Summer Vacation Disrupts Your Routine: Re-establish It with Morning Light

When summer vacation begins, it's easy to stay up late. Then, it's hard to wake up in the morning, and before you know it, your sleep and wake times are all over the place. This is a common summer scene.

Adjusting your daily rhythm might sound difficult, but the key is "light." This article summarizes tips for painlessly restoring a disrupted rhythm by using morning light and evening illumination effectively.

Why is our rhythm disrupted during summer vacation?

During periods without school, there are no "set times" for waking up and going to bed. Many look at bright screens playing games or videos late at night, and then oversleep in a dark room with blackout curtains in the morning. This often results in a reversed exposure to light: "strong light at night, dark room in the morning."

Even the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Sleep Guide for Health Promotion 2023" states that exposure to light in the morning and during the day, and avoiding light at night, are important for regulating one's daily rhythm.

Morning: Open the curtains as soon as you wake up

The quickest way to get your rhythm back on track is morning light. Open the curtains as soon as you wake up to let the morning light into your room. On cloudy days or when the room is dark, turning on a bright, clear cool white (daylight white) ceiling light signals that "morning has arrived."

Even on days off, try not to significantly shift your wake-up time; this is key to maintaining your rhythm.

Daytime: Spend time in bright light

During the day, spend time in as bright a place as possible. Being outdoors is best, but on days when you're indoors due to heat or rain, make your room brightly lit with cool white to white light (4000K-5000K). Adjusting the brightness and color of light also makes it more comfortable for homework and reading.

Evening: Warm and dim before bed

From the evening onwards, gradually dim the lights in your room and switch to a warm incandescent color (3000K). Avoiding excessive exposure to strong light or bright screens before bed will help you wake up more easily the next morning.

The flow of light before sleep is detailed in How to Adjust Light in the Hour Before Bed, and theメリハリ (contrast) of light throughout the day is covered in Natural Rhythms and Sleep.

Gradually return to routine for the new semester

It can be tough to abruptly restore a disrupted rhythm. Start adjusting your "wake-up time" little by little a few days to a week before the new semester begins. Even then, remember: bright light upon waking, dim light before bed. Using the contrast of light as your ally will help your body remember its rhythm more easily.

Summer Rhythm: A Small Checklist

• Open curtains upon waking (use bright artificial light on dark days)
• Try to keep wake-up times consistent
• Spend daytime hours in bright light
• Before bed, switch to warm light and avoid bright screens
• Gradually adjust wake-up times before the new semester

In the case of lipro

With a dimmable and color-tunable Sunlight Ceiling Light, you can switch between a crisp cool white for a "wake-up signal" in the morning and a warm incandescent color for "preparing to rest" in the evening, all with one remote. It offers color tuning from 3000K to 5000K, Ra97+, and flicker-free design (Powered by SunLike).

Lighting isn't a magic tool for creating a daily rhythm. However, it becomes a daily tool that helps create that contrast of "bright in the morning, warm at night."

Summary: Emphasize the contrast of light during summer vacation

Open the curtains when you wake up. Keep it bright during the day. Warm and dim at night. Creating a summer rhythm starts with this simple contrast of light. Try to begin today with what you can do.

Reference Information

• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare "Sleep Guide for Health Promotion 2023"
  https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001305530.pdf
• lipro "Sunlight Ceiling Light"
  https://jp.lipro.com/ja-jp/products/ceiling-light-ja