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Hey TL, i just got a job which i sorely needed, but unfortunately it starts at 6am. I work part time for now (new ppl always start part time apparently) so its 6am-10am.
Anyway I need some advice about how/when to sleep in order to actually be able to go out sometimes. I play soccer twice a week which lasts from 7pm - 9pm approximately so this is already cutting into my bedtime if i want to wake up at 4:30 or 5am  . Id really like to be able to go out afterwards and have some drinks w/ my teammates on these occasions, but it doesnt seem like this is possible anymore.
Have any of you had experience working so goddam early? How did you cope with it? Im thinking I might try taking a big nap after i get home from work in the morning but i donno if that will actually work. Advice plz?
+ Show Spoiler + unfortunately this describes me perfectly atm. Time for a change..
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Sleep before 12 (11 if you really need sleep). I dunno. I'm a person that can function on 5 hours of sleep.
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Just accept not getting much sleep like once or twice max a week. Sometimes I would go out for thirsty Thursdays at school and have a 9am on Friday morning, just gotta go out with the mentality that you will be tired the next day. I would get back to my dorm around 3am or whatever and have to get up around 8am. Also just go back to bed after you're done with work at 10am, something I would do at school too.
(This is under the assumption that your part-time job doesn't require your undivided attention and alertness the whole 4 hours)
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United States24761 Posts
You don't necessarily need 8 hours of sleep. Napping is an option if it works for you. Even if you don't get enough sleep at night you can get additional 'deep' sleep after work but before other activities as long as you are asleep for long enough to get through the light stages of sleep.
For a lot of information search for 'insomnia' on tl and find my guide.
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motbob
United States12546 Posts
Just have the discipline to go home straight after the game, get ready for bed, and go to bed. Whether you get 7, 8, or 9 hours per night, always get the same amount every night including weekends so that your body can get into a cycle. On days where you don't have a soccer game, exercise at some point. If you drink caffeine, don't do it after noon, and don't get on the computer within an hour of bedtime.
Getting up early is like having two days for the price of one.
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Sleep from when you get home for about 4 hours, then sleep ~1 am to 5 am? I've done stuff like this in the past and I generally loved it.
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My dad gets up for work at 3:30am and gets home at 5:00pm.
He also plays soccer twice a week for two different divisions. When he plays soccer he usually leaves for the game at 5:30ish whenever he plays. He's turning 50 in a couple of months.
If he can do it you can too! 
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How awake do you have to be at the job? Are you operating a bulldozer or just filing and making copies? Unless you need to be super on point I'd go out with the boys, sleep a few hours, drink a 5hour, go to work, nap after.
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its a general labour job shipping/receiving type job - afaik ill be moving shit off a truck when it comes in the morning, and then organizing stuff in the store for the rest of the shift.
@crate thats what i wanted to hear lol. Im just worried that i wont get good quality sleep from this. I dont know if i can get good REM sleep or w/e it is by doing that
@ micronesia thnx for the guide, im in the process of reading that atm. Do you know if I can get good quality sleep if i split it up like crate suggested?
@shieldbreak unfortunately I need at least 8hours of sleep a night to not feel shitty the next day, I wish i could get by on 5 lol
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United States24761 Posts
It's okay to break up sleep into different sessions as long as you are getting as much deep/core sleep as you want/need for each 24 hour period. However different people have different preferences about what they can/can't handle with irregular schedules.
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![[image loading]](http://www.saratoga.com/horse-racing-blog/Coffee!.bmp)
This + try to get 8 hours...which isn't likely lol.
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United States24761 Posts
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I spent the last 5 years or so getting up at 5 in the morning for swim practice (which is pretty much the worst pain you can put your body in), so I know how you feel (or are going to). My advice off the top of my head:
It's true that you don't need 8 hours of sleep a day. But on the other side, get it when you can. There are going to be days where you only get 3-4, and they're going to be terrible. But those nights when you get a full 8 are heavenly, try for them every day.
Try to have a bedtime. For me, it was always in bed falling asleep by 11. That was basically the lowest amount of sleep that I could still be sustainably functional. If I got to bed earlier, great, if not, well I could make it. But if I have to go 3-4 days going to bed after that, it's going to start getting very rough.
Get used to feeling tired. Really, almost no matter what, you're going to be tired for a fairly large portion of the day on a regular basis. Which leads to the second point...
Naps naps naps. Usually around lunchtime or so was primetime for me, but really any time is good. Except in the late afternoon-evening, do not do that. You want to be able to fall asleep at night, because if you can't, it's the worst. But naps are great, if you can get to sleep soon after work, even better. Getting 5 hours of sleep, waking up at 5, and getting back to bed for another 1-2 hours afterwards actually isn't bad at all.
Don't expect to make it every morning by yourself. And by that I mean, set safeguards to make damn sure that you're going to get up every morning. And that means at least 2 alarms set a couple min apart, being as proactive as possible about not snoozing too much, never ever letting yourself have "just another 5 min" (it always ends up as 2 hours, always). Especially if it's for a job (for me, I could miss practice once in a while), you have to really force yourself to do it.
And you're going to have those random mornings where nothing makes sense when you wake up. I remember once I woke up, got in the car, and drove to practice an hour early without realizing it until I got there. Especially if you've had a late night, sometimes you're going to be a bit delusional, it makes for a good story.
And finally, cold water in the face. As I said, I swam, and I can tell you it works wonders for actually making you function. And by cold water, it works best when it's like on-the-edge-of-freezing water. That'll get you up. Or on-the-edge-of-bearable showers.
EDIT: And learn how to nap and what naps work for you. For me, I generally try to keep my naps to <45min or >1h20min or so. And by that I mean set alarm for 45 min, then go to sleep, so in reality it's more like <35min or >1h. Anything in between leaves me groggy when I get up.
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I have a 7am job which I've had for close to 4years. I am not at all a morning person and it sucks, but I rarely ever get more than 6 1/2 hours of sleep a night. Since you really aren't working long hours it should be easy to function on 5-6hours a day and catch up on your sleep on days off. I always say I'll be in bed by 10PM, but almost always I'm still up until 1130-12 when my alarm goes off at 530am.
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I myself can function on 4 or less hours of sleep so i havent had much troubles. Looks like your going to have to factor in nap times like some1 mentioned earlier. Also going out to drink with your buddies then working the next day(lifting shit i think u said? basically..) prolly wouldnt be a good idea. Prolly best to just wait for the weekend, Friday and Saturday, to come around for you to go out and drink. Thats what i do.
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It may sound extreme since you can still be getting 8 hours of sleep with your current sleep pattern, but you could try changing it up to one that allows you to take naps in small chunks rather than sleeping for any one long period of time. Here is an article on it if you want to look into it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep
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United States24761 Posts
On July 15 2010 10:41 Najda wrote:It may sound extreme since you can still be getting 8 hours of sleep with your current sleep pattern, but you could try changing it up to one that allows you to take naps in small chunks rather than sleeping for any one long period of time. Here is an article on it if you want to look into it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep
I hear people suggesting this on TL all the time but never anyone on tl who actually uses it (and isn't bullshitting us). At this time it seems like the OP does not need to experiment with such quirky things.
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Meh when i sleep from 1 to 9 i feel amazing. When i sleep more or less i feel like crap. Probably due to waking up during deep sleep but yeah. I usually wake up before my alarm clock anyways at this point due to regular sleep schedule from work + exercise.
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On July 15 2010 10:41 Najda wrote:It may sound extreme since you can still be getting 8 hours of sleep with your current sleep pattern, but you could try changing it up to one that allows you to take naps in small chunks rather than sleeping for any one long period of time. Here is an article on it if you want to look into it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep
This is possibly the worst advice I've ever seen. He's getting up at 5-6 every morning, not getting a 20-hour work day or something.
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yeah that sounds like it would put me in a world of hurt lol.
Micronesia since you seem to be the sleep expert here, what would you recommend I do to get my sleep schedule adjusted for this new job? I have until Monday (19th) to get rdy for a 4:30 waking time, atm ive been going to bed between 1am and 4am and waking up around noon unless i set an alarm.
Current options im thinking about: set alarm for 9am or something tonight, then in a couple days set for 6am, then 4:30am. Sleep an hour earlier each night.
or....set alarm really early right away, and then keep that wakeup time while going to bed when tired, which should be progressively earlier.
Thoughts? other options?
thnx for input so far guys
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EPT![[image loading]](http://memegenerator.net/Foul-Bachelor-Frog/ImageMacro/1636324/Foul-Bachelor-Frog-wake-up-before-10-am-Overwhelming-sense-of-accomplishment.jpg)
