What time do you wake and sleep?

[CaptTom]

My body still keeps more or less the same schedule as when I was w*rking. I always woke up before the alarm clock. For me that means waking up around 5:00-5:30 AM, and if I want 7-8 hours sleep, in bed by 9-10 PM.

But here's the difference: Back then, if I hadn't gotten enough sleep and happened to wake up an hour early, I'd spend that entire hour thinking about how miserable I'd be all day from lack of sleep.

Now, it doesn't matter. If I get up early I can lay quietly in bed, relax, and usually get back to sleep. And if I can't, no stress!

[ExFlyBoy5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Whenever I want! Ain't it Great?

Pretty much!

Even when I was still w*rking, I never really had a set schedule, so my schedule varied wildly. In retirement, that hasn't changed too much. What I do certainly appreciate is the ability to sleep in if I want or take sporadic naps during the day. As a matter of fact, I think I might get in a little one this AM since I was up until about midnight last night.

[iloveyoga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by flintnational 9 PM 5 AM - 6 AM But no alarm clocks

+1 No alarm clocks here either!

[DEC-1982]

I go to sleep 8-9 PM, and wake up 4-6 AM. If I wake up before 5 AM, I stay in bed and get more rest even if I don't sleep.

[RunningBum]

I go to bed when I'm sleepy, and get out of bed when I'm not. Usually that's around 11-12pm, up around 7-8am but not always. I avoid making appointments that make me set my alarm if I can. Ski season is an exception, I set my alarm to make sure I'm up in time to be there at rope drop. If I'm running a race or meeting friends for a run, that's almost always early enough to set my alarm too.

[iloveyoga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iloveyoga +1 No alarm clocks here either!

If I do wake up before 5, I stay in bed. One of my favorite things about being retired is laying around in bed in the morning. After 4+ years I have learned I am definitely a morning person.

[Moemg]

I go to bed at 11:30 and wake at 9 .Perfect hours after years of waking at 5:30.

[Car-Guy]

Seriously, whenever I want. My sleep times can vary greatly. I still pull all nighter on occasions but now it's by my choice. ~80% of the time I'll head to bed between 10pm and midnight and up about 7am. When I do stay up all night, I find I can get by pretty well if I'll take a ~hour nap the next day.

When I was working, I'd be asleep by 10pm and up before 5am.

[LRDave]

My FitBit Charge2 has sleep monitoring. I doubted it could be accurate but after 3 months of comparing the results to my own observations, I find it to be amazingly so (not really sure how it works so well....). I am not sure what is actionable from the results but I find them interesting.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LRDave My FitBit Charge2 has sleep monitoring. I doubted it could be accurate but after 3 months of comparing the results to my own observations, I find it to be amazingly so (not really sure how it works so well....). I am not sure what is actionable from the results but I find them interesting.

I've thought about getting a sleep monitor, but I also wonder what I could do with it. If you have undetected sleep apnea this could tell you, but otherwise I don't know how to fix sleep problems. The best I could see is to actually film it, and maybe realize something like I try to sleep in one position but am always restless until settling into another position, so that I'd know to just start there.

I use a GPS watch for running, and it doesn't have a sleep monitor, so I'm unlikely to get another activity tracking device just to add that function.

[MBAustin]

Usually turn off the light 11:30-12 and up between 7-7:30 (dog alarm clock) except when I have morning appointments and it's up at 6:30 or some other horrible hour. Much better than the many many years of bed by 10:30 and up by 5:45.

[Cobra9777]

I have somewhat strange sleeping hours. About half the time, I go to bed around 8-9pm, then up at 2am, back to sleep from 5-7am. I usually read, listen to music, or watch TV from 2-5am until I fall asleep. It's very quiet and relaxing.

The other half of the time, I stay up until midnight or 1am, then sleep till about 8am. I never take naps. Just doesn't work for me... If I do, I'm groggy for hours.

When working, I was lucky to get 5-6 hours per night, usually from midnight to 5am. I had conference calls with our Asian customers and subsidiaries late at night and early in the morning. Then a regular workday wedged in between. And that's when I wasn't on an airplane or in a hotel somewhere. So happy to have all that in the past.

[pacergal]

Usually to bed between 10-12, up between 5-7, very similar to work. Of course there are random days/nights when that goes out the window and I sleep whenever......
Nice thing about retirement, no schedules!

[sengsational]

I've been reading about the health benefits of getting the right amount and right kind of sleep, so have concentrated on getting more, high quality sleep. My total sleep time is about 7.5 hours and starts at about midnight. But my wake-up time is not consistent.

One thing I quit doing was letting daylight dictate when I woke up, hehe! I have a small towel that I put over my eyes that does the trick. A pillow is too heavy.

Occasionally I'll "miss a cycle", meaning, I wake and don't fall right back asleep. Instead, I'll stay awake for about 90 minutes. I might listen to a book on 'tape', or just lay there for that time. But if things go to plan, my total in-bed time increases (I wake up later).

They went out of business, but there used to be a device called Zeo that actually measured brain waves to determine the various states of sleep. The device actually worked, so I'm not sure why they went bust. But I got one of these devices and experimented with it. After a while, I could predict with some accuracy, the results it would generate. What I learned was that that extra beer does have a significant impact on sleep quality, so that makes it easier to say I'd rather sleep better tonight.

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRG Whenever I want! Ain't it Great?

My thoughts exactly!

[outdoorgirl02]

To bed between 9:30-10:30. Usually up between 6-7am.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum I've thought about getting a sleep monitor, but I also wonder what I could do with it.

The stuff on the Fitbit has gotten better over the years but it still pretty crude. I do find it interesting to look at. For example, I had a sense that after the time change in the spring that I didn't adjust well this year and was tired the entire time. Since the time change last month I am on average getting an extra half hour of sleep. I am getting up at close to the same time but I am getting to sleep easier.

I also look at how much deep sleep and Rem sleep that I get. If I have a night with a lot of deep sleep it usually means that I was unusually tired and I am more likely to feel restored the next morning.

But, if I have a night where I show a lot of times waking up and I was in light sleep most of the night I am less restored even if the hours of sleep are the same as on a night where I got good deep and REM sleep.

One of the thing that the monitor confirms for me is that it is useless for me to go to bed before I am sleepy. I get sleepy between 2 and 3 in the morning, but occasionally later.

I keep trying to train myself to get to sleep earlier and it never works. What I find is that if I try to go to bed earlier I either don't get to sleep earlier at all (I toss and turn) or I get to sleep at a very light level and wake up a lot and it isn't very restorative.

I look at the fitbit sleep graph mostly to compare from day to day. It is not always accurate. Some nights I get in bed and read on my phone for awhile. If I am very still doing that sometimes the Fitbit thinks I was asleep.

[HadEnuff]

when I was in college I became very disciplined about my sleep. I liked early AM classes, and got my work done by mid-afternoon. My friends all slept in so the house was quiet.

When I had small children I always got up early in order to have some "me" time before they woke up.
No that I'm retired I am all over the map sleep-wise. Sometimes late to bed, sometimes early. Wake-up time seems to be dictated by sunrise. In the summertime I get up between 5 and 6 AM, but now, more like 7 to 8, when the sun starts to brighten up the bedroom..

I love it...one of my favorite things about retirement: long slow mornings, coffee, etc etc,
and going to bed when I want without my mind moving around what I have to do in the AM...

[Tallman4123]

Usually turn off the TV between 10:30 and 11:30 pm. Wake up between 6:30 and 7:30 am (courtesy of Jackson, our dog, jumping up with his front paws on my side of the bed insisting on a good five minute petting session). Linger in bed with a couple cups of coffee watching the morning news and surfing the web until 9 am or so. Then I begin my day.

Retirement is freakin' awesome!!

[Bamaman]

Depends on the labors of the day. Often go to bed 11:00 pm and get up at 5:30 am. May go back to bed at 9:00 for an hour. Like to take another nap at 5:00 in the afternoin.

I have to ferry granddaughter to her school at 8:00 and home at 3:00.