Problems Waking Up In The Am

Jfk-Pilot

Well-Known Member
Hey Everyone,

I know the topic is not really aviation related, but I think the current issue at hand directly impacts my career goals, and overall health.

For the short 21 years that I have been on this planet, I remember myself being able to usually wake up in the A.M. without any problems. For instance I was able to go to bed at 12 am and wake up at 7am with no problems.

But since I turned 21 which was only back in May, I have begun to notice that not only do I tend to stay up later but I find myself struggling more and more to wake up at hours like 6am and 7am for work. On days when i Don't have to work, I find myself sleeping till 10am or 11am at the most.

The reason I'm starting to get concerned about this is that there have a been a few occasions where i have showed up late to work, because I beat my snooze button to death, and I'm the type of person who hates to be late even if its by a few minutes.


So yea, hopefully somebody can relate to the situation and give me some insight or maybe some good advice on something that i can do to improve this situation.

Thanks

-Stan
 
I wonder if turning 21 has anything to do with it. I know when I turned the big 21 I had more days where I didn't want to wake up. :)
 
Hey Everyone,

I know the topic is not really aviation related, but I think the current issue at hand directly impacts my career goals, and overall health.

For the short 21 years that I have been on this planet, I remember myself being able to usually wake up in the A.M. without any problems. For instance I was able to go to bed at 12 am and wake up at 7am with no problems.

But since I turned 21 which was only back in May, I have begun to notice that not only do I tend to stay up later but I find myself struggling more and more to wake up at hours like 6am and 7am for work. On days when i Don't have to work, I find myself sleeping till 10am or 11am at the most.

The reason I'm starting to get concerned about this is that there have a been a few occasions where i have showed up late to work, because I beat my snooze button to death, and I'm the type of person who hates to be late even if its by a few minutes.


So yea, hopefully somebody can relate to the situation and give me some insight or maybe some good advice on something that i can do to improve this situation.

Thanks

-Stan


Google DSPS... I think I have that too... A certain percentage of people I believe genuinely have this, and it gets no sympathy, because the rest of the world is all energetic during the day and views them as lazy. Many alter their lifestyle for this, such as jobs bartending, or only jobs that are very flexible to accommodate their sleep schedules, etc... Not to mention I heard that people in their late teens/early 20's need more sleep than everyone but toddlers... Don't know how valid that is, but I remember needing alot more sleep at like 17-21 than I do now at 24... Could be my body just getting used to 7.5 hrs sleep tho from having to work 9-5, instead of starting school at 11, and working till midnight after school... I would sleep 9 or 10 hours back then...
I usually feel tired during the day tho... Some days worse than others.. But saturdays and sundays when I sleep in, I don't feel this way...
 
I used to have the same problem until I turned 25. Now I can't stay up late (forcing myself to watch a football game right now), and I can't sleep past 800am.

I think your body just goes through changes in your sleep pattern over the years. 18-25, stay up late, sleep in late. 25- fall asleep early, get up earlier. :)
 
I’m not sure where you are in your career but you might be suited to flying at night! Most fright is flown at night. I always thought flying a caravan single pilot would be a great job. As I got older (now 30) I found that I can’t stay up very late, about 9pm I’m ready for bed. When I was 21 I think 9pm was when I would leave the house to start the night. I wouldn’t be to fired up about it just yet.
 
I’m not sure where you are in your career but you might be suited to flying at night! Most fright is flown at night. I always thought flying a caravan single pilot would be a great job. As I got older (now 30) I found that I can’t stay up very late, about 9pm I’m ready for bed. When I was 21 I think 9pm was when I would leave the house to start the night. I wouldn’t be to fired up about it just yet.

well i basically have a fresh cfi/cfii/mei ticket, so i am looking for places that are hiring instructors. My objective is to fly corporate and i would be more then willing to fly freight, but i got to get up to those pesky part 135 min's first.
 
BASICALLY, it has to do with melatonin production in the brain. A gland at the base of the brain (pineal gland) produces melatonin (a hormone) which regulates various biological functions, including the sleep-wake cycle. In people over 25 this gland starts releasing melatonin at about 10pm (on average) and shuts off to allow about 8 hours, on average, of sleep per night. However for people in their teens and early twenties, this gland doesn't tend to become active until later, about midnight to 1am and stays active for longer. Researchers suggest that people in this age bracket need anywhere from 8-10 hours sleep per night, some needing more.

It is a common misconception that one needs 8 hours of sleep per night - younger people need more. Melatonin levels tend to drop off gradually as we age, so we need less and less sleep as we get older. Interesting side note: high-school districts across the country that have adopted later starting times (not many of them) experience higher attendance, higher grades, less violence and fewer incidents between students.

Granted there is more to it than just melatonin, but the point is try to get some sleep! A lot of essential brain functions can only take place when you're asleep. Especially during training - studies show that sleep improves memory and retention (that includes naps of more than an hour). I know I've woken up in the middle of the night with FARs running through my head! so annoying...

Sounds like I know a lot, but I actually just happened to be reading all this stuff on sleep in the NY Times not too long ago. Search their website, there is a lot of great information there on sleep, sleep disorders, research, etc. Should be some stuff there to help you out - lots of new research in the past few years. Though I have to be honest, what worked best when I was 21 was a game of beer pong, hit the bar with some friends and have the token really drunk birthday girl buy us a couple of pints :buck: Point being, as other posters have said on this thread, its temporary and it'll even out as you get older.

For now...try napping? haha. Good luck!
 
Well, I am 34 and for as long as I can remember, I have HATED getting up early in the morning. I am a productive person, but usually only after 10 in the morning. If I have a big project around the house, I often will sleep until about 10, get up and have a nice breakfast and then get to work around noon or so. If I "try" to get up at the crack of dawn to do the same project, it doesn't go so well. I am very fortunante that I have "super flex hours" at work and when scheduled to fly, I almost ALWAYS fly the late afternoon/night lines and it works great for me. When I was still in school, I always did poorly in classes that were scheduled early in the day...ALWAYS! I can go to sleep at 7 at night and if I get up at 6, I still am useless. I always thought that I would grow out of it, but realized that I am just NOT a morning person.
 
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