Night Owl...Ugh

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inkkognito

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Why oh why am I such a night owl? Is there anyone else out there whose body clock is totally out of sync with the rest of the world? I come from a family of night owls, and my mother's lax parenting skills didn't include imposition of any particular bedtime so my late-night propensities were free to flourish.

Normally I can force myself onto a fairly regular routine. Lately though I've been working frantically on a manuscript with a tight deadline, so my natural instincts have taken over. I find that I fiddle-fart all day and then hit my productive and creative strides around about 9 p.m., continuing till 2 or 3 (or maybe later, but at that point I force myself to go to bed).

I don't mind since I'm self-employed, but it's annoying to sleep in so late. I wonder what it would be like to actually be a morning person instead of such a darned vampire.
 

MaryMumsy

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I have always been a night owl too. And being self-employed is a definite benefit. Why try to force yourself into a pattern that isn't comfortable? Embrace your owl!

MM
 

Kalyke

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I'm a night owl too. I wake late, go to sleep late. My room mate does not understand. He goes to bed at 9 or 10 and wakes up at 4-5 am. I wake up at about 10 am. It is natural. I don't need an alarm clock. My ideal most productive hours are from about 7pm to 2 am. I do most of my chores and errands during the day, calm down after supper and then start to work. How are you guys self employed? I'd like to get me some of that.
 

Cassiopeia

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Why oh why am I such a night owl? Is there anyone else out there whose body clock is totally out of sync with the rest of the world? I come from a family of night owls, and my mother's lax parenting skills didn't include imposition of any particular bedtime so my late-night propensities were free to flourish.

Normally I can force myself onto a fairly regular routine. Lately though I've been working frantically on a manuscript with a tight deadline, so my natural instincts have taken over. I find that I fiddle-fart all day and then hit my productive and creative strides around about 9 p.m., continuing till 2 or 3 (or maybe later, but at that point I force myself to go to bed).

I don't mind since I'm self-employed, but it's annoying to sleep in so late. I wonder what it would be like to actually be a morning person instead of such a darned vampire.

Well in case you are interested in changing that with a natural help.

Sleep Pretty in Pink

It works and I have no residual ill effects in the morning. I sleep all night and its a good sleep.

ETA: I fixed that link. I found the one I bought on amazon.
 
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DDDeloris

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I'm a night owl myself. Sometimes it can get to me, but most of the time I love it. Being up when no one else is makes me feel like a superhero.
 

Polenth

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I was raised with a set bedtime. It didn't make any difference... I still lay awake at night, because I couldn't sleep then. Once I was old enough to decide when to sleep, I came to realise I was nocturnal.

For days when I have to get up in the morning, I came up with the idea of sleeping when I got home from school/work. That way I can sleep before it gets too late and be up again for the early hours. But my preference is for a cycle where I go to bed at dawn and get up eight hours later.
 

Clair Dickson

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It's so quiet at night. And there's pretty much nothing on TV (less than during the day) plus most places are closed. Hubby's sleeping, so I can't do anything that would distrub him. Nothing else to do but work on the things that I should be-- like writing. It's the BEST time to work. =) I'm nocturnal. And I love it.
 

Alpha Echo

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I used to be. Very much a night owl. I didn't have to be at work until 9am, and I lived literally 3 minutes from work. And I'm the kind of person who rolls out of bed, throws on clothes, and goes to work. My hubby worked shift work, so I'd wait for him to get home at 11, and we'd go out.

Now, I have to be at work at 7, or 630 if I want to go to the gym, and it takes about a half hour - 45 minutes to get to work. But I'm still up later than I should be - about 11 or so.

On the weekends, if we don't have anything to do, we sleep in until about 10 and stay up later.

Sometimes.

Sometimes, we sleep in until 10 and still go to bed around 11.

On second thought, I'm neither a night owl or a morning bird.

Hmmm...
 

Rolling Thunder

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We have an 'Official Night Owls' thread for those who find themselves up and about during the see hours. It's been a bit slow there from what I see, but it's a good way to find out who might be here on AW during those times.
 

stephenf

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I was a night person,but it is possible to reset your body clock if you need to. Now I wake about 07.00 , work in the morning,read/sleep in the afternoon and work a bit more early evening.
 

tehuti88

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I was a nightowl for years. Last I remember I was going to bed around 2-3 PM and getting up after eight!

It was catching a bad chest cold that turned me into a daytime person. I sat in my room at night--the time I was usually awake--and tried to sleep sitting upright. I was so miserable. My sleeping patterns changed and...now I get up around 8 AM and go to bed at eleven.

I do kind of miss the nighttime. But at least I don't have to take sleeping pills to get to sleep at such weird times now, plus I'm getting about the amount of sleep I should be.

So, I know the feeling of both worlds. They both have their benefits and drawbacks, but I can't imagine becoming a nightowl again any time soon.

Besides, I'd miss "House" and all those judge shows, and all the birds stopping by the feeder outside, if I went back to sleeping during the day. :D
 

inkkognito

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Besides, I'd miss "House" and all those judge shows, and all the birds stopping by the feeder outside, if I went back to sleeping during the day. :D
Cool, a fellow judge show junkie! Here in FL, they start at 9 a.m. but run continuously (with a couple of channel changes) till 7 p.m. so I get a fix even if I sleep in.

The only reason I wish I could get up earlier is that I only have time to ride my horse in the morning. I'm a counselor and travel agent, and both those jobs kick into high gear in the afternoon.

When I worked in the corporate world, thankfully we were on flextime. You could roll in any time up till around 10 a.m. although I usually showed up 9ish (I only lived 2 mins. from the office). I loved it when my work involved teaching classes on the offshift or giving webinars to people in Australia and Singapore because it meant working in the wee hours and getting daytime comp hours.
 

Lady Cat

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When I was working, I had no problem getting up early to go to work but I also had no problem staying up all night and sleeping all day when I was on a midnight shift.

Now that I’m unemployed I sleep in every day so I can stay up late at night. My creative juices don’t really start flowing until the sun goes down and I get most of my writing done between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m.

I’m not looking forward to finding a new 9 to 5 job again that will force me to keep regular hours.
 
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Another night owl here. Ideally I'd sleep from 4am-11am but have to force myself into more sociable hours most days of the week.

I get more peace to write in the evenings and I'm definitely more creative after midnight.

If you see what I mean.
 

WildScribe

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I'm just pathetic is all. I don't want to get up in the morning, and come 9pm all I want is to go to BED (although I stay up until later sometimes anyway). My hubby's alarm goes off at 6 and wakes me, so I kind of have to wake early, and I like to go to bed with him to have time to talk before we sleep.

I've been having all kinds of trouble sleeping lately, but melatonin seems to be helping. It's natural, and your body makes it at night anyway, but maybe not enough in some people.
 

Cassie

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Another night owl here. I usually sleep from 7AM-3PM, give or take an hour or so either way. That way I don't miss any of the good parts of the day. :D

Those are my approximate hours, too -- more like 6AM-2:30PM. And I'm self-employed as well (since Spring 2007), which makes those hours possible.

One day a few months ago, I had to be up at 6:30AM, so I went to bed earlier than usual (but still didn't get enough sleep). I found myself yawning a lot. I noticed that it was the first time I'd yawned since leaving the corporate world. And I realized that I don't yawn anymore because I get as much sleep as I need, when I need it. No big boss man tellin' me when to go to bed and when to get up!
 

Cassie

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From http://www.vic.com/~nlp/np-fame.htm

Night People are owls of many different feathers. Some are creative, some are distinguished, some are rascals, and some are, yes, loons. But we are all interesting! Here's a list of some prominent Night People.
  • Florence King
  • Fran Lebowitz
  • Percy Bysshe Shelley
  • Winston Churchill
  • James Joyce
  • Marcel Proust
  • Keith Richards
  • Elvis Presley
  • Jean Kerr
  • Ludwig II of Bavaria
 

IceCreamEmpress

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I'm a 2 to 10 sleeper myself, and have been all my life, whenever I've had the opportunity. It annoys my husband slightly, but it's my natural cycle.
 

Beach Bunny

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Oh good, I'm not the only one who likes to stay up until 4 or 5 in the morning and then go to bed. :) Though, it does get to be a problem on those rare days when I have to be up earlier to do something.

But, I'm on disability. I can sleep as long and whenever I like. I have a doctor's excuse. :D

But, back when I was in school, then working. I was always late. I would fall asleep in the shower.
 

mario_c

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I'm a night owl. Best time to write, play or listen to music, watch a movie, basically do everything that's fun. If I were able to set my own hours, that'd definitely be it.
The downside is everything is closed (except bars and diners, which get old - and expensive) and there's no one to talk to, except earlier in the evening. Late at night things get scary...
 

rugcat

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"In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day."

-- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up (1936)

Try returning to normal hours after working ten years of swing shift and graveyards.
 

inkkognito

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It's another late night, and once again I'm STILL up even though it's nearly 3 a.m. I got lots of work done tonight, but I'm going to force myself to go to bed because we're supposed to be at a friend's house at noon for a Thanksgiving meal.
 
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