/r/NightOwls

Photograph via snooOG

A Place for us Nightowls to converse at night when everyone else is sleeping. Challenges that involves going to sleep late, waking up late, how it affects relationships, stigmas and general conversations for us Night Owls. Share stories and insights.

Make sure to check out the discussion thread.

A place for Night Owls all over the world to congregate...Lets have relevant discussions, mingle share ideas or ask questions concerning Nightowls.


Discuss how/why you became accustomed with such hours, what you normally do/are currently doing during them, or...add anything you feel may be appropriate. Share stories, pics, videos, whatever. This is a place to hang out while most of the world is sleeping.



Want your own personal flair? Post quality submissions and be active in the community and your wish may be granted.


Related Subreddits:

Do you know a related subreddit you'd like listed, or have a suggestion to make this one better? Let me know

/r/NightOwls

10,108 Subscribers

15

I'm 36 years old. Is it normal to never be a morning person?

Don't get me wrong. On my days off I tend to get up earlier and get things done. I have been single for sometime now so there is no motivation to get up early. But once I do what needs to be done, or I get off work and do my chores, eat, and shower. I'm lonely. I havnt found a good place or group of people who are up late willing to chat or game or what have yous. I might just be wandering.

9 Comments
2024/05/05
06:19 UTC

2

Seasonally Changing Schedule and Loved Ones

So my sleep schedule is inconsistent af but it's what honestly feels good and normal to me. This has been the case since I hit puberty over 2 decades ago.

I've always done well in school and work. Regardless of sleeping through a class or having a day off to sleep, i i have always been a top performer.

However, my current partner is very concerned by my schedule and often reacts to my schedule emotionally even when it has zero effect on him. At first it even concerned me because I would get loads of chores and work done at night (to his benefit).

I've been convinced to try and change it, which has lead me to having various issues in my close relationships and work (literally from just trying to conform to societies sleep sched.)

I see why my partner is concerned since it doesn't match what they think is normal. How have others dealt with this?

5 Comments
2024/05/04
21:42 UTC

4

Huawei Health thinks the best time to rest is between 10 pm and 6 am

I mean - for whom? Is there any scientific proof that it's true for everyone?

1 Comment
2024/05/04
09:03 UTC

20

What do yall usually do when everyone is a sleep?

UK night owl here, i usually go to bed between 4-6am and wake between 12-2pm. Was just wandering what yall do at nigh? for me its a mix of working out (quietly ofc), sketching, gaming and TV shows or night walks. what about you guys?

27 Comments
2024/05/04
00:49 UTC

4

Full time night owl in Florida

I’ve realized in the last year or so that a main part of me being depressed was forcing myself to be up n about in this terribly humid state. I love Florida at night, there’s just somethin about the tropics at night that just hits. But the thought of even being up during the day here for another year makes me sick. Currently I’m applying for overnight shifts, and I’ll save up the money to buy a Prius and not quit my job again so I can have a safety net so I won’t be forced to spend another summer here :).

4 Comments
2024/05/03
05:00 UTC

8

NightOwl from Pakistan

Am I the only one from that region or there are more people as well from here , or maybe from the neighboring countries.

I don't Mind knowing about people from around the Globe as I have nothing to do rn apart from scrolling on different apps .

6 Comments
2024/04/30
21:24 UTC

2

Looking for night owls in NY / SF / TX

Hi everyone, I work as a researching editor on behalf of a television production company in Amsterdam called Witte Geit. We are currently in production for the documentary series ‘Nachtdieren’ (translation: Nocturnal Animals) which airs on the national public channel of The Netherlands.

We are searching for night owls in New York City / Austin (or around TX) / San Francisco.

About ‘Nachtdieren’:
In this documentary series, our television host Raven van Dorst discovers the mystery of the night. Who are still awake after midnight? They interview all kinds of people who can’t or don’t want to sleep, and stay up very late at night, for whatever reason. For example, this could be because of a hobby, work, worrying, social events or an illness. Raven engages in beautiful, endearing, tragic, funny, moving or inspiring conversations with all the people who add colour to the darkest of the night.

I would love to hear if there are any people who would be open to having a conversation with me about themselves, reasons to stay up late, and about the series, to see if there is a mutual match between us. Please don’t hesitate to send me a private message if you have any questions. I can send you a link to some subtitled interviews, so that you can get an idea of what the series is like!

0 Comments
2024/04/30
13:25 UTC

46

Anyone else hate those “6am is the best time to be productive” articles?

Like it’s cool if that’s the case for some people, but it’s not the case for everyone. You could not pay me to wake up at 6am and immediately get stuff done. I hate how articles like this basically make the blanket statement that morning is the absolute best time for productivity (studies show 🙄). No it’s not for everyone!!!!!! No matter how much you wanna shove your morning person propaganda down my throat. Sorry, just felt the need to rant. Also, I might be a night person but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m productive at night. I’m absolutely not. I’m most productive in the middle of the day / afternoon. My nights are for doing whatever the heck I want. Which is usually watching YouTube lol.

25 Comments
2024/04/24
04:14 UTC

41

Anyone else find it wild that anyone can regularly go to bed before midnight?

Like everyone on this sub, I am a night owl. It is extremely rare for me to be asleep before midnight. If I am, it's usually because I am not feeling well or EXTREMELY tired. As in, I had to have done something to make me get extremely tired. The one time in the past year I fell asleep before midnight, I had just finished a week of helping out at a week-long day camp and I was so tired out from the week that I fell asleep at 11:30-ish. And then woke up at 4am, because my body is not used to sleeping that early. Meanwhile, there are other people who regularly go to bed at 10pm and I'm just like how???? Not that I'm jealous of those people, I'm perfectly happy being a night owl, but I just find the concept so wild. Like sometimes I'm still eating dinner at 10pm (I have a weird schedule lol). Anyone else feel the same way?

14 Comments
2024/04/23
15:38 UTC

10

That moment after pulling an all-nighter where you decide whether to sleep in the day or just power through it

What would you do

3 Comments
2024/04/23
02:56 UTC

8

Hello fellow Americans, fellow Australian owl/bat here. It's 2:30 am. Who else has a messed circ rhythm

I slept from 8 pm to 12 am and it's 2:30 AM so heya all

3 Comments
2024/04/17
16:08 UTC

16

Anyone else clean when they’re up late?

Idk, I just enjoy cleaning my entire house with headphones on FULL blast(usually rock, electronic or frank sinatra). I sing, dance and clean random shit til either I’m too tired or have nothing left to do. I wake up and it’s all clean. Day me is much happier when the house is clean lol. I used to play video games all night but nothing looks too fun to buy now a days.

9 Comments
2024/04/16
05:46 UTC

55

Nobody cares if you get less sleep.

Oh you went to bed at 5am? Too bad, you should be waking up at 7. If you wanted 8hrs you should’ve went to sleep at a “decent hour.”

I know I’m not the only one here.

Even when I worked from 12-8pm (usually got home around 9), my father would judge me and call me lazy. I worked no less than anyone else and slept no more, but if I wasn’t up at 6-7am it was considered “lazy.” I tried so many times to explain how I wasn’t getting any more sleep than anyone else. In fact I was often getting less. I have no doubt this concept of sleep time was completely understood. It’s just that some people get irrationally angry and triggered when anyone sleeps “longer” than them. It’s baffling.

I now choose my own hours. For paperwork, midnight is my golden hour 😉

21 Comments
2024/04/15
19:36 UTC

46

The shame of being a night owl

I'm sitting on my back patio right now at 1:30 AM on a Monday morning (Sunday night). I've been writing (journaling) on my laptop trying to figure out some deep issues in my life (the issues are a different subject that I'm not going to discuss here). I've had a bit of a profound realization: maybe what's been holding me back or wounding me in my life is being a night owl.

I've had that realization for decades.

But it's different this time. In the past I'd try to fix it, work around it or hide it. This time I'm making the realization that the issue isn't any of those things. ITS THE SHAME OF IT. THE SHAME OF BEING A NIGHT OWL.

The thing is is that I don't think most people accept our condition as normal and healthy. They think it's a flaw. There are a lot of benefits to being this way and the world needs people with different temperaments.

The older I get the more accepting of this condition I become, but I feel like I'm nowhere nearly enough accepting of it. Maybe 20% when it should be 90%.

One thing that helps me survive in the world of 9-5 is that I'm self employed. I can shift my work to starting around 11 AM most of the time. I still have to keep an ear close to the phone and have to wake up and check it a couple of times before I might get up around 10:30 or whatever. I can show up at 8:00 or 9:00 or whatever, even did 6:30 once or twice this year. But it's brutal. I don't know how people do it. Anyway, I'm not upfront with my clients about it - if they knew I was sleeping in they probably wouldn't be too supportive. They might leave me. They're running their businesses 9-5 and might need me early in the AM. Been at that gig for almost 20 years so it's mostly OK.

I can hide it and fake it for work. My spouse isn't too accepting of it and it's a source of tension. There's only three or four people in my life that understand my night owl nature and see it in a neutral way, truly without judgement, just as something different.

So I'm thinking if I could boost my own acceptance of myself in relation to my night owl tendencies to 90% from the 20% it's at now, maybe that would be a big deal in my life.

What do you all think?

24 Comments
2024/04/15
06:00 UTC

8

What do you guys do for a living?

27 Comments
2024/04/14
03:06 UTC

3

One of my favorite playlist for my night road trips: Alt, carefully curated and regularly updated with gems of alternative and underground Pop, Rock, Electronica and Jazz music, the ideal backdrop to drive all the night while thinking outside the box. H-Music

0 Comments
2024/04/12
23:06 UTC

5

What’s your average bedtime on a weekday?

15 Comments
2024/04/07
20:03 UTC

23

When I see someone in here stating they are a night owl and go to bed at 2 am I can't help but laugh a lil...

Not because that does not make them one - I'm sure by mosts definition this is entirely accurate and I even know it is in a sense but in my head I'm like "2 am is early" =)

I am up ALL night. Going to bed at 4-5 am would almost qualify as early to me...

Where are my wake up at 2 pm go to bed at 6+am night owls @ ? Those of us who want an entire 12 hrs + of being in their own little world/space/sanctuary where they know they will not be disturbed by the "establishment".

Smoke em...if...You gottem'

X

p.s we need a discord for real.

19 Comments
2024/04/07
04:45 UTC

19

Common things or annoyances you've experienced as a Nightowler.

How many hours do you sleep? I only slept 7 hours for the 99th time i go to sleep later than you.

Another personal Pet Peeve of mine. Is the "keep me company calls" when someone is leaving at night. Then 5 min after they get home they end the call because you know they're going to sleep.

Arent you wasting your day. My day possibly but i do everything that has to get done but later. The Washing Machine/Dryer, Broom/Mop, Oven doesnt stop working because its night.

10 Comments
2024/04/05
03:58 UTC

9

New Mod- Welcome to Nightowls

Hi guys im a regular poster. I spoke to one of the previous mod about granting me permission to be a mod here and handle the sub. He granted me permissions this morning and well now you have a new Moderator. Just wanted to reach out and say HI.

12 Comments
2024/03/30
19:14 UTC

18

Need help pulling my bedtime back

Hey there, I'm a lifelong extreme nightowl and I no longer fight it. I usually try to put myself to bed by 2am but sometimes I get myself stuck in a later rhythm and, when I do, I have sooooooo much trouble pulling it back again. I'm hoping someone here has the same problem and can maybe give me strategies for convincing my brain/body to pull back my bedtime when I get stuck in a late-bedtime loop?

It's really a case of being stuck. I want to go to be earlier but, once I get caught in a late-loop, it's like I just can't. I can feel my brain rev up at night (really, I can feel it just come alive around 11pm), time just disappears, and suddenly it's so much later than I thought. I've tried setting alarms (there's always just one more thing to do); I've tried getting in my PJs and being totally ready for bed early (I still stay up regardless); I have an app on my phone that announces the time on the hour (and the hours seem to slip by in mere minutes). Does anyone else experience this?

For the past two weeks, I've been in a 4am-bedtime cycle that is slowly pushing to 5am... I loooove having the dark, quiet hours to myself and wait for my family to go bed just to get those precious, delicious, isolated hours. Last night, I shoo'd them all to bed at 1am, read for awhile, did some work, then found myself dancing away in my living room to some fantastic acid jazz when I looked up and, to my shock, the clock said 4:30am. Damn. It was 5am by the time I'd brushed my teeth and got into bed, and I was still happily wired and could have carried on for another hour or two at least. And once my body gets into this super-late rhythm, I struggle soooo much to pull it back again.

For info:

  • I have no trouble sleeping once my head hits the pillow -- it's not an insomnia issue
  • I work from home to my own hours so I have the luxury of sleeping as late as I want (1pm today -- yay!). But 4-5am puts me so out of sync with the whole rest of the world. And yet, I feel so alive all night. Sigh.
  • ADHD diagnosed (part of the reason I like working in the quiet, non-distracting night hours)
  • Time blind like you wouldn't believe
  • Married to an extreme morning person (how did that happen?!?) who falls asleep at 9pm and gets up at 5am... and often then tells me it's time to go to bed.
  • It doesn't matter how little sleep I've got the night before: this week I've had to spend three days driving 9+ hours a day to another state for an event, getting home at 1am and existing on 5-6 hours of sleep per night, and still my brain/body does not want to shift from this 4am bedtime cycle.

Is it just me? Anyone else experience this? If you do, what are your strategies for pulling it back again?

20 Comments
2024/03/30
18:51 UTC

4

Have you, as a night owl experienced any of these symptoms (or maybe the opposite ones or related or similar ones) because of being a Night Owl and having to work as an Early Bird or a daywalker?

4 Comments
2024/03/29
03:56 UTC

8

Dear nightowls, do you consume some caffeine frequently?

If yes, I also wanna know how (coffee, energizing drinks, green tea, etc...) ?

24 Comments
2024/03/21
21:40 UTC

6

Dating

How is it for you finding people who have similar life schedules, and then share interests, and are good people, and then are people you want to be around intimately? I already dont find many people i like then add in my night owlness and then its pretty much a wrap.

That was fine until now. But ive entered an age where I am horny af. Before i could go years without sexual interest. Maybe tmi but idgaf.

How do you all date. If you do.

Im over trying to change my schedule for others so that is a 0% option.

3 Comments
2024/03/19
06:01 UTC

3

Animated shows/movies

What are your faves?

2 Comments
2024/03/19
05:57 UTC

12

routines for 9 to 5?

hey all! so glad I found this subreddit today :) I'm 23 and my whole life I've tried to be a morning person -- earlier due to my school being an hour drive away & in college due to wanting to avoid overlapping schedules with roommates. For a good couple years, I woke up at 5am and slept at 9pm consistently. I did the whole recommended morning routine: sunlight, exercise, good balanced breakfast, sleep hygiene, the works.

However, it felt like I was sleepwalking until like 10am and I couldn't focus on anything I was doing. My mental health was also at its lowest during that time and my "productive morning routine" actually backfired on me -- if I woke up 5 minutes later, ran out of ingredients for my breakfast, if the gym was closed, etc. I felt like my whole day was already ruined.

Now, I live alone in NYC (yay 24 hr public transit!) & work from home at a 9 to 5 that's slightly more flexible (for example, if my first meeting of the day is at 10am I don't need to report to anyone until then). Many of my coworkers are in PST and so most meetings are scheduled in the afternoon. Though it does have its downsides (unpredictable overtime), I want to take advantage of this flexible schedule and finally live my best night owl life!

I've also realized that I don't even need a morning routine -- If I wake up late enough (9~10am) I can just start working right away. Along with 8~10 hrs of work per day, I also want to exercise and save my peak productive & creative times for my hobbies (drawing), self development & studying (certifications). If anyone has any ideas for a good daily routine for me or if you're working a 9 to 5 and like your routine, please share!

7 Comments
2024/03/14
15:21 UTC

17

Night owl checking in (Just found this subreddit)

I am 34 and have worked every shift.

When I did 5AM -130PM this was the worst shift. I never felt rested and relied on coffee.

9:30AM - 5PM Sleep wise this is not that bad. I can stay up until 12AM or 1AM and wake up and get to work and feel rested. If I had to work during the day this would be my preferred shift.

12:30 PM - 9PM, 3:30PM - 12AM, 5PM- 130AM, and 10:30 - 7PM

Any of these shifts work best for me. I currently work 3:30 PM -12AM for the past 4 years did 10:30 PM to 7AM for 3 years before that.

I could make the argument that I like staying up all night because when my kids were young and needed constant attention that time alone at night was needed for my sanity. I was lucky before school because when they are that young they sleep all the time anyway. so It was not hard at all. My wife really appreciated this when they were infants and whenever they cried at night (which was not very often anyway got blessed with kids who liked sleep) I was already up to take care of them so both my wife and I always got enough sleep. Then in the morning she would get time with them and during the evening before they go to bed I got to spend time with them while she got to relax. so it worked out perfectly. once they started school I would just wake up when they got home.

I can also say before I even had kids I stayed up late gaming all the time anyway.

My kids are teenagers now my job is just making sure they are making the right choices and being there for them. We game alot together and watch movies but other then that I have alot more free time on my hands.

I also find myself staying up later and later. Currently I fall asleep between 5-6AM and sleep unitl 2-3 PM some days I will sleep only 4 hours and others will be 10 -12 hours but 95% of the time its within 8-9 hours of sleep needed.

I lift weights 3 times a week and walk at least 100 min a day on my treadmill at home. I am overweight due to not the greatest diet but I cut out all sugar so I recently lost 10 pounds and am trying to eat healthier.

I would say the worst thing about this lifestyle is I don't see much sun in the winter.

4 Comments
2024/03/14
00:39 UTC

29

Does anyone else avoid visiting family because they’re condescending about your sleep schedule?

12 Comments
2024/03/10
22:44 UTC

38

Done Trying

At 31 years old, I’m done trying to have a “normal” sleep schedule.

I’ve been a night owl as far back as I can remember. In all my years of “having” to wake up early for school, church, football practice, work, or appointments of any kind, I’ve never felt rested, regardless of the amount of sleep I just got.

If I’m waking up at the “normal” times of say 6-9am, I’m exhausted, I feel hot, I’m irritable, and I’m falling asleep, guaranteed, by the afternoon.

If I sleep until early to mid afternoon, say 12pm-4pm, I wake up fully rested, energized, I’m in a good mood, ambitious, etc. I’m also able to stay up a full 16 hours, if not more, and get a ton of work done.

What bothers me the most is 1.) how those who follow a traditional sleep/wake schedule think I just sleep all day, because when they’re up, I’m sleeping. It’s not exactly rocket science. When they’re asleep, I’m up. I sleep 8 hours just like them, but they’re not awake to see it. How grown adults can be so simple minded is honestly crazy.

And 2.) the constant pressure that I feel to “fix” my sleep schedule, as if there is something wrong with it/me for it not being what everyone else follows.

I know my body at this point. The efforts to try and force it to do something that doesn’t, and has never felt right, are useless. This is the schedule that works for me, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

If anyone else has found themselves in a similar boat with similar feelings, you are not alone.

6 Comments
2024/03/07
08:12 UTC

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