#10 Musings

I suffer from Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome/Disorder (DSPS/D). Syndrome is the more common but a handful of places still call it disorder. A handy pdf is available from the Sleep Health Foundation.

Essentially what that means is that I sleep normal hours so over a standard year my average sleep length is about 7.5 hours. The only difference is that I have a tendency to be sleepy between 3 or 4am and 12pm. So my sleep pattern is shifted later as compared with the traditional sleeping pattern. I have been like this for essentially my entire life with traditional activity start times whether that be work or school were very hard. I resorted to naps in the afternoon to help sustain my sanity. If I needed to force my body into a "normal" sleeping pattern I wouldv'e gone crazy long before (some say I reached that point years ago :-)

I am in the fortunate position that my work life is extremely flexible (notwithstanding impacts of COVID-19 on work availability). That is primarily due to my partner being very supporting and doing the lion's share of lifting when it comes to the financial side of things. I try and schedule any important meetings in the afternoon if at all possible but if not, I deal with the consequences of little sleep. The only thing I can relate it to is that me getting up at 8 or 9am is like you getting up at 3 or 4am. You can do it but you certainly won't be at your best and long term you'll start to have other issues.

Catch you in the next one,

B