[Witty User name]

I didn't know where exactly to put this thread, but I saw health and decided this is certainly the best place for sleep patterns and such.

Okay, so I have a... problem, one could call it. I do not sleep like the average person does. I've done a few surveys, which consisted of various family members and the few close friends I have, and the conclusion was that my sleeping patterns are not average. The problem? I'm persistent when it comes to filling my day with "me time".

Whether it's finishing up a good chunk of Half-Life 2, or writing my novel, night time is always my time. It's calm, serene. It's dark. I do not dream very often, or at least I wake up and instantly forget them, or whatever junk it is about dreaming, so sleeping bears no fruition other than perhaps recharging (which only takes a good three hours for me).

I have a prime example right now: I went into my room and laid down at, oh, let's say 9:30 PM. I have not slept since I began laying there, on my computer, vastly multitasking. I woke up yesterday morning at around 12:00 PM, and it is 6:16 now. Six hours shy of being awake for a straight twenty-four hours. I've been watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy for a large chunk of the night, so time sort of flies as my mind takes it all in.

As I type this, my eyelids grow heavy. Nature now intends for me to go to sleep, apparently. So my question is: Are any of you "nocturnal" like this and/or is this a common INTJ issue?

P.S. I still go to school, I'm 17, so yes, this gets in the way of schooling quite horribly. It actually resulted in me failing Geometry, which is so incredibly easy to pass.

[ppu6502]

yep, I sleep whenever I'm tired. Today it was from 3:30pm until 8pm, and just now I woke up from about a half hour doze with a light dream.

[gestalt]

Used to stay up til 3AM or later almost every night. Also worked third shift for a couple jobs. Broke the habit. 9PM-5AM is my sleeping now. I feel a lot better about myself when I wake up early. It is also more natural for me, as I remember from age 4-7 years old waking up early at that time. I consider it pretty much just wanting your alone time and old habits from years of doing it that way, especially the teenage years where an individual may feel outcast, rebellious, yet also at the same time need more sleep because of growth spurts. It isn't natural to stay up that late and you wouldn't do it normally if you didn't have electricity and light, entertainment factors, etc. Unless of course you ingest stimulants or can't stop your mind from turning over or have a loud bulldozer outside your window or a bad sleeping area or insomnia because of hormones and chemical stuff, etc.

Your brain has two forms of "sleep triggers." One is under your control (willpower) and the other is chemical. Most Americans are sleep deprived.

The best way to change your sleep pattern (which naturally becomes later and later if left to itself) is to stay up an entire extra night/day and go to sleep at the target time or a little bit early. So if you wanted to start waking up at 4AM and you normally sleep at 11PM then you don't go to bed at 11PM, stay up an entire day and go to sleep at ~8PM the next night. Another tip is to wake up the same time every day, not try and catch up on your sleep over the weekend if deprived cuz that messes with your cycle too.

And last of all, cut the electronics at least an hour before bed. Keeping a dream journal and accepting that it is an essential health habit for being human may help you develop a more positive feeling toward sleep. If you have a lot of free time and no or flexible responsibilities, like a sabbatical or something, you may be interested in what is known as polyphasic sleep. This is basically where you have to be very disciplined and you can sleep every 2 hours for like a 15minute nap, giving you a total of 2-4 hours sleep approximately per 24 hours. Some people who have done it have had enormous productivity gains.

[Phenom]

I'm jealous. I dream so intensely that my mood when I wake up is dictated by what i just experienced in my head. I dread going to sleep most nights because dreaming is so vivid for me.

[zmo]

It's called delayed sleep phase syndrome, I have it (for the last 10 years). Thanks to it, I'm a college drop-out (tried 3 careers so far). I'm in a weird place right now, trying to get back into college in order to study marketing to eventually run the family business; however, my sleeping schedule goes from 8:00am-4:00pm/6:00pm. I'm pretty much fucked right now, I don't know what to do... if anyone else is in a position similar to mine, with DSPS, feel free to PM me.

[Noiresque]

my time is the only right time
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need to exercise some judgement on myself. it's getting outta control hah

[Jalex]

I have heard so much of this around friends and collegues... I always sleep from 6 to 8 hours, at night usually from 11-1 to 5-9am... all my life... never had problems with it... ever...

[JackCY]

heh why don't you go to bed and try to sleep? and wake up, every day at the same time, so your body learns it
it's not good to mess up with your clock for a long time
I recently am going to bed after 1am and get up later too. But that's just me ending up chatting.
My mind could go 24/7, the problem is the body can't, the eyes can't so listen to your body and go to bed.
7 hours 30min should be enough time to sleep. It takes about 15min to fall asleep so set the alarm accordingly to how quickly you tend to fall asleep.

If you're not physically tired, you should move more during the day. If you're not mentally tired you probably weren't doing anything serious that day.

[ppu6502]

JackCY you're missing the point that some of us have naturally abnormal sleep phases. It's frustrating that most people just assume we're being lazy or aren't trying or don't "move more" during the day. I do an enormous amount, both physical and mental, during the day -- but I can't just go to sleep at 10pm every night. I will go lay down, relax, and 5 hours later I won't be asleep. It's not just some thing where we aren't trying hard enough.

[Sethys]

Lately I've been finding myself doing the same thing. I recently just finished my first year of college and I find myself falling asleep at odd time, 6a.m. being my latest. I figure as long as I get my required hours of sleep it should be fine.

[Humble Bragger]

Have you had any luck with
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? :O

[Samsquanch]

Im much more of a night owl, i like it, but it sucks that everything has to start so early, but i prefer to be a night person over morning person. I read an interesting article one time explaining that night owls have a peak of performance during their awake hours that's usually around 9pm, and early birds have a consistent day with no peak performance time. Now that i think about it, im normally really in the mood to doing anything until the evening

[Hawkx]

I fall asleep at around 3:30-5 AM. Once I wake up I notice that I get my 8 hour sleep.