Waking up at 3 a.m. can be bothersome, but it's not always a sign of a larger problem. Temporary stress could prompt you to wake up in the middle of the night every so often. More frequent wake-ups at 3 a.m. that keep you up for a significant amount of time could be a sign of insomnia or another health condition.
You wake up at 3am because this is the time you shift from a deep sleep into a lighter sleep. If you turn in at 11pm, by three in the morning you're mostly out of deep sleep and shifting into longer periods of lighter sleep, known as REM.
The next time you wake up at 3 a.m. (or whatever time), give yourself 15 to 20 minutes to doze back into dreamland. It's OK. If you're awake longer than that, it's best to get out of bed, says Dr.
Core body temperature starts to rise, sleep drive is reducing (because we've had a chunk of sleep), secretion of melatonin (the sleep hormone) has peaked, and levels of cortisol (a stress hormone) are increasing as the body prepares to launch us into the day.
1-3am is the time of the Liver and a time when the body should be alseep. During this time, toxins are released from the body and fresh new blood is made.
Theories abound as to why 3:00 a.m. is such a universal time for people to wake up and have trouble going back to sleep. It's possible that sleep cycles may have something to do with it; at 3:00 you may be entering a lighter phase of sleep, which makes disruptions and awakenings more likely.
"Most people hit their deepest sleep between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.," says WebMD sleep expert Michael Breus, PhD, D, ABSM, "so it's very hard to wake up during that time."
Try waking up daily between 6:30 to 7 am, said Dr Bhavsar. “Waking up before/with the sun provides you with energy, positivity and all things beneficial for your mental and physical health as it brings balance in one's constitution.
The best time to take 3 a.m. melatonin is whenever you wake up in the middle of the night and have a difficult time going back to sleep. † For best results, take at least 3 hours before waking.
Your sleep patterns
One likely explanation for waking up at the same time each night is that you go to sleep at the same time and then, at the same time each night, you reach a light stage of sleep and wake up. We're also more likely to remember waking up if it's closer to the time we normally get up for the day.
The best time to wake up in the morning is seven to nine hours after you've gone to bed. For example, if you went to bed at 11 pm then you should wake up between 6 am (earliest) to 8 am (latest). This will ensure you're getting enough sleep to recover from the day and allow the body's processes to work.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX: 6 hours (1am — 7am) Tim Cook, CEO of Apple: 7 hours (9:30pm — 4:30am) Bill Gates, Co-Founder of Microsoft: 7 hours (12am — 7am) Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group: 5–6 hours (12–5/6am)
Therefore, if you're actually rising at 4:30 AM, you must be in bed and asleep by 9:30 PM at the latest and even as early as 7:30 PM, which is before sunset for much of the year in much of the US.
If you're naturally more of a night owl, waking up early is not going to be easy, so you have to be committed to make it a long-term habit. The first few days will probably be hard, warns Kenneally. Generally, though, most people do fine once they establish a new, healthy sleep pattern.
For most, it's likely behavioral or environmental reasons like drinking caffeine or alcohol late in the day. It may also be due to a poor sleep environment. There may also be deeper reasons such as a sleep disorder or another medical condition.
It's readily available, and it's supposed to help you sleep . . . right? Sleep deprivation can make this logic seem sound, but experts say taking melatonin in the middle of the night can actually make your sleep schedule even worse.
It is an online challenge where participants attempt to perform a specific task at 3 in the morning. Online Game Briefing Note 2: 3am Challenge. What do we need to know about this? The challenge was created by Jason Ethier, where he uploaded creepy 3am videos seeking paranormal activity.
The premise behind the 3AM Challenge is that harmless daytime activities — playing with a fidget spinner or talking to Siri — become haunted late at night.
Morning technically starts after midnight. However, 3 a.m. is too early to be considered part of the daytime. For most of the world, it is still dark outside at this time and most people are sleeping. So, 3 a.m. is considered night.
So if you wake up at 3 AM, when Liver energy peaks, you may be suffering from Liver Qi stagnation, which could be related to an unhealthy diet, excess alcohol consumption, unresolved anger or high levels of stress.