Does staying up too late on working week nights qualify as an addiction?

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

We all know it: if you’ve got to get to work in the morning, you’ve got to go to bed on time. If you don’t, well, being sleepdeprived feels much like I suppose a hangover feels. And you still got to go to work feeling like your eyes have grit in them and there’s lead in your head.

Both my husband and I feel we go to bed too late every time. Despite good resolutions, despite taking solemn pledges to each other to be in bed before eleven.

It is just too tempting to have the time to ourselves after the toddler has been put to bed at 8.30…

My husband is a night owl, and he just likes to do stuff on his computers. When he doesn’t have to get to work, he would prefer to stay up till two in the morning. So thats why he goes to bed too late. And I resent him if I have to do more of my share of the morning routine, because he takes evey second he can to grab some extra bed time on those mornings when he has gone to bed too late.

I’m a morning person, but I’m also guilty of this. My main problem is that by the time I should go to bed, I get caught in that vicious “too tired to go to bed” mode. You know, where getting up from the couch, doing that last few closing up chores, brushing teeth and taking off make-up and all that, just is too much work and I’d just rather sit and watch some uninteresting TV of computer stuff some more.

Recently, I asked my husband to install a night lock on my computer so it closes down on 11 PM. That helped.
Still, it is kind of ridiculous. I sometimes feel I should consider this as more then a bad habit, more like a real addiction. One that I need to deal with in a more serious way then just with good self-resolutions.

If you have any advice, please share !

#2

I’ve been a night owl all my life. I get a lot more done late at night. I love the peace and quite of nighttime.

I get by fine with 5 hours sleep. I try to get in bed by 2AM and get up at 7:15AM. No regrets if I stay up later (like I did tonight). I’ll be a little tired tomorrow but can function… A quick power nap during my lunch break and my batteries are recharged.

I feel really bad if I sleep too much. Like on vacation. 8 hours of sleep and I feel out of it the next day.

#3

New schedule:

11:00 p.m. - Computer shuts off.

11:01 p.m. - Put house to bed; prepare self for bed.

11:30 p.m. - Take 5-10 mg Ambien (as needed and prescribed by physician). Lie down immediately, assume comfortable position.

11:31 - 7:00 a.m. - Who knows? You were asleep! :smiley:

#4

I think it’s more a bad habit than an addiction. I’ve been guilty of it many times myself and actually I probably am now. I could sleep in til 8am right now except my husband and daughter are both up earlier and I can’t sleep through them getting ready and leaving but I still plan my bed time around the fact that I could (if the world were a different place) sleep til 8. As a result I’m tired and cranky.

Eventually I get cranky enough that I get sufficient sleep for a few days, feel AWESOME and then keep up the habit until I forget how horrible I feel when I don’t get enough sleep. And the cycle starts again. So I don’t know how to fix it but I’ll be watching this thread :wink:

#5

(my bolding) Just wanted to point out that the bolded part is completely inaccurate. If being sleep deprived is hitting your thumb with a hammer, being really hungover is getting hit by a 60 mph truck carrying a full load of I-beams.

#6

It’s a bad habit, and one you can break. I know you’re an adult, but there’s nothing wrong with adults having a bedtime. Find out how much sleep you need to get by, and be chipper, and then set a bedtime for yourself.

One thing my SO does, is about fifteen minutes before bedtime, he goes and does all that brushing teeth, getting ready for bed. Then he goes back and plays on the computer a bit longer. That way when it’s bedtime he can just go and slink into bed. Brushing your teeth wakes you up again.

#7

A true night owl can’t change imho. Even as a 12 year old I laid in my dark room listening to a radio with a earpiece at midnight. Or I read comics with a flashlight under the covers. I had a 10pm bedtime but rarely fell asleep before 1am.

It’s just how I am.

#8

You could try what I do. Right after I put the kids to bed, I do everything (except brush my teeth, I can’t get into that) that needs to be done before I go to sleep.

I make lunches, set out my clothes for the next day, tidy the house, wash my face and change into my pajamas.

Now, when I feel tired (or when the clock strikes 11, whichever comes first) I just head to the bathroom, brush my teeth and fall into bed.