sunday night. I was in bed by 11:30PM on Sunday, but I was wide awake. The lights were off,

Entrikin 5

but I was still not at all ready for sleep. I did not fall asleep until around 1:30am- 2:00AM that morning. Because of this, I slept in until about 10:30AM that next morning. So, to me, I failed in my first attempt to get my sleep schedule back on track. For the rest of the week, I really struggled to actually fall asleep by 11:30PM. Once the week was finished, it dawned on me that if I really wanted to get to bed by a reasonable hour, I need to be more tired throughout the day. So starting the next week, I made it a point to be awake by at least 9AM, even if I didnt get my full 8 hours of sleep and even if I was tired from lack of sleep. So for the next week, I pulled back my sleep time by 30 more minutes. I had to be in bed by 11PM and awake by 9AM. I had more success for week 2 because I felt more tired by the time I was getting ready for bed. Most nights, I still was not asleep before 11:30, but I was not as tired the next morning. There were 2 nights this week that I couldnt fall asleep until after 1AM, but I had more success overall. The third week was the most successful of all the weeks because I was getting more used to going to bed and being in bed at an earlier time. For this week, I had to be in bed by 10:30PM. There were a couple nights when I went to bed around 11PM, but it was easier for me to wake up the next morning because I was able to fall asleep faster. I felt that this week was more successful and I was beginning to feel happier about my progress. The last week of my research was a disaster! This is because of Daylight Savings Time. Since I lost an hour of sleep due to Daylight Savings Time, I really felt like it messed up my sleep schedule in a big way. When bedtime came on Sunday night, it felt impossible for me to fall asleep. The whole week I was ready to be in bed by 10:00PM, but didnt fall asleep until well after 12AM. I felt like the hour of sleep that I lost is the reason why this week was so unsuccessful. This made it even harder for me to get up by 8:45AM, and to be honest, most days I didnt even bother getting up at that time because I was so tired from lack of sleep.

Time Needed to Days Week 1, Day 1 Week 1, Day 2 Week 1, Day 3 Time Fell Asleep 1:45 AM 1:00 AM 1:00 AM Go to Bed 23:30:00 11:30 PM 11:30 PM

Entrikin 6

Week 1, Day 4 Week 1, Day 5 Week 2, Day 1 Week 2, Day 2 Week 2, Day 3 Week 2, Day 4 Week 2, Day 5 Week 3, Day 1 Week 3, Day 2 Week 3, Day 3 Week 3, Day 4 Week 3, Day 5 Week 4, Day 1 Week 4, Day 2 Week 4, Day 3 Week 4, Day 4 Week 4, Day 5

12:45 AM 12:30 AM 12:00 AM 11:45 PM 1:00 AM 11:30 PM 1:15 AM 11:30 PM 11:00 PM 11:45 PM 11:00 PM 10:45 PM 3:00 AM 2:00 AM 1:30 AM 2:00 AM 12:45 AM

11:30 PM 11:30 PM 11:00 PM 11:00 PM 11:00 PM 11:00 PM 11:00 PM 10:30 PM 10:30 PM 10:30 PM 10:30 PM 10:30 PM 10:00 PM 10:00 PM 10:00 PM 10:00 PM 10:00 PM

Section 4: Conclusions Since doing this study, I have concluded that it is possible to get back on a regular sleep schedule! But one thing I did notice was that there are more factors that I did not account for when doing this study such as: 1. Daylight Savings Time 2. How working late on the weekends affects me being able to go to sleep at a reasonable

Entrikin 7

time on Monday 3. If taking naps during the day will delay my sleep time at night After doing some light research online, many websites I found say that when trying to get in a better sleep habit, just wake up at 6AM the next day regardless . I think this would work because I would be more tired during the day and would be more apt to go to sleep earlier without having to train my body to go to sleep earlier. I also think this would be a faster way to get used to the idea of going to bed earlier. I would definitely try this action research again because it is something beneficial to me and something that affects me and my daily life. I think eliminating technology before bedtime is important because technology and electronics keep your brain wired before sleep time. Next time I plan to do this experiment, I will plan to continue to eliminate technology before bedtime and I would also plan on waking up even earlier in the morning so that I will be more tired throughout the day. This will motivate me to get to bed earlier. I, personally, do not think there are any drawbacks to this study because it is only something that can help me in my daily life. I think there are benefits because getting to bed earlier and getting more sleep means that you will be more alert during the daytime and less tired. The only barrier that I came across during my study was Daylight Savings Time. The time change usually does not affect me as much as it did this time. This year was very tough for me to fall asleep. The whole last week of my research was a disaster because of it. Section 5: General Comments Overall, I thought this action research process helped me become more disciplined in my sleep habits. This was a process that couldnt really hurt me if I failed, but could definitely help me if I succeeded. Because the last week of my research study did not go so well, it has motivated me to try this research study again in the near future. I have learned that with enough discipline and persistence, you can get anything finished, I want to be able to succeed at this again and I know that I will. What I liked most about this study is that it is something that is personal to me. This is something that I chose and something that was best fit for my life at the moment. I want to be able to look back at this research and say that I am now more disciplined to go to bed earlier and because of that, I am able to be more productive throughout the day.

Entrikin 8