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Post by gato on Jan 18, 2022 7:24:29 GMT -5
When I retired (23 years ago this Wednesday) I figured I would finally be able to lounge in bed a bit longer, since I'd had such an erratic schedule as an LEO. This turned out not to be the case. In fact, as increasing age intersected with decreasing sleep, I found myself quitting the bedsheets earlier and earlier. What was the point, I asked myself, of lying awake chasing a return to sleep that stubbornly eluded me.
After lengthy inner negotiations, I arrived some time ago, at my ideal rising time: 2:15 AM (after turning in at 8:30 PM).
A couple of caffeine jolts and I become a whirlwind of productive activity, doing my daily workout and any number of household chores. Free of any outside disruptions I can write uninterrupted for hours, practice on my bass, read my four newspapers and enjoy a quiet street in front of my house with zero traffic flow. (There is one homeless guy who wanders around mumbling to himself, but I only encounter him on trash day, when the bins go to the curb)
At around 11:00 AM the cats summon me for a nap, and the three of us slumber until about 12:30. With that refresher I'm good to go again until bedtime. (I allow myself no TV watching until dinner time.)
For those in the Moe's clan who have retired, has your schedule altered a great deal? Do you find you're more productive or less, since you pulled the pin?
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Post by ninworks on Jan 18, 2022 9:16:40 GMT -5
I have always been primarily a morning person but that never stopped me from working a 40 hour a week day job and playing in a band 5 or 6 nights a week up until I was about 35. After that I concentrated on my day job and only did an occasional weekend gig. Eventually those went away as well as I got into my 40's and I worked full time at my day job only. I could always adjust to whatever sleeping schedule was needed if I had enough time to acclimate.
For most of the last 5 years or so of working I worked a job for a construction company as their fleet and heavy equipment mechanic and looked after their supply warehouse. I could set my own hours as long as I was there most of the business hours during the day. All of the crews started at first light and stopped working at 4:00 so if I were there until 2:00 or so that was good enough. I wanted to be to work by 6:00AM at the latest and was usually there by 5:30. The earlier I started, the earlier I could go home so I opted for as early as possible. There was always more to do than I had time for. I got more done before 8:00 than I usually did for the rest of the day due to all the interruptions I got. I had a 40 minute commute so I got up at 4:00 every day to have enough time to drink some coffee and drive to work. That required going to bed at about 8:00 in the evening to be able to get enough sleep.
After I retired I still go to bed at 8:00 or so and get up anywhere from 4:00AM to 5:00AM. Sometimes earlier if our young puppy starts making noises like he needs to go out. I don't want to ignore that. My wife likes to sleep as late as possible so I have 4 or 5 hours of time to myself everyday and usually more on the weekends. I need to get at least 7 hours of sleep or I'm worthless the next day. Any less than that and I need a nap about 2:00 in the afternoon. I like to practice my guitar early in the morning before my wife gets up. That way I'm fresh and can go for hours if I want to and there are no interruptions other than the dogs wanting in or out occasionally. I like to play electric guitar through the Eleven Rack into headphones. It sounds great, I can blow my brains out if I want to, and I don't wake her up.
So, no. My sleeping schedule hasn't really changed all that much. Not yet at least and I've been retired for almost 2 years. I am still quite productive. I do house or property maintenance and do repairs and stuff out in the shed almost daily. I have so much of that to do that I seldom have time to engage in my other two passions, writing and recording music. If I can't get a full uninterrupted day to work on it I won't even start because it makes me absolutely livid to get rolling on something and have to stop for some, what I deem as, an 'unimportant event' or piddly distraction. Since my wife works from home 3 or 4 days a week those distractions are numerous. I don't know how she ever gets any work done.
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mikem
Wholenote
Musician soundman musician soundman
Posts: 233
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Post by mikem on Jan 18, 2022 10:02:21 GMT -5
I was never much of a sleep-in kind of person but since my retirement (from my day job) I get up daily at 5:30am or so.
During my career I was up at 6:00 so it's not that different.
What I find most satisfying is that when I go to sleep at night "knowing" that I do not need to get up at a certain time, I actually sleep better.....
During the summer months I will leave a curtain open and the sun gradually wakes me up in the morning.... It feels great.
I have settled into a groove: I find that I compose (write music) more efficiently in the early morning (6:00am - 8:30am) than at any other point during the day.
I also write better (post opinions in my local newspaper, etc.).
The only thing that is a little weird is when I play a gig at night that ends at 12:30am or later....... I have to load-up on the caffeine prior to the gig.
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Post by Ricketi on Jan 18, 2022 10:16:24 GMT -5
Before retiring I would get up at 4:45 am for work and days off I would get up at 7:30 0r 8. Since retiring It started out at getting up at 8 but lately it's around 8:30. It doesn't help that I get to bed at 12:30. I'm probably less productive but the winter months help that a bit.
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Jan 18, 2022 10:42:39 GMT -5
I'm not retired but on the weekends I get up between 7 and 8am. During the week, I'm up at 5:30. Sleeping in is rarely a problem unless my sinuses are giving me problems.
When I was a kid, I was up by 5:30 every day. I just woke up at that time and I was ready to go. During Jr. high, I got it in my head that the cool kids slept in, so I forced myself to sleep in. Now it's a struggle to get up early. I'm still most productive in the morning though.
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Post by gato on Jan 18, 2022 11:41:35 GMT -5
I'm not retired but on the weekends I get up between 7 and 8am. During the week, I'm up at 5:30. Sleeping in is rarely a problem unless my sinuses are giving me problems. When I was a kid, I was up by 5:30 every day. I just woke up at that time and I was ready to go. During Jr. high, I got it in my head that the cool kids slept in, so I forced myself to sleep in. Now it's a struggle to get up early. I'm still most productive in the morning though. But are you still cool? |
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Post by slacker 🐨 on Jan 18, 2022 12:13:03 GMT -5
I'm not retired but on the weekends I get up between 7 and 8am. During the week, I'm up at 5:30. Sleeping in is rarely a problem unless my sinuses are giving me problems. When I was a kid, I was up by 5:30 every day. I just woke up at that time and I was ready to go. During Jr. high, I got it in my head that the cool kids slept in, so I forced myself to sleep in. Now it's a struggle to get up early. I'm still most productive in the morning though. But are you still cool? Legit question. The answer is that it didn't work...I've never been cool. Seemed worth a try at the time though. Kinda like getting new golf clubs or a new guitar...always looking for that magic bullet... |
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stl80
Wholenote
Posts: 216
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Post by stl80 on Jan 18, 2022 12:17:05 GMT -5
Semi-retired. To bed at 8:00, out of bed 3:00 - 4:00. Get lots of stuff done.
Jim
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Post by rickyguitar on Jan 18, 2022 14:18:05 GMT -5
I have worked all kinds of different schedules. At one point I had to go to bed before the kids so I could get up at 2 AM. Time of days is not really an issue. Used to be able to do with 6 hours sleep...7.5 or 8 now.
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Post by Ragtop on Jan 18, 2022 16:43:03 GMT -5
For many years (decades?) I was a gold-medal sleeper. Asleep at 11, up at 6, rarin' to go.
These days, long retired and 66 YOA, I'm so tired at 9pm that I can barely drag myself down the hall. Then I'm up a couple times during the night, and wide awake at 4am. I'm usually the first to read gato's early morning posts (which ain't a bad way to start the day!).
I talked to my doctor about it. He said it's a common complaint amongst ageing men, himself included. He suggested that I take one Tylenol PM before bed, which I've been doing for about a month. It seems to help. I still get up once or twice to pee, but I fall right back to sleep.
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michael
Wholenote
Recent Retiree
Posts: 622
Age: old enough to know better and not care
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Post by michael on Jan 18, 2022 18:04:07 GMT -5
i just sleep when i get sleepy ... no schedule. sometimes i'm up all night sleep all day sometimes not. no alarms except for the dog... she wants to go out about 7:30 AM ... i take her out then go back to sleep if i'm sleepy.
wife is in bed by 9:30 pm and up at 7:00 AM. she does nap a bit during the day though.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 18, 2022 21:01:00 GMT -5
I’ll just say “not unless I’m forced to”. Right now 6:25 AM is pre-dawn and that’s when I have to wake up in order to get my daughter to school. School now being 25-3 minutes away when last year it was in my kitchen, and 5 minutes away previous to that.
On the weekend, I stay in bed (unless there’s something planned) until 9 am as a default, and I can sleep until around 10am if im allowed to. This past weekend I was woken up at 10:30 AM and had no signs of waking up at all.
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Post by FlyonNylon on Jan 18, 2022 21:44:33 GMT -5
Being able to watch the sun rise regularly is a strong motivation for my early retirement.
For the last 10 or so years my schedule has been working about 15 shifts a month split evenly between 7a-5p, 11a-9p, 4p-2a, and 9p-7a, with constantly changing sleep patterns.
I would love to be able to feel tired around 9p or so and sleep until 6a restfully awakening.. as it is I watch the sun rise frequently coming/going to work but even after a long time off I can never feel rested enough to enjoy it.
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Post by LVF on Jan 19, 2022 11:25:33 GMT -5
After many 'try outs', I settled for up a 6am, bed @ midnight. An increase in sleepy time of one and a half hours from my working days.
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Post by Taildragger on Jan 19, 2022 12:11:38 GMT -5
Over the years, my job required me to clock in at 4:30AM, 3:30AM, 9:30AM and finally 6:30 AM. Most of time, it was the early hours. Most of the jobs I've had over a lifetime have been on shifts either at night or very early in the morning, starting with a 60-mile (motorized) rural, newspaper route when I was in high school. Even on my days off, I was usually at the beach at first light to surf "dawn patrol".
So when I retired, 16 years ago, I kept waking up before first light out of habit. But slowly, I started getting up a bit later. Now, I usually "sleep in" til about 7AM. Such a luxury!
During my younger years, I usually averaged 4-6 hours of sleep per night. Nowadays, I need 7-8 or I feel like crap and can function only at a low level.
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Post by oldnjplayer on Jan 20, 2022 18:52:32 GMT -5
Always been an early riser. I even altered my work day so I could start at 8am instead of 9am. This always allowed me to drop off and pick up my daughter from school right through high school. Since retiring nothing changed really. Up at 6 am usually. 7am is late for me. Since the COVID early rising has allowed me to visit local Shoprite early, when it's empty. I could be fooling myself , but I feel safer shopping when there are fewer people. It also seems shoppers are more apt to wear masks early in the morning. It's been necessary as my CLL treatment basically removed my immune system, which meant I got no antibodies from shots and booster.
I like the mornings in general. Its quiet and calm.
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Post by Ragtop on Jan 20, 2022 19:21:45 GMT -5
I like the mornings in general. Its quiet and calm. Me too. My computer is next to a big window in our office that faces east. I sit here on the computer and watch the sun come up over the Mosquito Range to the east. Just me and the coyotes, which I often see out the window. |
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Post by gato on Jan 21, 2022 6:04:22 GMT -5
I like the mornings in general. Its quiet and calm. Me too. My computer is next to a big window in our office that faces east. I sit here on the computer and watch the sun come up over the Mosquito Range to the east. Just me and the coyotes, which I often see out the window. Are they opening their latest Acme product arrivals? (meep-meep) |
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Post by Ragtop on Jan 21, 2022 9:12:01 GMT -5
Me too. My computer is next to a big window in our office that faces east. I sit here on the computer and watch the sun come up over the Mosquito Range to the east. Just me and the coyotes, which I often see out the window. Are they opening their latest Acme product arrivals? (meep-meep) Hmmm, that might explain the half-buried anvil out in the yard.... |
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