I woke up at 7pm today. Tomorrow I'll probably get up at 9pm. Around this time next week, I'll be waking up at 7am.
This is normal for me. I have a rare-ish circadian rhythm disorder known as #Non24. My sleep cycle doesn't track with the sun. It's not at all rare amongst people who are blind, but it's rare amongst sighted people.
I also suspect it's actually more common than believed & there are people out there reputed to be lazy, immature, or erratic when they just can't sleep normally.
@poppacalypse there’s also delayed sleep phase syndrome, which is known to be much more common and similar to #Non24, so also look into that.
When I was in college I was known as they guy who could fall asleep anywhere. My friends were amazed when I fell asleep at a rock concert.
I was also awake at any given time too. I spent my college years as a paradox of this guy who everyone saw asleep at unusual times, but also was someone who slept far less than anyone else because I just couldn’t sleep when I tried to.
I survived by sleeping 30-90 minutes here and there… cafes, library, benches, the subway train… everywhere. I slept so much on the train I developed a sixth sense for when to wake up and get off the train. I rarely missed my stop.
These days I have more control over my schedule so I get more sleep, but it’s still difficult to manage. If I ever had to work a normal job again it might be a problem.
@sysop408 so after this discussion, i stopped forcing myself to sleep and wake at certain times. just sort of let things happen naturally and here's what i found -
i seem to get sleepy at about 2AM-ish. So i go to bed, no alarms set, and will naturally wake at about 8 or 9AM. so far so good! i've been feeling a lot more rested and happier!
there are nights when i don't get sleepy by 2AM and i just let it be. i'll sleep eventually at 3 or 5AM and i don't be too hard on myself about it anymore.
@poppacalypse hey that’s great! I’ve always had like 10 alarms to wake me up and it’s just like your story once I’m able to find my natural sleep times. I just wake up naturally 7-8 hours afterwards. Unfortunately it’s hard to figure out when that natural time should be on any given day when it always creeps forward.
Even when I can’t find it, it’s easier for me to just go to bed 2 hours later every day because that’s like establishing a normal bedtime even if it’s not the ideal bedtime.
Trying to get up at the same time every day for me is like trying to get up 2 hours earlier every day. You can’t do it for long without consequences.
@sysop408 okay that's amazing. i'm someone who can't just nap. no such thing as a 20 or 30min shuteye. once i "nap" it's easily 4 hours gone. so i never nap, no matter how sleepy i am in the middle of the day.
i understand you don't have a "normal job", but how do you get things done?
@poppacalypse oh, short naps are not easy for me either. I mostly had to take naps in public or semi-public places where it was easier to wake up because there was so much stimulation around you.
Getting things done actually hasn't been too hard as long as I'm rested. Doing work as part of a team is hard if it's a long project because of all the meetings, but most of the time I'm a solo dev and nearly all of my clients have been with me a long time. The mutual familiarity helps a lot. They know how I work, most know about my sleep issues, and I know them so well they don't need to explain very much for me to know exactly what they need.
There's only a few days a month when I can't arrange to be awake for at least a couple of normal business hours so as long as people can plan a week ahead to schedule meetings, it's tolerable for me.
Having a life outside of work is where things get dicey because social schedules are more unpredictable and harder to juggle.
Sheldon
Carl Poppa 🛸