How My Sleep Works

Edit:
Note: all times on lines 6 and 9 are in Pacific Time (UTC−7).

The last period of time I was waking up early was from March 18th, 2025, to April 15th, 2025, and on April 16th and April 17th of the same year, I woke up at a regular time. Since April 18th, 2025, I've been waking up late (and sleeping late), and I've nearly never been waking up early since. My sleep is no longer cycling.

Here's how my sleep is now, and it's not varying: I go to sleep late at 12:30 AM–1:30 AM and wake up late at 8:30 AM–9:30 AM. I rarely get tired by 11:30 PM, but when I do, I go to sleep earlier at 12:00 AM–12:30 AM. If I ever sleep at around 10:30 PM, which is extremely close to never, then I wake up early at 5 AM–6 AM. I'm supposed to sleep at 10:30 PM, which is supposed to be my bedtime, and wake up at 7:00–7:30 AM, but for some reason, I'm not tired enough by 10:30. I'm very nearly no longer waking up early, and I'm no longer getting five or less hours of sleep. I typically get eight or nine hours of sleep, which is ideal for me.

Line 35 is now false as of when you're reading this, as my internet is not off from 10:40 PM–6:40 AM every day and from 8:15 AM–2:15 PM at home on school days (I'm also done with school when you're reading this). Here's the rewritten line:
My internet is off from 12:30 AM–8:30 AM every day. I don't have a data plan, so I can't access online things from 12:30 AM–8:30 AM every day. I'm forced to do offline things during when my internet is off. While my internet is off, if I have anything to do that requires internet, I write them down on my "To Do for Online Things" to-do list [1] under the "Either When You Wake Up or Have Internet at 8:30 AM" section, then do them all when my internet turns on or when I wake up.

All the information below is no longer relevant since April 18th, 2025, but some of the FAQs and the reference are still relevant when you're reading this. Lines 31, 37, and 95-96 are no longer relevant since August 24th, 2025, as I'm no longer logging my sleep.

Original Pastebin begins on line 16 with the line numbers mentioned adjusted and the reference modified to be up-to-date when you're reading this.


Note: all times are in Pacific Time.


For a period of time, I go to sleep either late at 11:00 PM to near 2:00 AM (but not at 2:00 AM) or around my bedtime (10:30 PM) and wake up early at 2:00 AM to 7:00 AM (it's possible for me to wake up at 1 AM, but it's rare). For another period of time, I get more or less regular sleep. For another period of time, I go to sleep either late or around my bedtime and wake up late at 9:00 AM to near 12:00 PM (but not at 12:00 PM). Then it repeats endlessly. Each period of time is what I call a "cycle." But it doesn't exactly follow this, sometimes the more or less regular sleep cycle get skipped, and I also occasionally have off days. By that, I mean I can wake up at a regular time (I usually wake up at a regular time when I go back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night) or late for one day during an early wake-up cycle, and I can wake up early or at a regular time for one day during a late wake-up cycle. My early wake-up cycles and late wake-up cycles last anywhere from a couple weeks to a month or so, and my more or less regular sleep cycles last anywhere from no days to a couple days.

To recap, I go from waking up early (an early wake-up cycle) → getting more or less regular sleep (a more or less regular sleep cycle) → waking up late (a late wake-up cycle) → repeating endlessly, and the more or less regular sleep cycle sometimes gets skipped, and I also occasionally have off days.

For the early wake-up cycle, I get three hours (it's possible for me to get two hours, but it's rare, and it only happens when I wake up at 1 AM) to near eight hours of sleep (I rarely get eight or more hours unless I go back to sleep); for the cycle of getting more or less regular sleep, I get eight to nine hours; and for the late wake-up cycle, I get nine to twelve hours. When I consecutively get two to five hours of sleep for one to nine nights, I get quite tired, my head spins in circles (or I have a headache, I don't know how else to explain it), I doze off, I'm more energetic, or a combination of all four at different times throughout the day, and if any of those happen and it's much, I go to sleep at 9:30. When I get two to five hours of sleep, and any of those happen, but it's not much, I sometimes go to sleep early at 9:30–10:20, but not always. I either get the tiredness, the spinning feeling, I doze off, I'm more energetic, or a combination of all four when I get too little sleep, and I rarely get neither.

All three times are just examples: if I sleep at 9:30 or 10:30 PM, I'll wake up at 4:30 AM the next day for both. When I sleep doesn't change when I wake up.

If I sleep consistently at 10:30 PM, my wake-up time still varies from early to late.

My sleep hours are supposed to be 10:30 PM–7:00 AM, but it's almost never like that. It's rare that I both sleep at my bedtime and wake up at my wake-up time.

I've been logging my sleep since October 7th, 2024, and you can find my sleep logs and my sleep graph here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-yuwIv24fBQxNzFN1hFknSBEcf7V56-mzzHuUr9g6Qc

Everything is random. The cycle changes at a random time, the time I wake up is entirely random, the random elements after the first sentence on line 23 are random, and how long everything lasts for is entirely random. Another factor is I'm not always tired enough by 10:30, and if I'm not, then I end up sleeping later.

My internet is off from 10:40 PM–6:40 AM every day and from 8:15 AM–2:15 PM at home on school days. If I didn't go to school, from 2:15 PM–3:53 PM, I can be on Discord, but I can't say anything in public servers or message anyone; I can be on YouTube, but I can't make any comments, upload any videos, make any community posts, or chat in premieres or livestreams; I can be on Speedrun.com, but I can't submit any runs or create any forums; you get it. The reason why 3:53 PM is because I usually arrive at home at 3:50–3:55. This is not my mom's rule. It's my rule. I don't have a data plan, so I can't access online things from 10:40 PM–6:40 AM every day and from 8:15 AM–2:15 PM on school days when I'm at home. I'm forced to do offline things during when my internet is off. While my internet is off, if I have anything to do that requires internet, I write them down on my "To Do for Online Things" to-do list [1] either under the "When You Have Internet at 6:40 AM" section (usually this one when I'm waking up early), the "Either When You Wake Up or Have Internet at 6:40 AM" section (usually this one when I'm not waking up early), or the "When You Have Internet at 2:15/3:53 PM" section on school days if I'm at home, then do them all when my internet turns on or when I wake up. Note for the last one, my internet always turns on at 2:15 PM, but I choose not to do certain things until 3:53 PM as stated previously. If I come home from school early for a valid reason, and my internet is off during the time I'm home, then my mom removes the school day internet-off schedule.

Every morning, either when I wake up or when my internet turns on — at 6:40 AM — I set my status on Discord to my sleep log (see line 31), and I either set it to clear or change it to my default (if I have one) at 12:00 PM (4:00 PM if I wake up at 11:30 AM or later).




FAQ:
Q: Are your cycles intentional, or do they just happen?
A: They just happen, and I have no idea why they happen.


Q: How long has this been going on?
A: Since 2023.


Q: Do the cycles pose any issues regarding your day-to-day functioning?
A: They do, especially when I'm at school. And online.


Q: How are your cycles with school?
A: It makes school challenging, and it's a lose-lose situation between waking up late vs. waking up early. Waking up late, I'm late for school. Waking up early, I'm on time for school, but I'm tired and may not be fully focused during class.


Q: Why does your internet turn off?
A: My internet being off during the night and early morning is supposed to help regulate my sleep, but it does nothing apart from hurting me. It hurts me because I can't be online when I sleep after my internet would turn off and when I wake up before my internet would turn on. My internet at home is off during school time on school days because I'm supposed to be at school during that time.


Q: Why do you wake up so early?
A: There's no reason. I always naturally wake up early.


Q: When you wake up early, what do you do?
A: When I wake up early for the first time, I try to go back to sleep zero to three times. If after 10-15 minutes each time I can't, I just wake up. Once I decide to just be up, I do offline things and wait until my internet turns on, which is mentioned on line 35. I also do that after my internet turns off and before I go to bed.


Q: Are you unable to go back to sleep after you wake up early?
A: I can go back to sleep, but not always. I also choose not to go back to sleep usually, but I do sometimes. If I wake up at any time during the first hour, I'll always try to go back to sleep.


Q: Do you nap? If so, how long?
A: I do nap, but I don't always fall asleep during my naps. As for how long, 30 minutes and one each day I nap. I don't nap every day. I also rest, and I rest for one to three hours each day I rest. By rest, I mean I either do nothing or do things that require less energy while being in my bed.


Q: Do you use any electronics before you go to bed?
A: Yes, but they don't affect me at all. Even if I use my phone right before I go to bed, I can fall asleep pretty quickly when I'm tired enough.


Q: You live in B.C., Canada, which observes Daylight Saving. Does it affect your endless sleep cycle?
A: Daylight Saving doesn't affect me at all.


Q: Do you sleep with the lights on or the lights off?
A: My room is completely dark when I sleep. I also dim the lights one hour before my bedtime at 9:30 PM, and I have an alarm for this.


Q: Is your room cold, warm, or just normal when you sleep?
A: Just normal.


Q: Are you setting your Discord statuses manually, or is there a feature to schedule them?
A: I'm doing it manually. If I don't have a default status, I have eight alarms in two sets of four that are off by default and never repeat to remind me to either clear my morning status in four hours, clear it in one hour, clear it in 30 minutes, or clear it myself, and I turn on the next one if I forget to do the previous one. If I have a default status, I have two alarms. The first one is either on or off depending on when I wake up and repeats on weekends, and I turn on the repeat on a weekday that's a non-school day if it is a non-school day. And the second one is off by default and never repeats, and I turn it on if I wake up at 11:30 AM or later and turn off the other one. All 10 alarms are exactly one minute before I need to do any of the already mentioned things. When I have a status that either changes at a time that's not 12:00 PM or 4:00 PM or is not any of my default statuses and for one day, I set a temporary alarm for that day and remove it after I change my status, and I'll give you an example: on my 17th birthday, I set my status on Discord to my sleep log (see line 31) when my internet turned on (at 6:30 AM [it was 6:30 AM previously during that time]), but instead of changing it to my birthday status at 12:00 PM, I changed it at 8:00 AM because I wanted it on my profile as early as possible while still having my morning status shown for at least an hour. I set a temporary alarm for 7:59 AM, and I removed it after I changed my status to my birthday status.


If you have any more questions, you're free to ask me them — privately or publicly.




To be honest, I kinda like my cycles. I like waking up early, but I'd rather not wake up too early. I'd rather wake up at 6 AM than something like 4 AM, but that's not under my control.




My school night and non-late morning schedule — both 2023–2024 and 2024–2025: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NnuM_nMGvBhTVDdXHcjCfpUW6kpTcuDxuUCHkM7KYYg
How my internet-off hours have changed over time and my rules with them: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10oh3kVnwctriS8Mp6TxUq1Ui05WpfwIjyOceRt1J18g






References:
[1] Here's what's on my "To Do for Online Things" to-do list:
    - When You Have Internet at 8:30 AM
    - Either When You Wake Up or Have Internet at 8:30 AM
    - When You Have Internet in Any Given Way
    - When You Arrive at Home
    - When You Have Time and Have Internet