Well certainly don't fall asleep on the job! Although I guess that would depend on the job. So far I haven't seen any vacancies of mattress sleep quality tester.
The graveyard shift is a punishment for some, but I think it would be peaceful.
If we could only have night school for high school, my kid would have a chance. As it is, he stumbles around and walks into walls while trying to catch the bus.
I’m usually in bed, but not necessarily asleep by midnight. The weekend before last, I slept til 12:30. I can be pretty nasty if I don’t get a solid 12 hours of sleep. Sometimes I have to make it up with a nap.
The only time in my life that I was a willing early bird was when I was deeply depressed and practising extreme dieting and exercising.
Now I’m fat and happy… and sleepy most of the time.
I actually LOVE being up for the sunrise. But only when I happen (rarely) to wake naturally at that time. Alarms work for waking me up about as well as cinder blocks work as swim aids.
Semi-nocturnal Trash Panda, reporting for duty! I can get up at 6:30am (because I'm paid to be at work), but I prefer 10am followed by a leisurely coffee (or three). If I could go to bed at 2am and get up at 10, I'd be thrilled, but you'd be surprised at how offices frown on you ambling in just before noon. Buncha larks....
Your ideal sleep is my current reality. Only it's more like 4-12 some nights. I live on a fixed income but I get a whole lot of sleep when I want it.
My extremely morning person mother hated this. Although it was good to have her wake me up at 6:00 AM (!!!) because high school started at 7:30 (!!!) Not a schedule friendly to teenager brains, no matter larks or owls. And the year I had math first period, yikes.
There's a reason I got a lot of owl gifts as a young'un. And a few years ago, a friend spontaneously gave me a pin with a sleeping sloth on it and said "Your spirit animal!"
This is so interesting! You’ve got me wondering what kind of animal I am! I really want to know! I honestly thought I was going to die when I had an 8:00 am physics class in college. I have found that I am highly functional (sometimes even brilliant!) from about 10:30 am until about 4:00 pm and no good to anyone outside of that window.🤪
I used to be more nocturnal when I worked in hospitality. My work days began at 5pm.
Nowadays I still wake naturally (no alarm) but at like 730. And once I stir there's no going back because my dog knows I'm alive lol. She has zero chill in the mornings.
Yeah hospitality can do that to your sleep schedule. As can dogs, dammit they have some sort of built in internal alarm clock...and yup, they always know when you're alive, bastards.
I was a wolf until about ten years ago. I accomplished more between 9 pm and 4 am than any 8 hour day. Now, I’m definitely a dolphin. I sleep light, wake up often and have to spend significant time meditating in order to sleep. Don’t usually get to sleep before 11-12. Weirdly, I don’t do naps well either. Being a baker and a writer, early morning seems more peaceful and focused.
Great post! Really enjoy articles where everyone can relate on some level. 😊
That's actually common, many people change over the years! At least you dont' wake up at baker hours, I knew one who had to be at work at like 3am haha.
I'm glad you like these relatable ones! I have more...but there's also ones coming up about aliens, boobs, and some other weirdness haha
Night owl here. It’s 2:pm and I’m sitting in my pajamas reading this.
I am going to bed a little earlier these days because I find I sleep more hours if I do, and yes- without 7-8 hours, I’m watching the clock, wondering when I can fit a nap into my day.
I love when I finally get dressed, go out late afternoon to shop and the cashier asks, “how’s you’re day going?”
I laugh to myself thinking these poor people have been up for 8 hours already, maybe more!
I love you. You’ve solved my dilemma. My 10 yrs of military service (before my 10 years of being a Military Federal Aerospace Contractor) I knew it was going to be Hell. Sure, 6 weeks of Basic Training YOU’VE GOT to get your lazy ass up at reveille which in turn means YOU WILL WANT TO GO TO SLEEP AT 7 PM because you will be jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, climbing a rope up a nonsensical big ass wood wall for some weird reason & repelling down the other side, running in COMBAT BOOTS with a 4 foot tall duffel bag filled with EVERY SINGLE THING YOU WEAR AND NEED TO SURVIVE IN NOT ONLY BASIC TRAINING but your entire life, another thing you learn immediately AFTER basic. (incidentally combat boots are the BEST BOOTS OF ALL! I still wear them, they are my most comfortable shoes & I can talk about that later if anyone gives a rip.)
In addition to running uphill with everything you own in BMTS & need like a shopper leaving Target on Black Friday, (Also something I need to expound on later because I DO NOT DO SPORT-SHOP.) you get umpteen hundred vaccinations all in 3 visits. 4-6 at a time with an inoculation GUN, that rotates like a Gatling gun. If you move, it splits your skin open. It takes only one cruel smart ass in line behind you to “nudge” you & your arm will bleed incessantly. Not pertinent to sleep cycles but takes a lot of wind out of your sails to have to kick the crap out of the nudger & it can ruin an already difficult day. Lining up in formation is one thing but marching in formation every where to go in Texas, in November & December where it’s damp & chilly takes the curl out of your hair literally.
My mom “gifted” me a salon day and got the beauticians were instructed to give me “a hairstyle easy to care for”. So they gave me a permanent that was so curly I don’t know if it’s rude to call it a white girl afro…but it was awful. When you slept on it you woke up with a column of hair much like Marge Simpson. At least I made everyone laugh. Not much to laugh about when you get 4-5 hours of sleep.
To add to that, I walked in my sleep one night after we’d run, full pack and M-16 in a 45° rain for 15 miles to get us ready for combat guidelines to do my job out in that desert.
I was nudged awake sitting on the fire escape leaning against the railing in the rain by my DI & sent to the shrink only to find out I was sane, fit, focused and extremely exhausted. We all were but I was not sleeping much. They determined I was just worn out and had a reaction to the last round of vaccines and a bonus bad cold. After that I was watched day and night. A guard watched me sleep for the last 2 weeks of training. We were there for Christmas. Yes indeed. They gave us 24 hours to not march, drill, shoot or parachute. While everyone else was eating Christmas cookies and being homesick I SLEPT FOR 20 hours, pumpkin pie be damned. And yes the guard watched me sleep for the last time.
Now I am 68 and I FUCKING LOVE NAPS. Oh praise thy nap….drooling, bed spread marks on the face, snoring, flatulent naps.
Lately I’ve been waking up at DAMMIT O’clock. Like 430am. WTF? I am up 3 days a week to be at the office at 9am, the latest hour I’ve EVER gone to work. And my body does this crap.
I’m a coffee-aholic so I can get 4 cups easily, a shower WITH a shampoo, dry, style, do a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, watch some form of news and when the weather is ok walk the 5 whole blocks to work.
I didn’t mean to toss you this long assed reply but it sure got me thinking about all the sleep I’ve lost all these 4 million years I’ve been alive.
thank heavens i didn't wake up at 03:47 -
that would mean i fell asleep on the job!
i used to work the graveyard shift & loved being awake while others were sleeping.
Well certainly don't fall asleep on the job! Although I guess that would depend on the job. So far I haven't seen any vacancies of mattress sleep quality tester.
The graveyard shift is a punishment for some, but I think it would be peaceful.
If we could only have night school for high school, my kid would have a chance. As it is, he stumbles around and walks into walls while trying to catch the bus.
Yup, that needs to be a real option. So many kids would do better in school.
It me. Afternoon school would have been OK, roll outta bed at the crack of noon and go to school at 1:30 PM. Not 7:30 AM.
First twenty-odd years a wolf. Bear when kids came along. Now a dolphin/wolf hybrid at “get off my lawn” stage of life.🙃
Wow, you just bounced around and hit all the sleep markers huh? The 'get off my lawn' stage sounds phenomenal.
Yep I get around😅
I’m usually in bed, but not necessarily asleep by midnight. The weekend before last, I slept til 12:30. I can be pretty nasty if I don’t get a solid 12 hours of sleep. Sometimes I have to make it up with a nap.
The only time in my life that I was a willing early bird was when I was deeply depressed and practising extreme dieting and exercising.
Now I’m fat and happy… and sleepy most of the time.
Let’s hear it for us!
12 hours, that's impressive!
I'm glad your fat and happy now! Waking up early to starve and exercise in a depressive state sounds like a dreadful way to live.
Yay for us!
I actually LOVE being up for the sunrise. But only when I happen (rarely) to wake naturally at that time. Alarms work for waking me up about as well as cinder blocks work as swim aids.
😆😆 That cinder block line is epic. Waking up naturally always feels so much better, sunrise or otherwise.
Especially when you wake up naturally after sleeping ridiculously well and wonder if it’s today or tomorrow.
Semi-nocturnal Trash Panda, reporting for duty! I can get up at 6:30am (because I'm paid to be at work), but I prefer 10am followed by a leisurely coffee (or three). If I could go to bed at 2am and get up at 10, I'd be thrilled, but you'd be surprised at how offices frown on you ambling in just before noon. Buncha larks....
'Semi-nocturnal trash panda' 😆😆.
Damned HR and all their dumb rules. Your desired schedule does sound a lot better than waking up at 6am!
Your ideal sleep is my current reality. Only it's more like 4-12 some nights. I live on a fixed income but I get a whole lot of sleep when I want it.
My extremely morning person mother hated this. Although it was good to have her wake me up at 6:00 AM (!!!) because high school started at 7:30 (!!!) Not a schedule friendly to teenager brains, no matter larks or owls. And the year I had math first period, yikes.
There's a reason I got a lot of owl gifts as a young'un. And a few years ago, a friend spontaneously gave me a pin with a sleeping sloth on it and said "Your spirit animal!"
Absolutely wonderful. Perfectly executed and 🥱🥱😴💤🛌
Thanks Jack! :)
I am some sort of lion-dolphin hybrid...
As a sleep strategy that sounds reasonably common, as an animal experiment that sounds terrifying
I can feel physically unwell all day if i get up too early. Working into the night, no prob. Glad there's some science behind this.
Yup, science. And you're not alone Andy. There's a lot of us!
This is so interesting! You’ve got me wondering what kind of animal I am! I really want to know! I honestly thought I was going to die when I had an 8:00 am physics class in college. I have found that I am highly functional (sometimes even brilliant!) from about 10:30 am until about 4:00 pm and no good to anyone outside of that window.🤪
Bear maybe? Not a morning lion, but peak performance is just a little after that. And I hear you--we all have our efficiency windows!
I used to be more nocturnal when I worked in hospitality. My work days began at 5pm.
Nowadays I still wake naturally (no alarm) but at like 730. And once I stir there's no going back because my dog knows I'm alive lol. She has zero chill in the mornings.
Yeah hospitality can do that to your sleep schedule. As can dogs, dammit they have some sort of built in internal alarm clock...and yup, they always know when you're alive, bastards.
I was a wolf until about ten years ago. I accomplished more between 9 pm and 4 am than any 8 hour day. Now, I’m definitely a dolphin. I sleep light, wake up often and have to spend significant time meditating in order to sleep. Don’t usually get to sleep before 11-12. Weirdly, I don’t do naps well either. Being a baker and a writer, early morning seems more peaceful and focused.
Great post! Really enjoy articles where everyone can relate on some level. 😊
That's actually common, many people change over the years! At least you dont' wake up at baker hours, I knew one who had to be at work at like 3am haha.
I'm glad you like these relatable ones! I have more...but there's also ones coming up about aliens, boobs, and some other weirdness haha
As a kid with a stepdad (who was a superhero after all) woke me at 4.
Joined the Army. Up at 3:30 no matter what time I went to sleep
Help to raise my kids. They loved 4 am for some reason.
Job I’ve had for the last 10 forevers, up at 4 no matter that I drop at midnight
While working in a Masters cause why not, the only time I had to study? You guessed it, 4 am.
Lavender Bacon is basically a kid, he digs (pun intended) 4 am.
Life REALLY wants you up at 4am huh?! That sounds brutal but hopefully you adjusted over time. Although...tell LB to chill in the morning haha
Congrats on the masters though, that's awesome.
Thanks! Really enjoyed this……Dolphin…….🤔🙃🧐😕
I love the cascade of emoji emotions 😆
Night owl here. It’s 2:pm and I’m sitting in my pajamas reading this.
I am going to bed a little earlier these days because I find I sleep more hours if I do, and yes- without 7-8 hours, I’m watching the clock, wondering when I can fit a nap into my day.
I love when I finally get dressed, go out late afternoon to shop and the cashier asks, “how’s you’re day going?”
I laugh to myself thinking these poor people have been up for 8 hours already, maybe more!
My response, is usually, “I don’t know yet.”
I love you. You’ve solved my dilemma. My 10 yrs of military service (before my 10 years of being a Military Federal Aerospace Contractor) I knew it was going to be Hell. Sure, 6 weeks of Basic Training YOU’VE GOT to get your lazy ass up at reveille which in turn means YOU WILL WANT TO GO TO SLEEP AT 7 PM because you will be jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, climbing a rope up a nonsensical big ass wood wall for some weird reason & repelling down the other side, running in COMBAT BOOTS with a 4 foot tall duffel bag filled with EVERY SINGLE THING YOU WEAR AND NEED TO SURVIVE IN NOT ONLY BASIC TRAINING but your entire life, another thing you learn immediately AFTER basic. (incidentally combat boots are the BEST BOOTS OF ALL! I still wear them, they are my most comfortable shoes & I can talk about that later if anyone gives a rip.)
In addition to running uphill with everything you own in BMTS & need like a shopper leaving Target on Black Friday, (Also something I need to expound on later because I DO NOT DO SPORT-SHOP.) you get umpteen hundred vaccinations all in 3 visits. 4-6 at a time with an inoculation GUN, that rotates like a Gatling gun. If you move, it splits your skin open. It takes only one cruel smart ass in line behind you to “nudge” you & your arm will bleed incessantly. Not pertinent to sleep cycles but takes a lot of wind out of your sails to have to kick the crap out of the nudger & it can ruin an already difficult day. Lining up in formation is one thing but marching in formation every where to go in Texas, in November & December where it’s damp & chilly takes the curl out of your hair literally.
My mom “gifted” me a salon day and got the beauticians were instructed to give me “a hairstyle easy to care for”. So they gave me a permanent that was so curly I don’t know if it’s rude to call it a white girl afro…but it was awful. When you slept on it you woke up with a column of hair much like Marge Simpson. At least I made everyone laugh. Not much to laugh about when you get 4-5 hours of sleep.
To add to that, I walked in my sleep one night after we’d run, full pack and M-16 in a 45° rain for 15 miles to get us ready for combat guidelines to do my job out in that desert.
I was nudged awake sitting on the fire escape leaning against the railing in the rain by my DI & sent to the shrink only to find out I was sane, fit, focused and extremely exhausted. We all were but I was not sleeping much. They determined I was just worn out and had a reaction to the last round of vaccines and a bonus bad cold. After that I was watched day and night. A guard watched me sleep for the last 2 weeks of training. We were there for Christmas. Yes indeed. They gave us 24 hours to not march, drill, shoot or parachute. While everyone else was eating Christmas cookies and being homesick I SLEPT FOR 20 hours, pumpkin pie be damned. And yes the guard watched me sleep for the last time.
Now I am 68 and I FUCKING LOVE NAPS. Oh praise thy nap….drooling, bed spread marks on the face, snoring, flatulent naps.
Lately I’ve been waking up at DAMMIT O’clock. Like 430am. WTF? I am up 3 days a week to be at the office at 9am, the latest hour I’ve EVER gone to work. And my body does this crap.
I’m a coffee-aholic so I can get 4 cups easily, a shower WITH a shampoo, dry, style, do a load of laundry, clean the kitchen, watch some form of news and when the weather is ok walk the 5 whole blocks to work.
I didn’t mean to toss you this long assed reply but it sure got me thinking about all the sleep I’ve lost all these 4 million years I’ve been alive.