AM swampers

[Square Rob]

Years ago I used to marvel at tennb who was always up posting at 4am, and wonder what was wrong in his life that he was doing so. Fast forward fifteen years and I’m the fucker who wakes up at 4:30 everyday. Honestly, I’m fine with it. It’s not an insomnia thing, I’ve just got a shitload going on and want to be in the office by 6:30. Never in a million years though would I have expected that. Something happened and I turned 75. In bed before 9 every day except Saturday. I sleep in on Sunday ~5:30 - 6:30.

[rass]

Sup man. Make it 10 or so most nights instead of 9 and I have no problem sleeping in on the weekend if possible, but yeah. Getting to work by 6:30 is relatively self-serving because traffic gets so bad around here after 7. I am up 4:30 most weekdays, but find it's a lot easier to skip the gym and crawl back into bed when it's cold and dark outside (like this morning).

[Pruitt]

My insomnia usually involves waking between 2-4:00 and then trying to find a way back to sleep.

But 6:00 is when I'm up (usually on weekends as well).

When I was younger (meaning before babies), I had trouble falling asleep, but no trouble staying asleep. Things have obviously changed, but this is the perfect time to drop by here, update pools and read the news. The day really gets going once my dog is up. Then we're off to the park for 90 minutes or so.

Not such a bad way to start the day.

[tennbengal]

I used to get up that early to post on the long gone front page.

Now I get up early because that's when I have to start the day to get all the pieces together for commuting etc.

I still haven't gotten used to getting up at 5 AM and it has been that way for years now.

[Giff]

I'm at the point where I don't sleep past 6:30 or so on weekends unless I've had a few too many the night before.

[A_B]

I'm at the point where I don't sleep past 6:30 or so on weekends unless I've had a few too many the night before.

I was that way when our kids were younger. I'd wake up and see it was 630, and knew I could have an hour or so to myself to play games or catch up on a show. When they started to sleep longer, I was able to sleep longer.

[DaveInSeattle]

I set my alarm for 515 on the weekdays, so I can swim before work, but I usually am out of bed by 500 (the pool is just 5 minutes away, and opens at 530). Most nights I wake up at some point (anywhere from 3 - 4) and then usually I have the problem of falling back asleep. My trick is to listen to a podcast on my headphones at a low volume..gotta be something reasonably interesting, so I don't lay there thinking about work/whatever, but not so riveting that it keeps me awake. Goofy, I know, but it works for me.

On the weekends I usually wake up at the same time, but don't have much problem falling back asleep until 730 or 8.

[Pruitt]

I set my alarm for 515 on the weekdays, so I can swim before work, but I usually am out of bed by 500 (the pool is just 5 minutes away, and opens at 530). Most nights I wake up at some point (anywhere from 3 - 4) and then usually I have the problem of falling back asleep. My trick is to listen to a podcast on my headphones at a low volume..gotta be something reasonably interesting, so I don't lay there thinking about work/whatever, but not so riveting that it keeps me awake. Goofy, I know, but it works for me.

I try breathing exercises and if that doesn;t work, I head to the couch to read for a bit. If that fails, it's very soft music. And when that doesn;t work... it's going to be along day indeed.

[Johnnie]

I'm this guy now thanks to my CPAP/sleep apnea-ness. I'm up on weekends at like 7, max. During the week I have an alarm set for 0545, but I'm always awake before it. I'm in bed by 10-ish.

Unless some World Series game goes to 18 innings, I just don't have a reason to be up late.

[govmentchedda]

I set my alarm for 515 on the weekdays, so I can swim before work, but I usually am out of bed by 500 (the pool is just 5 minutes away, and opens at 530). Most nights I wake up at some point (anywhere from 3 - 4) and then usually I have the problem of falling back asleep. My trick is to listen to a podcast on my headphones at a low volume..gotta be something reasonably interesting, so I don't lay there thinking about work/whatever, but not so riveting that it keeps me awake. Goofy, I know, but it works for me.

I try breathing exercises and if that doesn;t work, I head to the couch to read for a bit. If that fails, it's very soft music. And when that doesn;t work... it's going to be along day indeed.

The Sleep series of meditations on the Headspace app has worked for me a few times. I do the podcast on low volume trick most of the time, and pick a very similar type of pod (reasonably interesting but not so riveting as it keeps me awake). Hockey Central at Noon is good, except their intro and outro bits can be a little too FM radio exciteable for me. Also, In Our Time from the BBC.

[sancarlos]

I've come full circle. Like most of us, I stayed up late and loved to sleep in when I was young. Then, I became the guy who went to bed early and got up early. Partly because I worked pretty close to an eastern time zone schedule while living on the west coast. Now I'm retired and my daughter is away at college. My wife is a night owl and I've gotten into a habit of watching shows recorded on the DVR with her until later at night. Then sleeping until at least 8:00 or so.

As far as the sleeping thing goes, I used to have trouble falling back asleep, but this works for me. I try to lay comfortably on my back, try to clear my head and think only of how tired my body is, and how much I want to relax my tired body. Not focusing on sleep, just on resting my muscles. I focus on my calves, then my thighs, then my back... zzz.

eta: I'll also second the Headspace app thing. It's actually similar to what I just mentioned above.

[DaveInSeattle]

The Sleep series of meditations on the Headspace app has worked for me a few times. I do the podcast on low volume trick most of the time, and pick a very similar type of pod (reasonably interesting but not so riveting as it keeps me awake). Hockey Central at Noon is good, except their intro and outro bits can be a little too FM radio exciteable for me. Also, In Our Time from the BBC.

Fresh Air on NPR does the trick for me. The soothing sounds of Teri Gross...