THREW Mikes EyEz

Original Writings, Images, Video and Artworks of Mike Hartley

Tag Archives: dailyprompt-1995


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Up and ready

What time do you go to bed and wake up currently? – The daily writing prompt delving into my sleep cycles.

For me there is no one answer to this question. I’m all over the place. I’m still fighting that decade of overnight shift work and a screwed-up sleep pattern. Also going to bed doesn’t always mean I’ve slept in between.

Last night I crashed at 9pm and woke at 2:30am. Some nights I’ll stay up till 2-3 in the morning before going to bed and then get up around 7 – 8am.

For that last decade I worked I would go to bed at 7-8am and then rise around noon or 1pm. That was Monday to Wednesday. On Thursday I would only take a short nap in the morning after getting off work at 7am and then try to flip to a schedule where I slept from 11pm – 5am Friday, Saturday nights. On Sunday I would be up from early morning till I finish work on Monday morning. Usually a 24–26-hour day.

In retirement I will occasionally allow myself a short midday nap. But not too often.

I’m not the only one who appreciates a good dawn of the day. Photo by Mike Hartley

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Up and at’em

What time do you go to bed and wake up currently? – Ask’s the Daily writing prompt.

Holy crap. Another embarrassing part of my life is being exposed again. Let’s see, last night I went to bed at 10:30 pm and I woke at 3:05 am today. Truth be told I’m all over the place. I haven’t slept well in decades. Average nights midnight to 4-5 am.

I have no normal bedtime. I can crash after dinner or sometimes as late as 3 or 4 am. Most nights I only sleep 3-5 hours at a time. Now that I’m retired I can catch a short nap some days.

I was having some success for a bit there getting 7-8 hours but my mind won’t shut off. Either that or pain will wake me to the point where I have to get up and stretch.

Catching the first rays of the day. Photo by MIke Hartley

I got into that bad habit of staying up late at night into the next morning when I was young. Of course, I also worked when I was young so sleep suffered from the start. Then working shifts all over the clock during my career have messed up my internal clock badly.

Especially that last decade of overnight shifts. That 6 pm to 6 am of intense concentration became engrained because it was so unnatural I made it normal. Now I can’t seem to break my mind or body from being up at night.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to start the day complaining. On days I can’t sleep well I just try to make good use of the extra time I get that most don’t. Seeing the sunrise and sunset each day. Taking a late-night summer walk when everything else is still.

There are a few advantages.

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