sleep patterns of the freelancer / independent
- Started
- Last post
- 20 Responses
- sublocked
working for myself i find that my sleep schedule is really odd.
most of the time i'll sleep at 6-7am, wake up at noon-3. anyone else? :p
- 5timuli0
I'd probably do that if I could get enough freelance work. I'm at my most creative after midnight.
- why is that? I feel the same wayMeeklo
- me tooepete22
- everybody is sleeping, no phone interruption, most peaceful hoursJG_LB
- The other day I figured I could sleep from 4am - 11am and totally function.Transit_Broadcast
- ukit0
The main problem for me is that I end up mixing work and play. So that I get to take a break whenever I want, but I'm kind of always working.
- Note to self, no more working Sundays, get crap done ahead of time.
Transit_Broadcast
- Note to self, no more working Sundays, get crap done ahead of time.
- sublocked0
ukit, me too :/ ...i've been trying to time my work daily in order to stick to only 8 hours though.
it's hard to put it into a block, like a regular job.
i too find that i'm most productive at night. just been that way since i was a kid.
- Stylus0
yeah started freelancing again after a 2 year stint doing 9 to 5 and now basically sleep 9 to 5 and work all night. Don't miss the work at all but do miss some of the people as it was one big laugh mostly.
- Meeklo0
man, my girl has normal sleeping patterns so when she stays over I go to bed at 11pm or whenever she goes.
If she is not around, and I don't have to freelance at an agency the next day... oh man..
I can stay till like 4am easly.. and then the next day if I have to run, I will wake up at 6am go run then come back shower and sleep till 10am or keep going (after the shower I'm usually awake again) till like 6 or 7pm, that is when I crash, if I stay up 2 nights in a row.. its like having a ver mild dosis of acid, you hear things you see things on your peripheral vision.
- janne760
i have done this often.. not good for you on the very long run.. can cause depression..
get sun, excercise, vitamin B and all that...
- locustsloth0
Because of family stuff, i can't usually get a solid 8 hrs in during the day working at home. This means that i need to go back to work at 10 or 11 when the wife and kids go to bed, staying up until 3am sometimes. Add to this that i wake up with the kids at 6 or 7. But i make sure to skip the late night work i feel like my bod is taking too much of a pounding. Ya do what you gotta do, i guess
- tommyo0
I kind of dig having a freelance sleep schedule. Sometimes I hit the sack at 10PM and sometimes it's 5AM. I don't think I've slept past 9 or 10 in the morning in many years though.
- Jaline0
I can't stay awake for too long.
I manage to finish all of my school work before 1 AM and never pull all-nighters, even though I usually start my assignments a maximum of two days before they are due.
- jamble0
I've always made the effort to get up and get ready to be working for 9am as I would if I were at an office. It's helpful having a routine.
That said, I find that I work more hours when I have projects on and often find myself waking up earlier rather than working later. It's 4.30am now and I just got up and started working because I couldn't sleep but at 9pm last night I was falling asleep in front of the tv.
- sublocked0
@jamble - i want to try and shift to that pattern.
i feel "better" when i wake up early, like i'm being productive. i find waking up later like i do - i always feel rushed and like i'm behind on things?
i tend to only sleep when i'm tired, but that is usually random.
i always go back to something i read on Woz which goes like this:
Philosopher William James once wrote that mental life is controlled by noticing. Climbing out of the sea and onto the windy beach, my skin purple and my mind in a reverie provoked by shock, I find myself thinking of a checklist Wozniak wrote a few years ago describing how to become a genius. His advice was straightforward yet strangely terrible: You must clarify your goals, gain knowledge through spaced repetition, preserve health, work steadily, minimize stress, refuse interruption, and never resist sleep when tired. This should lead to radically improved intelligence and creativity. The only cost: turning your back on every convention of social life.
- Jnr_Madison0
I hate daylight. True story.
- Makes him puke rainbows. i've seen it...kindalocustsloth
- jamble0
I think it's immensely important for freelancers to maintain normal working / office hours where possible. I know the nature of the job sometimes means working 7 days a week if you've got projects on but even when I don't have work on, I still get up at the same time and get ready for "work" even if I then sack it off and go for a walk or into town instead of sitting at my desk.
Once you get into a decent time routine, it's not that difficult.
- good advicemaximillion_
- While I love sleeping in (maybe to 9 AM or 10 AM), I do agree with a routine.Jaline
- boobs0
I'm going to bed.
- jteore0
God I love my bed_When on down time from gigs I will sleep till whenever I feel like.
- mikotondria30
I go to sleep at about 10/10.30, then wake at 4.30, wife goes to work, then kid gets up at about 7 and we walk to school for 8.30.
By 11am it's starting to get late in the day for me, lol
I have done, over the years pretty much every combination of hours - late late nights, sleeping til 4pm and I must say that the early life is great, nothing like being up before dawn, thats the best part of the day. Must be getting old- You don't have to be old to enjoy the sunrise.Transit_Broadcast
- digdre0
i sleep from
01:00 to 6:30
- Stylus0
2am time to get to work
- PromotionalUseOnly0
I find that working at night helps purely because the phone isn't going to be ringing... and I can get on with stuff while everyone else is off living their lives... I get married on Friday so I will need to change that!
- that can easly be fixed by turning your phone off.. if that is the only reason, you have it easy :)Meeklo