Staying up late

[damoisellepeachy]

So does anyone else stay up late at night? I used to stay up at 12 am at the latest when I was in my early teens. I didn’t do it frequently but I did stay up only occasionally on weekends. Then as I got further into high school I found myself going to bed by 11 pm instead of by 10 pm. And then this pandemic hit and now I went from going to bed at 11 pm-12 am to staying up as late as 3 am. I was never like this before but I’m not sure if it’s because of me listening to music all the time during the evening and then I just keep listening until I stop myself. That being said does anyone else relate or is it just me?

 

[unperson]

Love the night, its soothing.

 

[Au Naturel]

I think by nature I am a night owl. Or maybe I had a sleep cycle greater than 24 hours. Long hours awake and 9 hours of sleep suited me fine. Not that I can't get up early and go to bed early. Had to do that for many years of work. I just hated it.

When I was a youngster, one of the highlights of my life was staying up late on weekends because there was no school the next day. At 11:30 pm on Friday was Tales of Science Fiction. Saturday it was Tales from the Crypt. Sundays I only made it to 10 pm because of Monday school.

Until I was 10 my official school bedtime was 8:30 and after it was 9:30. That didn't stop me from staying up into the wee hours reading by a very dim light.

During summer vacation my sleep schedule went completely out of whack. Around when I turned 14-15 my mother was too sick to really argue with me. I was less prone to reading until 1 am by then, the need for sleep to peform the next day usually got me in bed at a reasonable time.

 

[Soleil]

When I was in high school I would stay up very late during summer vacation. And a few months ago when I was out of work because my work was shut down, I stayed up until about 1a pretty frequently.

 

[VictorR]

If I'm really into something, be it a game, book, or something else, yes.

 

[SusanLR]

I'm a night owl by nature.
I can get up early if need be and did for a number of jobs. But, I always tried to find night shift work.

Now that I am getting older and don't work anymore, my circadian cycle of sleep had done a complete
flip. I want to stay awake in the evenings until the wee hours of the morning, then sleep most of the day.

Some say that is not healthy.
But, I thought as long as you keep the cycle the same, have no trouble sleeping and get the 6 -8 hours
of sleep...why should it make a difference what part of the 24 hour cycle you do it in?
My psychologist says it does, but, she can't explain why.
Articles I've read say it doesn't matter. In fact there are just certain brains being an "owl" is natural with.
There are a lot of day sleepers that work all night.
You need to go through all the stages of sleep to get the brain to release needed chemicals.
Any reason it has to be at night though?

 

[Rae Ray]

I find I don't need a lot of sleep, Maybe 5-6 hours at the most. I never seem to need much more. Also find the quite night slows me into calm.

 

[Pats]

I've always been a night person. Worked nights most of my working years. I've actually been frustrated with myself the past few months because I, too, can not get to sleep before 3 or 4 a.m. and end up sleeping until 11. It typically isn't a problem because 'who cares' but sometimes it is when I've been asked to help out one of my kids - babysit and I can not do the early morning stuff. I can't get up at 6, change diapers and fix breakfasts and start lugging those adorable little ones around on my hip. I have to remind them that I'm the evening babysitter.

 

[Giraffes]

I am a early riser unless feeling anxious or depressed then have problems 'starting the day' mornings equal productivity, energy and general happiness, i find it hard to 'end the day' often staying up late then waking early tired, have tried various techniques to 'go to bed and design a night routine' this varies often dependant on 'worries and 'over thinking'.

 

[Kit]

I've always stayed up late but I force myself to go to bed because I have to get up at 8 for my son for school. Even before I had kids, I still went to bed by a certain time so I am not sleeping all day and missing some free time. Then I worked day time so I had to go to bed sooner to get at around 6.

 

[damoisellepeachy]

I like all of your responses. When I was younger I used to wake up at like 7 am in the morning. I did that pretty consistently until I started to wake up more at 7:30 am or 8:00 am but nowadays I wake up at like 10 or 11 am. For a time I used an alarm almost everyday because I didn’t want to sleep into the afternoon, but now I’m back to managing to wake up at 9-10 am without using an alarm clock

 

[Au Naturel]

Any reason it has to be at night though?

Probably because that is what it is for most people therefore if you are different it is assumed you have a problem. As far as I can tell the only real issue is whether you are naturally sleepy when you go to bed and if you wake up refreshed. Everything else is you trying to fit in with what the world demands.

My circadian rhythm is likely 25 or even 26 hours. I had to be extremely disciplined about bedtime and wakeup or I was dysfucntional the next day. When I had a baby to care for I would go to bed an hour early because they had a tedancy to wake up in the middle of the night.

One reason why so many people find Monday to be so miserable is because it only takes a single day off-schedule and your sleep patterns are whacked.