Still waking up early in retirement

[HF63]

Same boat here, when working 4 am was wake up time. When I sleep late in 6 am is the latest. My body internals are set like a clock.

[jollystomper]

I find getting up at 6am works for me. I prefer to golf early, so that helps with the course about 30 minutes away. On non-golf days I can do my planning for the day early and be onto things by 7am.

Occasionally I sleep late and do not get out until 8 or 9am.. but waking up that late tends to make me sluggish the rest of the day. Fine for days when I choose to do absolutely nothing, but I do not want to make that a routine.

[Nick12]

4am every morning . In bed by 10pm.

[DrRoy]

5:30-6 vs 5:20 before. The day seems too short if I get up later, and I can't sleep longer than that anyway.

[Ole Red 29]

6 to 7 AM. Would love to take naps but just can't seem to get into the habit (can't fall asleep).

[folivier]

Usually out of bed by 6am but may be awake before that. But lately I've been waking up around 2-3 am and have trouble getting back to sleep. So I usually move to the other bedroom so I don't disturb my DW. Hate that but an afternoon nap helps.

[38Chevy454]

Used to get up 5:30 for work. Many years and often before the alarm clock. A surprise is how I have changed to a night owl of sorts after 3 years of retirement. Now with no alarm clock I usually wake 7:30-8:00.
Never take a nap. Also tend to slow start in the morning before getting busy with house or garage projects.

[harley]

Amazing. Hard to believe so many get up so early. I seldom go to bed before 2, and usually roll out of bed by 9 or so. Of course, a lot of my work had to be done at night, and I was on call for 20+ years, so I seldom slept through the night. I would wander into the office whenever I got there, although usually in the morning sometime. I guess if you had a career that required you to be in early it would become natural to get up so early. I assume going to bed early also follows.

My last two years on the job I moved to lab environment, which was a 9-5 type job. It took me all of those two years to learn to sleep through the night. No problem with that now. Whatever time I go to bed I sleep straight on through.

[UnrealizedPotential]

I am usually up around 5:30 every morning. I thought I would readjust and get up later , but it's been well over 4 years since I retired now and I never did.

[Koolau]

For my last several years I got up at 5:30AM. Now, I occasionally go to bed then. I tend to time shift bed/rise time over a period of a year or so. Covid has tended to shift me to a later time but YMMV.

[The HalfBreed]

If it works for you, be glad and roll with it....


I retired in Dec. 2012, and since HS in the early 1970's, I began working 24/7/365 and did that until 12/2012. Our shifts were basically 8a-4p, 4-mid and mid-8am, working all 3 shifts over a 5 week period.

Many times 7 in a row, like Tues - Mon (4-mid) but only Tue-Sat counted at 5 days that week, Sun & Mon began another week, etc.
My sleep patterns were waaaay out of whack and control, but I finally nailed it down to sleeping from 3/4 am til about 9-10am. Being single, kids gone, and no reason to do anything in the mornings, I record CNBC Squawk Alley, followed by the news, then start my day around noon, run til done, Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

It's not for everyone, but surely works for me. YMMV.

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LXEX55 My job always required that I wake up early, usually around 4:30 am or so. Is anyone else still on their work schedule even though they don't want to be?

Wow. It sounds like everybody here gets to sleep in.
Almost every j*b I've had since I finished school started at 5:00am. I usually w*rk from 5-3:30 four to six days a week, depending on w*rkload and how much OT I want.
I leave my house at 4:30 every morning so I have my alarm clock set for 3:20am and my watch alarm set for 3:19. (I hate the sound of my alarm clock so I have my watch set to go 'beep-beep, beep-beep' a minute earlier so the clock doesn't scare me awake. Not that it matters, though, since I've only had the watch alarm wake me up maybe twice this whole year. I usually wake up on my own somewhere between 3:05 and 3:15 every w*rkday morning so I just get up and shut the clock alarm off before it goes off. The watch alarm usually goes off while I'm already in the bathroom.
On the weekends when I'm not w*rking I usually sleep in until 4:30 or so. If I have a good book on the nightstand I'll probably read until 5 and then get up and make myself breakfast.
Once I retire I hope to sleep in until 4:30 every day.
Of course, I'm usually in bed by 8pm or earlier every night. A late weekend night for me means I stayed up until almost 9.

[gmmartz]

I’ve been retired for 10 years and still am up between 4 & 430a, no alarm. I find it impossible to sleep in and probably haven’t slept past 6a in years. Usually catch up on news, sports, and twitter on the pc, work out, and read the paper by the time my wife wakes up. Of course, I’m also ready for a nap about 1-ish.....

[Joggernot]

Retired for 10 years and still wake between 4:30 and 5:30 each day. Very seldom need a nap. Work was always 6:00 am or 7:00 am for all my working life. Still enjoy getting up and puttering around until DW wakes up.

[ArmchairMillionaire23]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joggernot Still enjoy getting up and puttering around until DW wakes up.

Me, too!

[CoolRich59]

I'm one of the outliers. Since retiring, I sleep until 9am, sometimes later.

It doesn't matter how early I go to sleep, I don't wake up until 9am.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

[gwix98]

I had to be up at 4:30 to get prepared for work. I’d go to bed about 9 PM. Now I go to bed at that same time and wake around 3:30. I do notice that if I stay up later I don’t sleep as well, but seem to be able to sleep later than 3:30. We are all different!

[UKadventurer]

I’m just 5 months into early retirement and I’m happy not to need alarms any more. I wake up when my body decides I’ve had enough sleep. This morning it was 5:40am so I read for a bit, looked out on the balcony and went back to sleep after an hour. If I wake up early, I’ll have a nap later. If I don’t, I won’t.

I’ve actually got no responsibilities so I don’t worry about it. My only appointments are 3x weekly chiropractic visits to fix a chronic sciatica problem. That’s always early afternoon so I don’t need an alarm.

I’d just say, don’t worry about it, as long you get enough sleep.

[ckelly78z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 Used to get up 5:30 for work. Many years and often before the alarm clock. A surprise is how I have changed to a night owl of sorts after 3 years of retirement. Now with no alarm clock I usually wake 7:30-8:00. Never take a nap. Also tend to slow start in the morning before getting busy with house or garage projects.

I could have written this, but i'm not retired yet. This is exactly how I was during 10 weeks of Covid shutdown earlier this year, and now have my alarm clock set for 4:30 every morning.

[steveark]

We get up at 4:40 or 4:50 in the morning to go meet our running group to knock off a few miles in the dark. That is kind of early for a retired mid-sixties couple but some of the runners still have jobs so they have to be at work on time.