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Are you a night owl?

How late do you usually go to bed?  It's interesting to see how different we all are.  Great article about a night owl here - https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2019/night-owl-sleep-patterns.htmlhttps://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2019/night-owl-sleep-patterns.html?intcmp=OC-HLTH-12...

AARPTeri
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I've been a night owl since I was a little kid. I had to fight against it during the school year, but stayed up super late during the summer and school breaks. Once I retire, I could be my natural self - I frequently read until 3 - 4- 5 am!

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Contributor

When I was working, I stayed up till 1:00 or 1:30 a.m and got up at 7:30 a.m.  Needless to say, I lived for Saturdays when I would sleep till noon to recoup.

 

Now that I'm retired, I go to bed around 4:00 or 4:30 a.m. and get up around noon.  It's an odd lifestyle but it works for me.

 

I actually enjoy the time between midnight and 4:30 a.m. because I know no one will be emailing me, texting me or calling me.  It's true peace.

 

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Periodic Contributor

I love your schedule and wish that I could share it but it's not realistic for me. Glad that you found something that works for you!
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I was an early bird most of my life, but about ten years ago, that changed. I started needing more sleep, and then staying up later became easier. Because I work for myself and make my own schedule, I never schedule phone or virtual meetings before 10 a.m. Meetings in person happen in the afternoon! Now I get to bed around midnight most nights and wake up between 8:30 and 9:00, sometimes later!

 

The book "When: Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing" has great research on "larks" vs "owls." Our chronotypes are all different, and there's nothing wrong with being a late riser. I dislike the term "sleeping in" to describe what I do. I'm getting a full night's sleep, not "sleeping in." And all the stuff these days about productivity, waking up at 4 in order to meditate, journal and exercise all before the crack of dawn and breakfast? I reject this as being the "only" way to live, as the author mentions: "Doug is viewed by society at large as a rock, a pillar, a stand-up guy with clean morals and a superb work ethic. Me? Iโ€™m a slug. Iโ€™m dragging down Western Civilization. Iโ€™m whatโ€™s left at the tail end of human evolution โ€” a lazy, shiftless profligate who should be thoroughly ashamed of myself."

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Periodic Contributor

Hi, Lisa,

First, let me thank you for the kudos and sending some right back in your direction for your informative message.  I, too, resent the idea that just because my body has a different "clock" that I am somehow deficient.  So we can be part of the same family in that way.  We have lots of company, as I'm sure you know.

 

I get up around 9 due to my medications schedule.  Today I couldn't talk myself into it until ;9:50.  Most days it is around 9.  I go to bed around midnight but last night I got a nosebleed just as I was getting into bed so I had to stay up until 2:30 before it was under control enough for me to sleep.  I am on oxygen and a blood thinner, so that is what happened.  We are working on reducing both in the near future.

 

Thanks for the info on that book.  I can't read right now because my house is a disaster area and I can't allow myself time to read when I need to be doing things around the house.  To me, reading is for filling time that doesn't have other responsibilities attached to it or to relax at the end of a productive day. Given my druthers, I would sit on a recliner and read every hour of every day, so I consider it a "nice to have."  Right now the cancer means lots of visits to the Cancer Center or hospital doctors' offices or one test or another or a blood draw.  I am blessed to have wonderful doctors and technicians and nurses and we all love each other, which I know is not always the case.  I was stricken before I was able to complete moving into my current home so there are still unsorted boxes that need to be addressed and things to be donated, tossed, or used here, which is why I don't feel that I can read for pleasure right now.  I am eating nibbles of the elepnant because my resources don't allow bites these days but nibbles will also eventurally eliminate the elephant, it will just take a lot longer to get there.  Hope that you are well.  Thank you again for the kudos and the info.

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I wish I could make more time for reading. It takes me forever to get through one book these days. How do you feel about audio books? Sounds like you're out and about a lot with your treatments, and even when you're at home, you're trying to get your house in shape. Maybe listening to a book on your phone might be enjoyable!

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Periodic Contributor

Itโ€™s almost 5:00 am still surrounded by darkness but sunlight waits in the shadows, patiently. Itโ€™s usually about this time of morning when I contemplate what new adventures await me in this new day. Do I dare to dream of rainbows and unicorns, or should I stay here on earth and see what reality has in mind. Tough decision, I guess Iโ€™ll sleep on it. May your dreams be filled with hope and happiness.

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Periodic Contributor

A foolproof plan and an airtight alibi. Solutions to problems that donโ€™t exist. Answers to questions that were never asked. Second guessing choices already made. Layers of regret disqised as good intentions. Intellectual conversations with imaginary friends. These are things that come to visit during the twilight hours, is it any wonder I cannot sleep.

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I used to be an early riser because, while growing up, I could hear the Naval Station playing reveilie (sp?) every morning about 5 or 6.  That continued after I started working, got married, had kids, went to school, and continued working.  Now that I have been divorced, kids are grown, I'm enjoying fruits of my career labor, and happily single.  I am usually up until one or two, reading, doing my finances, watching movies, chatting with kids on cell, and off to bed by two.  Sleep comes fast and I'm finally awake by 7, stay in bed listening to the news or music, and off and running by 8. Health is excellent, no worries at all.   It's a sweet life. 

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Periodic Contributor

YES. I feel the most alive between midnight and 4:00 am. Sometimes even later. I have also seen the sun come up before going to bed. Many nights. Most people are sleeping during these hours.

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I am a night owl. My favorite shift to work was second shift. 3 to 11 pm. I love being up alone in the wee hours. It seems like I can get more accomplished. I go to bed between midnight and three am. My alarm wakes me at 8am. Sometimes when I come home from work i'll take a short nap and wake up to stay up late. My dad worked second shift when I was a kid. Wonder if it heriditary?

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Periodic Contributor

Yes! The happiest time of my life was when I worked at the Navy Base from 4:30 to 12:30AM. I could sleep as late as I wanted in the mornings and run errands during the day. It was heaven and I was never sleep-deprived. Sadly, that only lasted about a year and since then I have been forced to be on a schedule much closer to 8 to 5. Sigh. Glad to know that others are just like me!
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YES! I have been all of my life.  I forced myself to get up early for school and work, but whenever I had a weekend or vacation, I reverted to my natural patterns of late to bed and late to rise. 

 

Now that I am retired, I have to really value something or someone to get up before 9:00 AM.  I usually fall asleep between 2:00 and 3:00 AM, and wake up between 10:30 and 11:30 AM.  All of my volunteer work in the community and Church is in the afternoon or evening.

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  1.  Yes, I am very much a night owl. Every morning I wake between 9:30-10:00 a.m. and generally go to bed between 4:00-5:00 a.m. and sometimes as late (7:00 a.m.). I find that with three to four to five hours of sleep I am more alert and rested than when I get more than six hours of sleep. There a lot of days when I don't even bother to go to sleep
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Yes, I am a lifelong night owl and have struggled with it my entire life.  I looked forward to the day when I could retire and live on my own schedule but God had other plans.  First He called me to care for my mom for 6 years (wouldn't change a thing) and then I moved to another state to finally enjoy my retirement and was stricken with metastatic breast cancer that has hijacked my life.  I hope that this makes you feel better about yours.  I am not complaining, just stating the facts.  In the 60s, I worked at the Norfolk Navy Base and went food shopping at 2AM alternate Thursdays in an empty store that was open 24 hours a day because of the base.  I predicted that by the turn of the century, the world would be on 24-hour schedules because it made sense-- only 1/3 of the traffic on the roads at one time, only 1/3 of the commuters on the buses and trains, only 1/3 or the parking lot spaces filled-- but it never happened and now we have gridlock and delays everywhere.  I do get that the maintenance and repairs happen during the down times but NYC trains run 24/7 and they make it work.  Anyway, my medication schedule makes me get up earlier than I would like and my medical appointments do the same.  So it appears that for the rest of my life, I will be fighting my body clock, which all by itself is tiring.  

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Periodic Contributor

I have always been an early bird.  I fade at 7:00 and in bed by 10:00 up at 5:00 or 6:00.  This has not changed since I retired seven years ago.  When I did my 23 and Me spit in a cup routine the traits indicated a genetic predisposition to waking early.  Getting up early gives me time to slide into the day when the house is quiet.  My sleeping habits never changed with retirement.

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Social Butterfly

๐Ÿฆ‰

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Newbie

I have insomnia. Iโ€™m lucky if I sleep two hours a night, and I rarely take naps in the daytime.

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Regular Contributor

I'm 74 and retired at 72 after working since college.  In my last job of 36 years I went to bed around 11 and got up at 5:00 to be at work by 7.  Now that I'm retired, I go to bed between 11:30 and midnight and get up around 8:30 even though I'm often awake before then.  It is so nice not to have to get up!   My little bit of heaven!

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Regular Contributor

I am a early bird. I am 62 and still work full time. I have been at my job for nearly 42 years. I get up at 5:00 a.m. monday through friday. I work 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. On the weekends I want to sleep in but sleeping in for me is still up by 7:oo or 8:00. When ever I do decide to retire this routine will be hard to break. 

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I've been a night owl my whole life.  As a kid, during the summer, I would stay up until 2 am reading. When I started working in the school system, I had to be up very early. Every night I planned to go to bed early, but it never happened. I would have trouble staying awake at traffic lights. On weekends, I would stay up late. Now that I'm retired, I go to bed between 2 and 3 am, and I usually get up by 10. Bliss!

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Conversationalist

Old habits are hard to break!   My job required me to be there at 6 a.m. (sometimes 5 when we worked overtime) so of course, I had to get up early!  I always ate breakfast, something I learned to do when I was in high school because it made me much sharper. Winter meant shoveling out the driveway and scraping off the ice from the windshield!   When I retired, i found I could never stay in bed for any great length of time.  I still get up at 4 a.m.  Since I live in an apartment complex, I take a walk around the complex  (inside) because the halls are long and also take the stairs. It helps me get any kinks out!  I am usually bright eyed and bushy tailed too!  I don't really start to fade out until about 9:00 and then I usually get my kindle to read before I go to sleep.  I can get to sleep right away but find myself waking up several times after midnight. Oh well, as long as I feel good!

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Regular Contributor

The older I get, the more of an early bird I become. I increasingly enjoy the early morning quiet and leisurely way to start the day.  And because I am up early, I find myself getting very tired earlier at night and am usually going to bed by 10 p.m. 

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Regular Contributor

The older I get, the more of an early bird I become. I just seem to really enjoy the early morning quiet and leisurely way to start the day.  And because I am up early, I find myself getting very tired earlier at night and am usually going to bed by 10 p.m. 

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Yes, I am a night owl and have been since college years. I find that I get more accomplished at night when its quiet. 

I usually go to sleep between 1:00-2:30 am and sleep until

9:30-10:00.

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Newbie

Yes i always have been i get to bed arpund 1 and 3 am i find it bothers most but i enjoy the night I guess

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Periodic Contributor

I am a night owl too.  People ask me why can't I go to bed early and I ask them why can't you stay up late.  It's like there is something wrong with us.  I do my best work at night and I know many other night people.

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