Become an early bird without getting tired early? (husband, college)

[ohhwanderlust]

I have to wake up for work at 5 am (very long commute + early bird manager).

I'm naturally an extreme night owl (going to bed at 4-6am if allowed), but since starting this job, I've had to completely reverse my natural tendencies.

I can wake up at 5 am just fine....but the problem is, I end up always passing out at 9-10pm, whether I want to or not. Since my husband and I don't get home from work until 8pm at the earliest, this kinda puts a hamper on our love life, because we can barely eat dinner before I'm zonked.

(His workplace allows him to start at 11am...so he's still sleeping long after I'm in the office, and stays up much later).

When I do force myself to stay up later during the weekend to maintain some semblance of a social life and love life, I then have a hard time waking up early again when I need to!

Is it possible to train the body to obey a split schedule? As in, being up from 5am-9pm Mon-Thurs + Sat (I work for a school teaching music that day) and 8am-1am on Fri (work from home that day) and Sundays?

I don't know why the human body is so slow to evolve.


NOTE: I already exercise when I wake up. And I eat a good breakfast.

[Pennies4Penny]

Originally Posted by ohhwanderlust

I have to wake up for work at 5 am (very long commute + early bird manager).

I'm naturally an extreme night owl (going to bed at 4-6am if allowed), but since starting this job, I've had to completely reverse my natural tendencies.

I can wake up at 5 am just fine....but the problem is, I end up always passing out at 9-10pm, whether I want to or not. Since my husband and I don't get home from work until 8pm at the earliest, this kinda puts a hamper on our love life, because we can barely eat dinner before I'm zonked.

(His workplace allows him to start at 11am...so he's still sleeping long after I'm in the office, and stays up much later).

When I do force myself to stay up later during the weekend to maintain some semblance of a social life and love life, I then have a hard time waking up early again when I need to!

Is it possible to train the body to obey a split schedule? As in, being up from 5am-9pm Mon-Thurs + Sat (I work for a school teaching music that day) and 8am-1am on Fri (work from home that day) and Sundays?

I don't know why the human body is so slow to evolve.


NOTE: I already exercise when I wake up. And I eat a good breakfast.

It is actually really bad for your body to constantly change up your sleep schedule. You really should get up/go to bed around the same times on weekemds as you do on your work days. To get a full nights rest, you need 8 hours, so if you're getting up at 5, you need to be in bed around 9, hence why you are passed out at 9.

I would suggest your husband meet you in the middle. Maybe start getting up earlier so he is ready for dinner and bed around the same time as you. Reign your weekends in. Hit the first happy hour and that 6:30/7:00 movie so you are home and ready for bed by 10:00. It probably sounds boring, but it is your new reality and if you want to stay healthy, you shouldn't burn yourself out trying to stick to your old lifestyle.

I know how you feel though. I too am naturally a night owl. In high school/college going to bed early was at 2:00 am. Now I have kids who are up and ready to go around 7:00! I can't stay up like that anymore. I am lucky if I am awake at 10:30 lol. Some nights I don't feel as tired and I will stay up late, like midnight or one, just enjoying alone time with my brain, but I definitely pay for it the next day.

[Lilac110]

I'm like you, definite owl. You might do better if you just took a power nap when you came home. Thirty-minutes, max, so you don't fall into a deep sleep or re-energize so much that you can't sleep later. Before I started freelancing, I would do that, and it helped a lot. Call it "detoxing" from your icky commute.