I'm exactly the same way. What I have to do is push myself away from the computer at least a few hours before I want to go to sleep. It's too mentally stimulating and I can't turn my mind off at bedtime. I find if I read or watch tv before bedtime, it's much more conducive to sleeping....my mind is more or less in the zombie zone.

Last night I posted here about the laptop thing and I finally got it online, it was a total eureka! type rush, I was up till 3:30 AM and now I hate life... ;P

I've always had a problem sleeping on Sunday nights, because on weekends I tend to slip back to staying up late and sleeping late...
Same here.

And yeah, you may have to start getting up early on the weekends. That's what the doc I went to for my sleep problems told me. Apparently waking up on time is more important than falling asleep on time, as the latter will follow the former.

I fear you're right about that, CitrusFreak. Ugh.

a patient with DSPS is desynchronized with the routine that governs most of his or her life.

Oh heck yes. This is me too! I've been a night owl of that type since my childhood, when I would routinely stay up in bed reading until 2. I've often joked with another colleague who's just like my that my ideal lifestyle involves going to bed at 1:00, waking up at 9:00, and going in to work about 10:00. I definitely don't feel 'with it' or civilized until 10:00 as a general rule.

I've often thought about trying to switch my clock - going to bed earlier for a week or two to see what happens. I think I actually tried it in the late 90s when I was teaching (work by 7:30 AM, ugh!), and indeed I remember how great it was to go into work feeling well rested, but it didn't feel....right. I really missed that creative, relaxed time in the evening and I had a hell of a time falling asleep.

It's so unfair that early rising is equated with hard work and responsibility in the culture as a whole. I've got a great work ethic and I'm extremely productive and I'm sure the same is true of those of you in the thread - I just like to sleep in! Don't hate me because I'm tired in the morning!

I think I actually tried it in the late 90s when I was teaching (work by 7:30 AM, ugh!), and indeed I remember how great it was to go into work feeling well rested, but it didn't feel....right. I really missed that creative, relaxed time in the evening and I had a hell of a time falling asleep.

Yup, that's it. My work schedule has been 7 AM - 3 PM for the last couple of years, and if am REALLY diligent about it, I can get my sleeping on schedule and sort of keep it there... but like you said, I miss my late evenings, especially on the weekend. So, I start to backslide when I have days off, and the whole system falls apart.

My Sunday nights usually involve me going to bed more or less on time, then waking up a couple of hours later, and that's it. Last night I woke up at 2:30 AM. I heard the clock in the living room strike 3, then 4, then 5... and then my alarm went off at 5:20. Argh. Like ico said, I am hatin' life today.

And yeah, Miko, I get annoyed when people want to call me lazy because I sleep till 11 am or noon on Saturdays. Heck, I generally only sleep five or six hours a night on the weekend! Other people just aren't awake to see me for most of my "day." :)

I'm a night owl too. In my company, there were two groups of people, the ones who got there between 6-7:30 and those of us who came in between 8-9. If you were in the first group, you were seen as more productive, even though those people often put in 10-20 hours less of work per week than I did.

For me, I made it pretty clear that I have a hard time sleeping at night, that I get between 5-6 hours of sleep before work and that seemed to help a bit. I also developed a habit of sending emails to people right before I left work so that people could tell how much later I was there. I think all of that is so stupid.

My dream job would be like Miko's - I'd get to go to bed between 12 - 1 a.m. and get to work by 9 or 10 without it being seen as slovenly.

I have a hard time when we have house guests who are morning people, I need a good cup of coffee and at least 20 minutes to myself before I can put a sentence together.

O, and BP, I hope your day goes super fast. Days when you are that tired and aren't getting much done just mostly have to be forced through I think.

That sounds pretty miserable, BP. Have you ever tried sleeping from 4 p.m. to six or seven p.m., then from 1 or 2 a.m. 'til 5 or 6? Something like that?

I know it sounds weird, but I often sleep that way. It would have been unthinkable to me before I moved to Greece, but life is still more or less arranged around the idea of a possible afternoon siesta here, so I fell into it, and it seems to work well for me.

I can't exactly empathise, but I understand, in that my Mother, Mother In Law, and Husband are all wired this way. What may be surprising to you is that I feel a sort of LAZY judgement from them because I sleep somewhat normally.

taz, I do try to get a 30 or 45-minute nap most afternoons, which isn't quite the same thing as you're talking abut, but it does help me survive this schedule. I avoid naps on the weekends, but it hasn't helped me stop derailing myself every weekend. The sleeping in shifts thing sounds intriguing, though...

rainbaby, I hate it when anybody thinks of someone else as lazy because they sleep well! We're all so sleep-deprived in this country; we could ALL use a few more Z's. :)

This runs in my dad's side of the family, and hit me in about 5th or 6th grade. I've managed to adjust my life so that my work schedule can match my sleep schedule (yay, pro-blogging!), but for years and years, it was a constant battle.

I've been a night own since I was born, much to my mothers dismay and the only thing that cured it was a baby that gets up at the crack of dawn every day, forcing me to join her. I still stay up late but I usually can't make it past one on weekends now, many a qwertyfaces have happened recently when I've tried.

owl! Owl!

I used to think I was somewhat of a night owl for a while, but then when I was working night shift, I realized that wasn't necessarily the case. Still, I hate the daytime hours and wish I was asleep right now. Left to my own devices, I tend to sleep from around 3/4am-noonish and then I nap from around 6-11pm. Which really tends to fuck with my parents a lot.

But due to my current job, I nap when I get home, from around 6-10pm and then I go to bed from 1/2am-730am.

I'm currently attempting to avoid pulling a 'qwertyface'* here at work. Ugh.

* I just saw someone use this in another MeCha thread and I feel I will have to steal it because it is just PERFECT.

Thanks for the well wishes, all. I made it through my day and was at least a little bit productive- now I'm home, and am heading for a nap. (I fell asleep on the train on the way home!)

Later......z.zz.z.z.zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz