About Sleep

I have been having some trouble with sleep lately. Most nights I get to bed pretty easily and then I wake up at around 5 and can't get back to sleep anymore. My brain just turns on at the time and refuses to turn off. My mind goes on autopilot and starts to plan my day, solve programming problems I've found at work, notes how I'd need to call to the truck guys later to help with the dryer etc. I've tried counting my breath to cut off the thinking and ended counting till sunrise. I've tried changing sleeping positions on the bed, sleeping in the living room, skipping dinner, doing heavy exercise during the evening and cutting off all access to the computer at home. Nothing helped.

The only things that have worked so far are alcohol and sleeping pills. Alcohol gets me an extra hour of sleep. If I pop in a sleeping pill I get the best sleep in months. Trouble is I'd hate to grow a dependency on them. With @sexaybeast's encouragement I've started cutting down on sugar and caffeine (they mess with your sleep cycles) but it doesn't seem to be work. Give it two weeks he says.

I'm starting to suspect that this could be work related since I don't have this problem during the weekends. One theory is that I'm subconsciously worried about getting to work on time and the worry is manifesting itself by making it hard for me to get back to sleep. It doesn't make sense to me because I've never worried about getting to work on time.

One thing I've noticed is that I seem to get up at 5am no matter how early I get to bed. So the best solution I have right now is to get to bed by 9pm so I'd get a full nights rest by the time I wake up at 5am. The hope is that once I my full 8 hours of sleep, my sleep cycle will gradually get back to normal. I hope.