# When do you go to bed?



## Josh66 (May 18, 2012)

Do you go to bed when it's 'time to go to bed', or when you're tired?


On work days, I go to bed when it's 'time' - and I usually lie awake in bed for like 2 hours.  If I went to bed when I was tired, I would never get enough sleep (and I would probably be late for work a lot)...  I usually don't get tired till around 3AM.  I get up at 5:30AM for work.


I think I need a 36 hour day for my ideal sleep schedule to work...

edit
I have to work tomorrow, and "bed time" is not far away - and I am nowhere near tired.


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## Trever1t (May 18, 2012)

early to bed, early to rise....whether I want to or not!


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## rgregory1965 (May 18, 2012)

Bed around 12-1 am....up at 830 am to work at 2pm-10pm


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## Josh66 (May 18, 2012)

But do you go to bed then because you're tired, or because the clock says you need to go to bed?

I know when I need to go to bed to get enough sleep to function the next day - the problem is that I'm not actually tired till hours after that.


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

I could stay up forever. I am a night person, not a morning person.

I have to force myself to relax, and I usually go to bed around midnight to 1AM as well.
I have 3 alarm clocks to try to wake me by 7:30, to work by 9.

My old job started at 8AM. Hated it!
I was always late. By a few minutes.
Every job I ever applied for I told them I would always be there, but I would always be late (no more than ten minutes), and if you can accept that I'm your man.

I did walk out on one interview, years ago, because he was a stickler for punctuality.  He is now one of my customers LOL


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## manaheim (May 18, 2012)

I force myself to go to bed during the week around 10:30-11.  On weekends... somewhere between midnight and 2.  On balance, I never get QUITE enough sleep and I've trained myself on how to fall asleep quickly anyway, so I zonk out within minutes anytime I go to bed... even if I decide to hit the sack at 9.

You really gotta train yourself to fall asleep.  I managed to figure it out when I was pretty young.  I don't know if my method would work for everyone, but...


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## Bitter Jeweler (May 18, 2012)

What is your method?

I can start falling asleep watching tv, but if I get up to go to bed, I will be awake for another half hour/hour.


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## Josh66 (May 18, 2012)

manaheim said:


> You really gotta train yourself to fall asleep.  I managed to figure it out when I was pretty young.  I don't know if my method would work for everyone, but...


What is your method?  

Sleeping pills have always kind of scared me - I've never taken one, ever.

Beer doesn't work - that just makes me more active.  I know what would work, but it isn't legal.  :lmao:

In the place I work, attendance is the most important thing.  Attendance is pretty much the only thing that will get you fired.

I KNOW that if I went on night shift, all of my sleep problems would be solved - but I don't want to go on night shift, lol.


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## Josh66 (May 18, 2012)

So, I'm almost done with my beer, and I'm just now starting to feel it...  Do I drink one more and go to bed late - or go to bed now and hope I fall asleep soon?

Either way, I'm probably going to have a hangover ... ****ing cheap beer.  I need to start drinking better beer again soon...

I know that I could stay up, but then I'll just be hung over and tired all day.  I could do that 10 years ago - it's not quite that easy now, lol...


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## Derrel (May 18, 2012)

I go to bed when I am tired. I used to have trouble falling asleep sometimes, but these days that is exceptionally rare. I need about 7 hours and 15 minutes of sleep. weird, how it has been that amount of sleep for many years, across a wide range of situations.


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## camz (May 18, 2012)

Dude I mean this in the classiest sense. After I play with my toys, the kids and some online poker...I play with the wifey


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## Josh66 (May 18, 2012)

I just opened another beer - and I am almost certainly going to have a hangover (any good cures for that?  ...Other than another beer.)

I'll call tonight an experiment.  I'll stay up past my bedtime tonight and see how I feel tomorrow.

I haven't been late for work in over 2 years...  I do spend a lot of time staring at the ceiling in bed though.  I'm hoping that drinking beer and browsing the forums = staring at the ceiling.

edit
I try to go to bed around 10.  Usually, I don't fall asleep till around 12...


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## Josh66 (May 18, 2012)

camz said:


> Dude I mean this in the classiest sense. After I play with my toys, the kids and some online poker...I play with the wifey


LOL, that would be nice, but she's out of town right now.  Getting to sleep is definitely a lot harder when she isn't home.


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## o hey tyler (May 18, 2012)

Never.


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## manaheim (May 18, 2012)

O|||||||O said:


> manaheim said:
> 
> 
> > You really gotta train yourself to fall asleep.  I managed to figure it out when I was pretty young.  I don't know if my method would work for everyone, but...
> ...



heh, ok...

So...

1. I always start in the exact same position, and it is never a position that is how I ultimately wind up asleep.  Years ago I used to start on my back, though for some reason in a recent time of serious stress, I switched to my side.  Couldn't tell you why.

2. I force myself to not think about anything.  This is generally the hardest thing to learn how to do.  Most people I know who have sleep problems generally have their minds going a mile a minute... and after particular rough days, this is the major challenge even for me, but the key is you must NOT think about things.  You have to clear your mind.  One thing I do sometimes is I try to focus very hard on the blackness I see behind my eyelids.  Do nothing but stare at the backs of 'em and think about nothing but the blackness.  It takes practice, but you can do it.

3. After a couple minutes, when I feel I'm starting to drift (I usually know it's happening because I stop thinking about nothing and start having REALLY bizarre thoughts that I can only assume are the precursors to dreams), I flip over onto whatever position I usually sleep best in (for me, my stomach, one leg hitched up, one arm under the pillow, one arm over it, head turned to the left), and pass out.

4. On ANY occasion where I am not able to fall asleep in 30 minutes or less, I get up and go watch some mindless TV for an hour and try again.  TRYING to sleep is pretty much pointless.  The harder you try, the less likely you are to zonk out, IMO.  Better to go do something low-energy and low-attention.

I'm not sure, but I think a part of this is that I have a very specific and VERY consistent routine each night.  

And again, I think all of this takes practice.  It's not necessarily going to work on the first night.

A friend of mine actually learned to clear his mind through meditation, and once he had that down he could fall asleep in minutes where it used to take him a couple hours.

Frankly, I don't get how anyone puts up with it taking multiple hours to fall asleep.  I'd rather get up and use the time and be tired the next day.  Better odds of falling asleep when you're tired anyway.


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## camz (May 18, 2012)

Chris, if Josh actually got through your whole post, I think you might just have done him a favor...


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## Compaq (May 19, 2012)

Lately, around 2 am. It feels wrong to go to bed before midnight, bad habit. I get really tired quickly, because there are so many sounds in my room. My hanged clock on the wall is making very loud ticking noises. My oven on the wall is living a life of its own, with weird, but LOUD, sounds all the time. Lastly, I'm having my alarm clock right next to my pillow, which also makes ticking sounds. I count every three or four tick, and see how far I get before I lose count. Usually pretty tired after that.

I have no trouble getting up in the morning..... if I HAVE to. EXam 0800? No problem. Should get up 0800 to do homework, but doesn't really need to? No way I'm up.


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## manaheim (May 19, 2012)

camz said:


> Chris, if Josh actually got through your whole post, I think you might just have done him a favor...



hahahahhaha...

Well, um, you didn't expect a "how to sleep" guide to be RIVETING did you?

  That was funny as hell, camz.  10 points.


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## Compaq (May 19, 2012)

Manaheim, have you ever tried to induce lucid dreaming? Being aware that you're dreaming, thus being able to completely control them?

Apparently you feel very relaxed when you awake, and the dreaming experience would be awesome. Just imagine, doing whatever you felt like.

"I wanna breath under water: doable"
"I wanna be able to fly: doable"
"I wanna travel into space, eat a good dinner with the president, and fly back down: doable"
"Female members of this forum: doa.. cremt cremt"

Endless possibilities!


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## Josh66 (May 19, 2012)

Well - I stayed up late, wasn't late to work, and didn't have a hangover.  I guess I won't worry about getting to bed 'on time' so much.

I'll try to learn to clear my mind too, mana.  It's hard to wind down after work...  I work weekends, three 12 hour days - so I don't have much free time after work before it's time to start getting ready for bed...

I just found out that I'll be getting moved back to the regular day shift next month though...  I sort of have mixed feelings about that.  I _did_ volunteer for the shift I'm on now, after-all.  4 days off is pretty nice.


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## TransportJockey (May 19, 2012)

It depends... Some days I get off a 36 hour shift at 0600, others I get off a 12 hour shift at 2200... So my sleep schedule is all over the place. And there's no guarantee of sleep on the 36.


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## manaheim (May 20, 2012)

Compaq said:


> Manaheim, have you ever tried to induce lucid dreaming? Being aware that you're dreaming, thus being able to completely control them?
> 
> Apparently you feel very relaxed when you awake, and the dreaming experience would be awesome. Just imagine, doing whatever you felt like.
> 
> ...



I can do it sometimes, but very rarely. 



O|||||||O said:


> Well - I stayed up late, wasn't late to work, and didn't have a hangover.  I guess I won't worry about getting to bed 'on time' so much.
> 
> I'll try to learn to clear my mind too, mana.  It's hard to wind down after work...  I work weekends, three 12 hour days - so I don't have much free time after work before it's time to start getting ready for bed...
> 
> I just found out that I'll be getting moved back to the regular day shift next month though...  I sort of have mixed feelings about that.  I _did_ volunteer for the shift I'm on now, after-all.  4 days off is pretty nice.



haha... good luck with it.  sounds like I nailed it, though... clearing your mind.  I swear what 90% of the world needs is probably meditation, not drugs.


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## JClishe (May 21, 2012)

I'm usually in bed between 1-2 and up between 7-8. Some day I'm tired enough to go bed around 11 and I always feel great the next day but I can't bring myself to do that consistently.


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## IByte (May 21, 2012)

Usually I go to bed 11 or midnight, on weight lifting days or if I working around the house much earlier.  But thanks to physics and Java, sleep is overrated.


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## Jaemie (May 24, 2012)

Any time between 10pm and 5am, depending on what time I have to get up. Ya, that's not so good I guess.


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## GrayFox (May 24, 2012)

Somewhere between 1-4 AM.


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## Haya.H (May 27, 2012)

after moving from sweet ol' Raliegh, NC - to sandy, dry Amman, Jordan. (seven hour difference btw) I pretty much sleep at 4-7am, wake up around 12-1 pm. 
its about 2:30am now, and i have to be up in 7 hours.... but im not tired. what to do, what to do. I guess ill go play pinball till i fall asleep. Goodnight & sweet dreams y'all!


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## IByte (May 27, 2012)

Haya.H said:
			
		

> after moving from sweet ol' Raliegh, NC - to sandy, dry Amman, Jordan. (seven hour difference btw) I pretty much sleep at 4-7am, wake up around 12-1 pm.
> its about 2:30am now, and i have to be up in 7 hours.... but im not tired. what to do, what to do. I guess ill go play pinball till i fall asleep. Goodnight & sweet dreams y'all!



Lol you didn't just say y'all lol.


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## Haya.H (May 27, 2012)

IByte said:


> Haya.H said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



hahahahhaa i did, i did. Bad habit i know. i cant help it tho!


 andddddd im still up......... :x


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## Josh66 (May 27, 2012)

What's wrong with saying y'all?




I think a lot of people are missing the point of this post.  I don't care what time you go to bed...  The question is, do you go to bed because of what time it is, or because you are tired?


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## Haya.H (May 27, 2012)

Hey, you have no right to laugh at me... your a New Yorker. I would like to hear you say coffee


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## Haya.H (May 27, 2012)

i go to bed because i have too, i can probably stay up way longer than when i do. so there!


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## IByte (May 27, 2012)

Haya.H said:
			
		

> hahahahhaa i did, i did. Bad habit i know. i cant help it tho!
> 
> andddddd im still up......... :x



Lol no problem, I was stationed in Legeune and heard it daily.

But to the OP, since  I did two tours in the Middle East, messed up my schedule for a while.  So I try to be in bed by midnight, but if I'm reading or coding then I'm burning the midnight oil.  Fortunately, weightlifting the following day has helped me get back to a "normal" routine.  However I find myself waking almost 6-7 am on the dot.


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## Josh66 (May 27, 2012)

How does a tarheel wind up in Jordan, BTW?  Work?


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## Haya.H (May 27, 2012)

a lonley father perhaps? and a daughter with a big heart? haha. (dad had heart problems, and he lives here alone soo thats where i come in the picture)
hopefully be back soon tho, i miss it so much!  you know what i miss the most?.... seeing trees. lool. im such a country girl.

tell me why im still up? damn this site.


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## Josh66 (May 27, 2012)

Haya.H said:


> a lonley father perhaps? and a daughter with a big heart? haha. (dad had heart problems, and he lives here alone soo thats where i come in the picture)
> hopefully be back soon tho, i miss it so much!  you know what i miss the most?.... seeing trees. lool. im such a country girl.
> 
> tell me why im still up? damn this site.


I know what you mean.  That's nice though, taking care of your Dad.  Hopefully my daughter will do that when I get old.  

I grew up in NC, moved around a lot for work.  Looks like I'll probably live in Texas till I retire...  I miss trees too, and the color green in general.  Texas green isn't quite the same as North Carolina green.  The trees are a lot smaller too.  And there are no hills here...


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## Haya.H (May 27, 2012)

i dont know how you can live there.. i find it SO boring. My aunt lives in Dallas. The time i spent there was full of rain, and the few malls that we constantly kept going too. There was one with a rock climbling wall? Dont know if thats still there. 

& Im sure she will!  Girls usually are closer to their father and deff feel with them more. 

what part of NC?


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## Josh66 (May 27, 2012)

Haya.H said:


> what part of NC?


Born in Goldsboro, mostly lived in Greensboro.


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## Haya.H (May 27, 2012)

oo thats nice, cant wait to be back in NC. but for real... 6 hours of sleep just wont cut it for me. I gotta get in bed. i know i've been saying that forever.

but really now im leaving.. and this is for iByte... goodnight y'all


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## IByte (May 27, 2012)

Haya.H said:
			
		

> a lonley father perhaps? and a daughter with a big heart? haha. (dad had heart problems, and he lives here alone soo thats where i come in the picture)
> hopefully be back soon tho, i miss it so much!  you know what i miss the most?.... seeing trees. lool. im such a country girl.
> 
> tell me why im still up? damn this site.



Lol country bumpkin lol


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## IByte (May 27, 2012)

Haya.H said:
			
		

> Hey, you have no right to laugh at me... your a New Yorker. I would like to hear you say coffee



Oh yes an enjoy the annoying, smartasses, the whole personality of the city .


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## MonicaBH (May 27, 2012)

I'm in Raleigh, too.  I do not love it; it's not home.  I come from a place where y'all is a proper pronoun and I'm aching to get back something fierce! 

About the OP stuff, though... I've suffered from chronic insomnia for years and years.  There are times where I sleep 2-3 hours a day, and there have been times I've been up for 2-3 days at a time.  On occasion, I'll get a good 7-10 hours in, but those days are few & far between.  I had a great doctor that prescribed me Ambien, but since I've moved, my doctor wants me to try alternative methods.  All that's gotten me so far is no sleep, but what do I know.

Since I have to be up between 5-6am for work, I like to try to be in bed by 10-11pm.  Most of the time, I don't fall asleep easily or quickly, and I lie awake for hours.  If I do fall asleep right away, I am up every 45 minutes or so.  It's a real joy.


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## Haya.H (May 28, 2012)

IByte said:


> Haya.H said:
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> 
> ...



I was in NY before i came here, not by choice. I ended up there for 3-4 days i forgot how many.:meh: My plane got delayed and what not. I stayed at a hotel in queens and spent most of my time in Time Square trying not to get robbed! hahaha. i was at this coffee shop getting my money out from my purse so i put the shopping bags down (had my cam around my neck so i guess he knew i wasnt from there or maybe y'all city people can spot us pretty well) he was staring at me and i knew he was aiming for the bags. so i starred him down snatched my bags and went further into the coffee shop. lol! he left.  


I am PROUD to be a country "bumpkin"...... btw. 

Update on my answer to this thread not that anyone cares.. I forced myself to sleep last night when i wasnt tired at all. and that resulted in me tossing and turning all night, waking up every few hours, and this horrible headache. & thats why you shouldnt force yourself to sleep.


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## BuS_RiDeR (May 28, 2012)

The medication I am on makes sleep rather elusive at times...  So I sleep whenever I am tired. Unfortunately, that tends to be during the day more often than the night


I've always been a night owl. But, even more so with the meds I take.


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## Kazooie (May 28, 2012)

I sleep when I want to now that school is out.


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## Buckster (May 28, 2012)

When I'm on the road and working on a project, I generally go to bed around 10 or 11 PM and wake up at 4 or 5 AM, almost always before the alarm goes off.

In between projects, when I'm home in upper Michigan and have no set schedule to keep, I just go to bed whenever I'm tired, then wake up whenever that happens, around the clock.  That's what I'm doing presently.


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## JennyCupcakes (May 28, 2012)

I have a horrible sleep schedule I sleep when I'm tired and always wake up at 10am.


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## gsgary (May 28, 2012)

When my girlfriend wants sex


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## JClishe (May 28, 2012)

Buckster said:


> When I'm on the road and working on a project, I generally go to bed around 10 or 11 PM and wake up at 4 or 5 AM, almost always before the alarm goes off.
> 
> In between projects, when I'm home in upper Michigan and have no set schedule to keep, I just go to bed whenever I'm tired, then wake up whenever that happens, around the clock. That's what I'm doing presently.



Where about do you live, Buckster? I'm originally from SE Michigan, about an hour north of Detroit. My Dad's side of the family is all from the U.P. though, they're spread all throughout Baraga and Ontonagon, L'Anse, Skanee, etc. In fact there's a Cliche Creek outside of Alston that's named after my family. Apparently my great grandpa owned and lived in the one room schoolhouse in Alston. I haven't been up there in about 12 years, I really miss it. Is the Hilltop restaraunt with their giant cinnamon rolls still up there?


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## Buckster (May 28, 2012)

JClishe said:


> Buckster said:
> 
> 
> > When I'm on the road and working on a project, I generally go to bed around 10 or 11 PM and wake up at 4 or 5 AM, almost always before the alarm goes off.
> ...


I was born and raised in the Downriver area of Detroit; River Rouge, Ecorse, Wyandotte.  My mom's side of the family is from Northern Michigan in the Petoskey area, Mackinac Island and the U.P.  My sisters and I ended up living up there where things are much more peaceful, in natural settings.  I live about 40 miles South of the Big Mac Bridge, just off I-75.

I'm not familiar with the specific places you mentioned.


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## JClishe (May 28, 2012)

Buckster said:


> I'm not familiar with the specific places you mentioned.



Ahh, OK. Yeah the places I mentioned are up by the Porcupine Mountains, about 5 hours northwest of Mackinaw.


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## COLTSFANATIC1 (May 28, 2012)

I always go to bed when i am tired. Thats around 12 AM to 2:30 AM. I wke up between 6-7 am tyo be to work by 9, but im always go in around 8. my pattern is, stay up late for most of a two week period, and then for 1 or 2 days it catches up to me and I fall asleep aroung 7 or 8 PM, wether I like it or not. and this pattern has been going on for many years now. Although in the last few months I have been getting tired a little more early and falling asleep between 11 and 1:30. sometimes getting to the 2 Am mark.


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## Rasmus (May 28, 2012)

I go to bed at 10 pm, and usually sleep within30 minutes.

The alarm goes off at 6 am, and i need my sleep, since i have a longish commute to work, and driving while sleepy is just insanely stupid


Rasmus
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## yerlem (May 30, 2012)

mmm I go to bed between 12-1am, because I have to...I get up between 7.30-8am to study. ANd on weekends, if I don't have to study too much, I usually don't get to bed until 6am 

Btw, to those of you who can't fall asleep, have you tried exercising at night? either that or a glass of red wine


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## IByte (May 30, 2012)

yerlem said:
			
		

> mmm I go to bed between 12-1am, because I have to...I get up between 7.30-8am to study. ANd on weekends, if I don't have to study too much, I usually don't get to bed until 6am
> 
> Btw, to those of you who can't fall asleep, have you tried exercising at night? either that or a glass of red wine



Hell yeah or a couple of cap full of whiskey in tea works everytime.


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## jake337 (May 30, 2012)

Bed around 1-3am, up for work at 6:30am! Luckily I only work 3-4 days a week(12 hour shifts) in the summer.  I tend to fall asleep earlier during the busy season when I'm working 60-84 hours a week.


My son has some sort of limitless energy!


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