Any reformed night owls here?

[Obsessed]

I've always been a night person - if my body clock were left to its own devices, I'd never go to bed before 12 or 1 a.m. That was fine when I was living in the city. Now, however, I'm in the 'burbs and I need to get up a lot earlier, but I still have a lot of trouble making myself go to bed much earlier, with the end result that I often feel quite run down. I was wondering if anyone here has successfully dealt with a similar situation and has any suggestions. (And before we start, being on B&B at night is a symptom, not a cause!)

Thanks.

 

[iamyourfather]

I have the same struggle.

I can stay up till 2 or 3 am, no problem. If I have to get up before 8 though, I am a mess. Even when I go to bed early the night before! Any tips to help the waking process easier would be awesome!

 

[Dharion]

I'm a night person myself and think discipline is unfortunately the only cure.

 

[Confuzius]

I just got used to being tired

I went from working 4p-12a to working 8a-5p, it was a struggle, I just forced myself to sleep earlier. Gradually, like 10 minutes earlier. Start reading instead of doing internet things or watching TV, it makes the transition easier.

Still I'm always screwed up, because weekends I'm still often up 'till 3-4am and it's been 5 years since I worked a midnight shift.

 

[AndrewWiggin]

Several things helped me:

Don't use your computer for an hour before you want to go to sleep, the backlight causes your body to produce melanin which keeps you awake.

Make a goal for yourself to wake up at a set time, every day (mine is now 5).

Make your alarm obnoxiously loud-you'll hate it, but you aren't going back to bed.

Stop drinking caffeine, if it's in your system your body does not sleep well.

 

[Obsessed]

Stop drinking caffeine

 

[iamyourfather]

As I sit here finishing my third cup of coffee, I have the same response.

I'm at the point now where if I don't have caffeine, I get a headache. I really need to go on a cleanse....

 

[chfair]

reformed.... the fell right back in.

took me a few months of changing up my sleep habits (insomniac does not help with this issue at all). i found that if i woke up at 6 am i felt a lot better than waking up later in the morning regardless of the amount of sleep i had, no idea why that is but that's what i did for a while to get back in the habit. no napping during the day so you might actually feel somewhat tired in the early evening.

that is how it worked for me but as i mentioned it did not stick because i did not stay committed to it.

 

[Go West Young Man]

I can only function when I regularly get 8 hours of sleep, and with the 5:40 a.m. alarm clock that means in bed by around 10 p.m.

It took a while to mentally accept being in bed that early, but I end up feeling a lot better the next day and get a lot more done. Now I start feeling tired around 9 p.m. and actually look forward to a good night's sleep.

 

[KeNd0]

I`ve always been a night owl, unfortunately with my job, I also have to be up early. I usually run at 540AM, as its the only time I can, and lately my shaving obsession and these forums have made for some very long days, as I`m on until 11-12, and up at 530.

SWMBO informed me this morning that there should be no more B&B on work nights, as she falls asleep with me browsing the forums, and this AM, she awoke to find me browsing the forums. She asked if I even slept. lol

 

[Blaireau&Lame]

I've resigned to the fact that I will never catch up on my sleep deficit--it took me nearly all of my adult life to dig this hole! In lieu of chemical stimulation such as caffeine, have you tried altering your diet? Years ago, I switched to eating small meals every 3-4 hours, instead of eating 3 big meals in a day. For me, it kept my energy level fairly consistent throughout the day--no food coma/post-meal lulls. Still, nothing beats quality, REM sleep...

 

[htownmmm]

Join the club; after having worked o/n shifts(10p-10a; then 12a-9a) for 15 years straight, I have just recently switched to a 3p-12a shift. Once I get home, I still do not go to sleep before 3-4a. And that's because SWMBO will get up and complain that I haven't come to bed yet.

I would be open to some suggestions also. have to add that my commute is an hour and 10 minutes, so drinking coffee would not be a good thing!


marty

 

[Greybeard]

Most of the reasons that people are night owls are psychological. Stress, depression, boredom, and many, many more.

There is a small percentage of the population (guesstimated at 1.5 out of 1000) that has Delayed Sleep-phase Disorder. I'm one of these that wasn't diagnosed until I was 38. Prior to that I attributed my tendency to stay up late to stress. I also felt fortunate in that I could function well on 6 hours sleep a night, which was my norm.
If left to my own devices and on weekends and vacations, I would go to sleep at around 3 a.m. or later. It is something I've done since infancy and subsequently found out I inherited from my mother. My form is much milder than hers. To mesh with the majority of the world I exercised discipline to sleep normal hours, which I later found out was actually a form of chronotherapy. I could still never get to sleep before midnight and usually 1 a.m.
My solution was to start my own consulting business where 80% of the time I could work my own hours.

If you really want to change, then I suggest finding out the reasons why you're not sleeping at night and address those.
Oh, and lots of caffeine is a really bad idea for anyone trying to get to sleep.

Join the club; after having worked o/n shifts(10p-10a; then 12a-9a) for 15 years straight, I have just recently switched to a 3p-12a shift. Once I get home, I still do not go to sleep before 3-4a. And that's because SWMBO will get up and complain that I haven't come to bed yet.

I would be open to some suggestions also. have to add that my commute is an hour and 10 minutes, so drinking coffee would not be a good thing!


marty

Marty, you could just have gotten used to night shifts and it will take you some time to re-adjust to a new schedule. On the other hand, you may have the same disorder I do, since a lot of people with DSPD choose to work the night shifts that you had for 15 years. There are a lot of chronotherapy methods that may address your problem.




- Peter

 

[82R100]

I can only function when I regularly get 8 hours of sleep, and with the 5:40 a.m. alarm clock that means in bed by around 10 p.m.

...which means you're still shorting yourself 20 minutes a night, if you fall asleep instantly. Am I doing the math right?

As others have pointed out, there are behavioral changes you can make to bring on the sleep. For me, that includes lower light levels during the last hour or two and reading for the last half hour or more, if possible. TV or computer use both leave me too keyed up to fall asleep quickly. Fortunately, I'm a morning person and have never used a snooze button in my life.

- Chris

 

[Mysterion]

...Don't use your computer for an hour before you want to go to sleep, the backlight causes your body to produce melanin which keeps you awake...

I think you mean melatonin, the hormone responsible for regulating sleep cycles; backlighting suppresses rather than stimulates production, leading to sleep disturbances. Melanin is a pigment responsible for skin and hair color in humans.

 

[Dennis]

If left to my natural sleep cycle, my ideal work would start around 11am or later. I can easily be up and not feel like sleeping until at least 2am at night. The only solution for me is to go to bed around 10pm whether I feel like or not. I HAVE to get up in the morning for work and kid's school, so I have no choice. More of the problem for me is waking up in the morning because I could easily sleep until 9-10am if not bothered. I definitely do not wake up at the first alarm and will hit a snooze endlessly, so this is constant struggle in my life.

 

[Obsessed]

If left to my natural sleep cycle, my ideal work would start around 11am or later. I can easily be up and not feel like sleeping until at least 2am at night. The only solution for me is to go to bed around 10pm whether I feel like or not. I HAVE to get up in the morning for work and kid's school, so I have no choice. More of the problem for me is waking up in the morning because I could easily sleep until 9-10am if not bothered. I definitely do not wake up at the first alarm and will hit a snooze endlessly, so this is constant struggle in my life.

You and I sound like we're in exactly the same boat. The problem is, even if I force myself to go to bed before 11 pm, I usually can't fall asleep. The only time I can really fall asleep early is on days when it all catches up with me and I just crash. But after a night or two of catching up on sleep my body clock asserts itself again.

 

[Dennis]

You and I sound like we're in exactly the same boat. The problem is, even if I force myself to go to bed before 11 pm, I usually can't fall asleep. The only time I can really fall asleep early is on days when it all catches up with me and I just crash. But after a night or two of catching up on sleep my body clock asserts itself again.

One thing you could try, which I almost hate to suggest, is talking with your doctor about a sleep aid. When my sleep schedule was even more shifted than it is now, my doc put me on a 2 week course of Sonata to try and move my sleep cycle back. It worked quite well and there was no need to be on sleep meds long term. You might try that and see if it is an option. That was several years ago and I haven't had any need to repeat it since as I can generally fall asleep with no problems.

 

[Obsessed]

One thing you could try, which I almost hate to suggest, is talking with your doctor about a sleep aid. When my sleep schedule was even more shifted than it is now, my doc put me on a 2 week course of Sonata to try and move my sleep cycle back. It worked quite well and there was no need to be on sleep meds long term. You might try that and see if it is an option. That was several years ago and I haven't had any need to repeat it since as I can generally fall asleep with no problems.

This may sound silly, I'm very nervous about that because I have two small kids and I don't want to run the risk of being artificially zonked out and unable to act if there's some sort of emergency in the middle of the night.

 

[Go West Young Man]

...which means you're still shorting yourself 20 minutes a night, if you fall asleep instantly. Am I doing the math right?



- Chris

Yup, but there's a psychological barrier keeping me from going to bed any earlier. It's a short step from being asleep at 9:30 to yelling at kids to get off my dadgurmed lawn!!!