My new wake time is 3 a.m. I really enjoy it. I’ve always liked waking up early, even in middle school and high school. Usually, that meant waking up at 6 a.m., not 3 a.m. However, regardless of the wake up time, I run out of steam after noon, not catching a second wind until later in the evening.

Although I adore sunny days, night times or morning times always signaled focused and “me time.” Late nights past midnights were also blissful for me. I am not married, nor do I have children, but I understand how morning times are sacred before the kids get up or night times are personal time after the kids go to bed. For me, it’s more like my community isn’t awake yet. Sometimes I think about the people on the other side of the time zone and what they are doing when I fall to sleep. If I order books and mags from Amazon Japan, I’m always tickled at how much faster things move when I’m asleep, and I imagine the workers doing their jobs like elves packing presents.

Recently, I’ve been falling asleep at 6:30 p.m. This is not by design. I’m easily fatigued and usually that fatigue signals something’s amiss, but I’ve been falling asleep faster after I eat in the early evenings. I’m tracking all this in case I need to talk to my doctor, but in the mean time, I’m amused. If I’m extra tired, I won’t wake up at 11 p.m. However, I usually do wake up at 11 p.m. on the dot. At first, I groaned about it, worried about how it was going to affect my sleep. The first time happened on a school night. However, I had energy throughout the day. Fueling myself with nutritional food helps a lot I noticed, so I’ve made the effort to keep away from junk and the candy I keep for my students.

When it happened again last night, I rolled with it. I got up. I did get on my phone and watched Youtube videos, less worried about the impact given that it was the weekend. The heaviness of sleep came back at 1 a.m., even after listening to my favorite music, so I listened to the call of sleep and got back into bed. I woke up at 3:48 a.m., feeling rejuvenated like I hadn’t missed any sleep.

If this continues, with no disadvantage to my day time energy, I’ll use that two hour block more productively with the aim of making sure I fall back to sleep. Reading comes to mind. I find literary fiction is best suited for this, and I’ve started to read “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig, although I definitely need to finish “The Red Notebook” by Antoine Laurain first.

I use the Fabulous app to create better habits, and I just started a night routine with it. I laughed when it gave suggested times, asking when do I normally start my evening routine. The earliest one they had was 10 p.m. I set mine for 4:30 p.m.

There are some downsides to this early sleep (not yet the biphasic sleep). I tutor on certain days in the afternoon. Some days, I need or want to do things late into the night. Generally, however, these downsides weigh far less than the benefits.

I’ve unintentionally set up my life to be an early bird. I’m lucky to have less social needs than others. (I get my fill with coworkers and students.) I am fairly introverted and have never liked the extra stimulation that frequently comes with late night events. I’m also lucky to have friends who are also early risers and are always up for a cup of coffee or breakfast or brunch and not a late-night dinner on the town. At the time of this writing, for example, a friend who had woken up around 4 a.m., asked me for coffee at 7:30 a.m. I’m also glad that my favorite grocery store opens up at 6 a.m. where I also catch up with several of the workers that I know because I used to work there during the pandemic. I get so much work done during this time, such as writing posts for my blog, reading, and organizing my often cluttered mind.

This new addition of biphasic sleep has also catered to my former night owl self. As I mentioned, there’s something serene about the night when it feels like you are the only one awake. I don’t hate waking back up at 11 p.m. as long as I continue to be healthy and energetic. I’ll welcome it for now. Things are subject to change. I am experimental. As long as I have the energy to read, write, and deal with emotional middle schoolers–I’m all good.