One thing which I think would help many programmers reset their sleep schedule is to remove routine use of caffeine.
For me it was only giving up caffeine that made me realise how powerful a stimulant it actually is. If you're in a daily routine in which you're routinely and regularly drinking caffeine throughout the day then it's almost certain that it is impacting your sleep cycle. If you're drinking caffeine in the evening and still sleeping at night you're probably exhausted or at least over tired.
I'd recommend to anyone cutting it out for 2 - 3 weeks just to understand it and allow you to better work out how you want to use that effect. For me that means first thing in the morning and as needed (I have a 15 month old daughter - that can be fairly often) but never in the evening and rarely in the afternoon.
Certainly if you wanted to reboot your sleep schedule I think stopping it would be significant. If nothing else then for a heavy coffee drinker the added tiredness caused by removing the additional stimulation would help you sleep earlier.
More on the impact of caffeine on sleep and sleep in general in Counting Sheep by Paul Martin (http://www.amazon.com/Counting-Sheep-Science-Pleasures-Dream...). It's a bit long and in places but it's worth reading despite that if you're interesting in understanding sleep.
For me it was only giving up caffeine that made me realise how powerful a stimulant it actually is. If you're in a daily routine in which you're routinely and regularly drinking caffeine throughout the day then it's almost certain that it is impacting your sleep cycle. If you're drinking caffeine in the evening and still sleeping at night you're probably exhausted or at least over tired.
I'd recommend to anyone cutting it out for 2 - 3 weeks just to understand it and allow you to better work out how you want to use that effect. For me that means first thing in the morning and as needed (I have a 15 month old daughter - that can be fairly often) but never in the evening and rarely in the afternoon.
Certainly if you wanted to reboot your sleep schedule I think stopping it would be significant. If nothing else then for a heavy coffee drinker the added tiredness caused by removing the additional stimulation would help you sleep earlier.
More on the impact of caffeine on sleep and sleep in general in Counting Sheep by Paul Martin (http://www.amazon.com/Counting-Sheep-Science-Pleasures-Dream...). It's a bit long and in places but it's worth reading despite that if you're interesting in understanding sleep.