Do you ever stay up late into the night because you don't want to go to bed?

I've gotten into a nasty habit of staying up until 3 am or so, putzing about my house, because I do not want to go to sleep...because then it'd be morning and I'd have to go to work. I want to laze about for as long as I can. Anyway I am averaging about four hours of sleep per night and exhausted, but I want to extend my lazy hours and I dread the thought of going to work each morning, doing the commute, gobbling my cereal, etc. On the weekends I have no trouble tucking into bed at 11. Does anyone else do this?

I'm the same way, OP. I stayed up all night last night catching up on the "Revenge" thread after I finally caught up on the show. I was hurting by mid-afternoon. I used to have a great job that allowed me to stay up till all hours since I didn't have to be in until 3pm. I really hated having to join the regular rat race.
Night%20Owl
I'll bet your neighbors hate you!
Sounds familiar OP. I think part of the reason I watch TV in the late night is because when I try to turn in, I start thinking about work the next day and how bad things are in the office.
My partner is like this. I'm not and it's a challenge sometimes. My ideal sleep hours would be 11 to 6. His, 3 to 11.
I've done that but I've also done the complete opposite...gone to bed as soon as I got home from work, because I've been so depressed about work?
I do, and I feel like shit the next day.
Awful day at work -> stay up all night trying to feel better -> get no sleep -> awful day at work. I did that shit for a solid year.
I used to do that on a regular basis back in high school. I did this last night.
Yeah, me too. I usually work round it by sleeping for a couple of hours when I get in from work.
Same here, OP. Stay up every night until about 2:30, sometimes 3, then have to get up for work at 7.
Another one here. It gets worse in winter.
Every. single. night. My life is a living hell because of my insomnia, and I've been this way ever since I was a child. Staring up at my ceiling, into the wee hours of the morning. Then in high school, I would sneak a tv into my room, and stay up late watching whatever was on. Then in college, it was socially acceptable to stay up all night, and stumble into class right out of bed. Now, it's just pure misery. I have a good job, but the hours are torture for me. I think that my natural biorhythm is set to sleep at around 5 or 6 am, and to wake up at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. It's insane. I've just accepted that I will never be "normal," as far as sleep is concerned, so I don't force it. I just stay up until I'm ready to go to bed. Getting up for work is hell, though.
I'll do this sometimes on a night (Friday or Saturday) that I don't have to go into work the next day. It wreaks havoc with my body though.
On bad nights, I turn my clock round to face the other way, as seeing how late it's got isn't helpfull in getting me ready to sleep.
I did this all through my twenties, until I got a decent job. Hang in there.
I'm exactly like R12 and have been like this since childhood. It's hell getting up. Thanksfully, I don't always have to get up early in the morning, but it's more than that. I feel better at night, less depressed, less anxious.
it%27s%20a%20quarter%20to%20three
Yeah, me too R16
I do this, have done it all my life, in cycles. I'm in one now. If nothing's scheduled, I lie down around between 9 and 10. Up at 11 until 2 or 3, then I try to sleep. Then the day starts at 6. I nap for an hour during the day (work for myself and usually can get it in - I have migraines and MS-related issues and partner snores and meds affect me, so that all plays into my proclivities. And the odd thing is that it all seems to balance out, with some extra rest over the weekend. I use the late-night times for in-depth work and creative work. But I'd look like a crazy person, I imagine, to anyone who could see my ups and downs.
I'm in the same boat as a lot of you. But I hate going to sleep at night because I'm afraid of missing something. Like something important will happen and I wouldn't even be aware of it because I was asleep.
I've always been a night owl, so much so that when the opportunity to work later hours I took it. My natural sleep patterns seem to be bed around 3 and sleep until noon. Unemployed right now so it's all I do now.
R19, you have put into words what I have been feeling my entire lifetime. I feel like I will miss out on life, even the smallest thing, if I succumb to sleep. But then I pay the next morning as I envelop several cups of coffee in order to stay awake at work.
I do this as well. I hate work so much but love my free time. Why would i want to spend it sleeping?
I no longer have to work and haven't watched regular TV in years (sometimes a DVD once a week). Being involved in several creative hobbies, sometimes inspiration strikes and I work through the night, get a few hours sleep in the morning, and then back to my latest project.
OP, you described me to a tee for the last couple of years. Talked to my shrink about it and yeah, like you've concluded...stay up late, wake up late, don't want to go to work. I'm actually a heavy sleeper and have no problems nodding off quickly. I just chose to push back my sleep time because I couldn't bear the thought of waking up for work. I'd recommend assessing your work situation. I felt that way for a couple of years. My job ended in December. I've been unemployed for 5 months and haven't done a single thing about it. And it's because I was so unhappy and unmotivated while I was working that I don't want to go back to it. But it's something I should have dealt with while I still had a job. Instead now I'm a recluse who lives day to day without any direction or motivation or willpower to change the situation.
Wtf, an old thread. November 2011? I could have been the OP.
R23
Someone tried to jimmy my window a couple nights ago and I've been having trouble getting to sleep.
R12 and R16, it sounds like you have DSPS.
I actually wondered if this thread was one I started but forgot about.
Feel the same way, OP. I'm going to stay up late tonight, too. I actually can feel the dread in my throat right now at the thought of going to work tomorrow.
[quote]Like something important will happen and I wouldn't even be aware of it because I was asleep. Like what? It'll be on CNN, which runs 24 hours a day -- not as if you'd never hear about whatever it was.
I used to sleep through the night without waking up once, but ever since I turned 40, I wake up every few hours. I wake up exhausted in the morning.
Me too, OP & R31
I like to sleep becauses it's the one time I don't have to be awake and stressing about work, or bills etc. It is my escape from reality.
I have always been a night owl. I love the night even at home. It's always been hard to get to sleep. Used to be I didn't want to miss anything but that excuse went under a long time ago. How can you possibly miss anything nowadays? I am often exhausted in the morning. But I have to be before a judge almost every morning by 9 or 9:30. I cannot just crawl into an office late and not be noticed. I usually actually have to open my mouth and say something. Since I sleep alone now I just put my laptop on a table near my head and have it on low. It's usually a DVD of a TV show that is not too exciting or jarring - a comfort show if you will - and if I close my eyes I am asleep within minutes. I am currently rewatching Foyle's War episodes.
Circadian rhythm's gonna get ya.
[quote]I think that my natural biorhythm is set to sleep at around 5 or 6 am, and to wake up at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Me too, though I wasn't always like this. I was an easy child because I went to bed voluntarily about an hour after dinner - I was sleepy! Then I'd get up at the crack of dawn or just before happy and ready to start the day. That all changed after puberty. Now I'm the opposite.
Slave to the rhythm!
Let's all stay up together!
Have any of you ever tried taking something so you can get to sleep at a decent hour?
Marilyn and Judy
I'm afraid to go to sleep because I'm convinced I won't wake up.
Every Sunday Night. I stay up late watching Mad Men & The Killing and reading. And I pay for it every Monday, I felt like crap today.
Logging off now (11:57PM) and going to bed... thanks for the "wake up call" OP. I share your issue but I'm going to break the cycle tonight.
This is my life story. I usually don't go to bed until 3 or 4 no matter what time I have to get up the next day. I'd love to stop it but I always feel like I'm missing out on something if I go to sleep. Like, tonight, I'd be missing out on watching Scream 4 on Showtime.
Help ME!
Yes, OP. All my life. It drives my partner nuts. Usually I doze off, but waken around 11:15 and get up and write, read, look at the web, watch a movie, listen to music, or snark on the DL until 2-3. And then I get up at 6. Brutal. I'd rather sleep 5 am - 2 pm and be awake the rest of the time, except for naps.
r42 here.... epic fail
Count me in too. I've been this way since my teen years and it tends to really fuck up things a lot. I'm most creative at night so when inspiration strikes I go with it. Fortunately my partner opens the business at 10 am and I straggle in afer noontime. I do work later sometimes until midnight.
Ma Joad
My best sleeping time is 5am or 6am until 1pm. I have chronic insomnia. During spring and summer (especially spring) though, I don't want to miss all of the beautiful spring mornings, so it is a chronic tug and pull.
Meth and coffee will do that.
I hate sleep. Biggest waste of time. A few months ago, there was an article about segmented sleeping which interested me. Apparently, humans used to sleep quite differently a few hundred years ago and this eight hours a night thing is relatively new. Humans would sleep for a few hours (the "first sleep"), then wake up. They'd do stuff like reading, chatting, visiting neighbours, praying, having sex. Then after a couple of hours of this, they'd go back to sleep (the "second sleep"). This way of sleeping makes more sense to me than the straight eight/nine hours a night thing. Very few people I know actually sleep all the way through the night.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783
Honey, I am a night owl. When I get off of work at 4:30pm, I come home, eat dinner, then I take a nap between 6:30pm and 10:00pm, and then I wake up and stay up until about 3 or 3:30am and wake up again at 7am to get ready for work. I HAVE to be up at night, so this works great for me. Plus, I still get 7 hours of sleep within a 24 hour period, it's just split in half, which make me more refreshed since I'm always exhausted after work. I'm getting ready to go to be right now!
OP, thank you so much for posting! And the other posters; helps me to realize it's not just me (well, obviously I know it's not! but with family and friends who look at me like I'm weird, it's nice to have "support.") I don't work currently but I have been doing what OP describes for probably the past 8 years - always hated getting up for 9-5 jobs; more of a sleep 3:00=10:00 person by nature. Even when I worked and had to get up at 6:30, 7:00 a.m., I would almost always be up till 2:00, 3:00 a.m. As OP said, begrudged having to get up for work. Mind you, there were times when I had to struggle to stay awake at my desk! No one ever "caught" me, or if they did notice, didn't say anything. Many's the drinking-of-tea (hate coffee which was too bad in this case), splashing water on face, at 3:00 in the p.m. And like another poster said: now that I'm not working, I stay up later and get up later; usually staying up till 6:00 a.m. Must. break. cycle.
Up all night
R40: ohmigod, me, too! But I was afraid to say so - thank you for your post; I really mean it.
Right now I have physical manifestations of anxiety upon waking.
Hmm...I think many here miss the point of OP's post. He's not going to bed late primarily because he's a night owl or a sleep issue. He's going to bed late because he's trying to stave off having to work. So it's a psychological issue rather than a circadian rhythm one. I'm R24 and that's what I was trying to get across in that post. If OP was at a job he didn't dread, he would likely be able to go to bed earlier because he would actually want to wake up early and go to work. His title isn't "can't go to sleep". It's "...don't want to go to bed..."
im in yr 8 so i have to get up at 6 every week but i am usually scared of sleeping by myself and i dont know why... so i stay up till like 3 every night so i only get 3 hours sleep so by the time its 3 o clock its usually lighter so im not scared anymore ;) i really wish i could stop this habit but its really hard to. i was alright about a month ago but since then i just stay up all night till 3 :( yesterday (Sunday) i was up until 5 o clock and didnt go to school because i went to bed at half 5 and only got 30 mins sleep :( i hope someone knows a thing to get rid of this habit or post to see if you have the same habit. much love HeyKitty
Are there actual children posting here now? What the hell has happened to this place?!
I don't want to go to work tomorrow. I am COMPLETELY sick of my job. And work.
All the time.
R14 I do this too. I also hate my job, dread going to bed, hate getting up, hate wasting my entire weekend sleeping.
I am a night person, so if I can I love to stay up late. A few years back somebody did a study and suggested we should adapt to people being more active during the night because their biological clock is just different to others. I work and concentrate better than during the day. I always wondered why employers don't take advantage of this.
Anonymous
you need a new job Op.
I used to suffer from this syndrome, until I started my own business, working from home. Now, I make the same amount as I did working in a godforsaken office, and I never feel that aching dread in the wee hours. some people are better off forging their own path. I recommend becoming an entrepreneur. in the digital age, anything is possible.
I had this problem since I was a kid, saw a sleep doctor & am cured for life. The first thing to know is that there is a group of cells in your brain that regulate sleep. They work better in some people than others. So, just like weight/fitness, some people have to try harder and keep a stricter regimen. They put you on a regimen for a couple of weeks: you are allowed to sleep only 6 hours/night. If you get up at 7am, you go to bed at 1am & take a pill. You get up, go for a walk in the sunlight (this is important! -- it sets those brain cells), no coffee after 12 noon, and for at least 1 hour before bed, you sit quietly & read. No TV!! Get the TV out of your bedroom! Gradually you increase the sleep time by 15 min. You keep to a strict schedule, always getting up at the same time. If you fall asleep very late one night, you stay up the next day, no naps, so you are tired when you go to bed. It takes about 6months - 1year, but it works. Only if I'm really worried about something the next day do I have a problem going to sleep, and then I take 1/2 pill. It changed my life! I'm not a zombie anymore. If you hate your job, that is a separate issue -- you need to compartmentalize the problems. Being sleep-deprived is not going to make it any better.
I do not have a TV in my bedroom anymore, and I try to keep my bedroom very minimalist. I've heard that this can help you sleep better. I also close the curtains on the bedroom windows at night so the room is very dark. I've heard having some sort of light like a nightlight can be bad for you. I have no trouble going to sleep at night. In fact, I can never remember how long it takes for me to fall asleep because it happens so fast. I try to get 8 hours, but I don't always get that. I do feel refreshed in the morning. People sometimes don't realize how important sleep is. It can help your digestive system, make you less anxious, and keep your skin looking younger. Stop staying up late!
I bought blackout curtains a year and a half ago and they're done a world of good. I just got cheap ones from Penney's. The fashion conscious could always put up another rod and hide them with better looking curtains. Complete darkness aids in the production of melatonin, which is necessary for sleep, and also helps to slow aging. You need your room to be completely dark, as in not being able to see your hand in front of your face.
Yes, there are two separate issues here, people who don't sleep because they don't want to face work in the morning and people who have difficulty sleeping for other reasons that can probably be fixed. I used to have contempt, for some reason, for people who rise early and go to bed early but now I admire them. It's absolutely wonderful to be up and at it early on a spring, summer or fall morning. The world looks fresh and inviting, it's quieter, the birds are chirping and it's peaceful. Plus, in the summer it's cooler then and you can get outdoor work done before the midday sun. It's harder, of course, on a cold dark winter morning. Still you have the satisfaction of accomplishing a great deal by noon and then you can relax a bit. There are lots of articles with good advice on the many things you can do to encourage a good night's sleep but you have to want to do it. If you think you're a night owl it's probably because you've trained your body that way and you need to retrain it. I think routine is paramount and it's comforting in itself.
I end up staying up into the night (even with work the next day) because I'm looking at this bloody place too much!
I used to do that OP, and the only way I stop was leaving the job I hated. It's not worth it.
you people are playing with fire.only getting 5 hours of sleep or less per night will tell on you as you begin to age in to your 40's 50's,etc..i know about 6 people my own age who've doing these kind of hours and schedules while they were in their 20's and 30's and i still hang with these same people who are now in their 50,s and mid 60's--they all have messed up digestive systems for one thing and that's just the beginning.each of you posters needs to realise that messed up sleep hours are insignificant when your younger.but those eratic schedules are doing things to your brain and body that aren't displaying right now.but just wait!! not only digestive problems but the inability to fall asleep and sleep uninterupted through the night.getting sleepy at very inoppertune times and not getting sleepy when it's a neccessity/ulcers..yes ulcers..and you certainly don't want to have to cope with acid reflux.these kinds of schedules can and probably will cause acid reflux to develop if they haven't already,plus the other things i mentioned/.acid reflux if already developed, indicates possible surgery in the future.if your bad sleep schedule is due to the inability to sleep then seek help.if you just hate to go to bed then swallow some responsibility and go to bed and get 8 hours of sleep ever night./you're not a kid anymore or won't be forever.google what happens when not getting enough sleep as you get older/.google how important sleep is.the national sleep foundation is a good place ot begin.don't believe reports that come from any other source OTHER than the national sleep foundation,as sleeping is their major source of study and many reports from other sources,merely report inefficient studies and even opinions.medical doctors,for example(as in family practitioners),more often than not ARE NOT informed about the topic of sleep ,yet they seem to believe they are and will ofetn times claim you don't need need 8 hours of sleep.but everyone's brain says they do.the brain needs 8 to 9 hours of sleep after a day of being active in the concious sense/.stop playing with your schedules and get sleep/.i'm retired and 58 years old and am a night person.i sleep from 6am to 2pm daily-8 hours.i hang out in the local dennys at nights and i see people all hours of the night come in and out and i frequently get into conversations with people.mostly in their 20's and 30's//do you know why most of these people i talk to are in there at 2 and 3am??not because they can't sleep.not because they're on their way to or from work.it's because they just want to hang out.and can you believe that most of them i talk to say they have to be up or awake to go to work in a few hours(in most cases)meaning 9 or 10am..in my opinion this is insanity..if you can go to sleep and get 8 hours would you be wanting to be hanging out at a coffee shop,6 or 7 hours before work,then go home and get 5 hours sleep in preparation for such//here's my question to anyone that does that..what is the attraction of being out and about at 2and 3am to begin with if you have a work schedule or in a relationshipthat doesn't permit it??i do it because i'm retired and don't have a a job or relationship i'm committed to.many of these people i talk to have husbands or wives at home asleep and according to what they say ,ARE aware that they're spouses are hanging out all hours.some of them have told me that their being out and about late every night is an on going dispute between them and their spouses./MOST of these people i speak to admit that they just want to be up and about that late but could sleep if they wanted to.the other night i was talking to a guy up there that said the girl he was dating couldn't handle him wanting her to be awake at 1 and 2am on the town,so she broke up with him.--what's the attraction to being out and about at 1 or 2 or 3am if you have a job and have to get up early? if you can sleep grow up and gather some obligation.if you can't sleep for some reason,acquire some kind of help(medical,psychological or otherwise).if your married and have kids,then being in bed at a decent hour is imperative..not an option.i'm amazed at how many people in their 20's and 30's i see every single night in my town,hanging out at 2am just because they don't want to go to bed and they want to hang out somewhere/.i call it bizarre. as i said,i'm 58 years old and i've never seen any other generation of people that have such an attraction to late night as much as the generation that was born in the 70's and 80's/.i assume this will even get worse? i leave you with this advice= google sleep disorders such as delayed sleep phase syndrome disorder and sleep apnea. also acid reflux disorder.
Dennis%20%20Teel
R69, ever heard of paragraphs? Nobody is going to read that.
Yes this is me most of my adult life. Total night owl. I've stayed up online until 3am-6am before and dragged myself into work the next day. Usually now my bedtime is 1 am - 2 am. However, I've had jobs where I can come in at 10 am etc so it's not completely a problem - but I'm sick of it. I want to get to bed around 11 pm or 12 and get up by 8:30. I've always had some sleeping issues and anxiety, love the escape of tv or Internet but I'm tired of being so tired the next day. Here I go...
I'm doing that right now. And I have to be at work early in the morning. As in, I have to get up in five hours.
Me too OP. This is why Zyquil was invented - seriously. Non-narcotic and puts you right out.
Yes. It's a really bad habit & I sometimes feel like I could make myself crazy over it. At least I'm not the only one...
R69 9 hours of sleep is a myth, research has proven this. Furthermore, not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. Before you accuse posters here of staying awake at night just to be rebellious, try reading some of these posts. Several posters here have admitted LIFELONG issues with sleep. Some remember staring at the ceiling all night when they were growing up, unable to fall asleep even though they go to bed. This is what insomnia is. For some, their insomnia is caused buy anxiety (like the OP, over their job), for others they just can't sleep
I'm doing so right now. Even if I go to sleep at 9 pm, I'm awake at 3 am and have a hard time falling back to sleep. So, I stay up until my body aches to lay down
Always been a night owl. Too much daylight makes me feel anxious. When I've been in jobs I hate (which lets face it, has been all my jobs) I will go to bed at 3-4am and get maybe 3 hours of sleep. Other days, weekends, I can sleep for 12 hours or more. I use a sleep mask and earplugs for day sleeping, otherwise the noise and light would wake me every hour or so.