[Retric]

Move to a new time zone and that 'natural' 5am-12 would shift to match that time zone. So, it's really not about biology it's about how you set up your environment.

That said, as long as it's working for you great! Just don't assume it's impossible to change if it's causing you problems.

[LifeQuestioner]

This is not your fault, as you really do not know the lengths and depths and tears and effort it has taken for me to change my sleep pattern to be consistent. But there is no "assumption here".

A main problem is - even when i've had to be awake at 9am every day (yes awake at 9am, not working at 9am) it causes me to fall really ill. Mentally and physically your body feels wrecked and it doesn't matter how tired you are, you wake up at night.

I now, after a decade, manage a sleep cycle that doesn't change every day by a few hours and I can just about function enough for meetings.

I can just about get to 1pm meetings and it's taken so much effort just to be able to get here!

I've written nearly 4 articles covering the different strategies i've used to be able to wake up early in the morning. I've slept through some of the most important things - which led me in my final exams to just stay up all night to get to 9am exams incase I wouldn't wake up.

What has worked is accepting that it is a genuine disability and problem. And as you say, adjusting my environment to suit my sleeping issues. Unfortunately, changing time zones doesn't work. But it's a nice theory (I've already tried this).

I'll be posting my articles soon which documents every strategy i've tried over the last decade, in hope it might help someone find a solution for them.

[Retric]

>change every day by a few hours

I personally know someone that lived on a 28 hour day for a while (6 * 28 / 7 = 24). He was able to keep a fairly normal workday during the week but over the weekend he was crashing in the day. It only worked because he was religious about managing light levels at home with blackout blinds and sunlamps on timers.

If your willing to try just about anything it might be worth a shot, but you end up making a lot of sacrifices and must keep a very tight schedule.

[LifeQuestioner]

I've been on a non-24 hour rhythm :). My sleep would change every day by 4-6 hours.

I've had shutters for my windows so no light could get in the evening, light simulation alarm clocks, only used the computer for a maximum of 8 hours a day and got rid of my smart-phone so I had an old fashioned phone, to reduce phone use. I don't drink coffee or tea. Melatonin, sleeping tablets, waking up every day at the same time and going for a run.

Fyi, waking up every time at the same day makes me ill because I still can't sleep early even if i've had a lack of sleep for several nights before.

You can't crash at weekends either. Because if you crash at weekends it messes up your sleep cycle completely and you'll start Monday having slept at 6am on Sunday night.

A tight schedule means you have to do it every day. Then there's the other problem that happens when you crash out - you're really groggy for days.

When I was in school, I'd crash out at 4pm on a Friday night and wake up at 7am the next day. I'd have headaches and feel so drained. And I'd still go to my weekend job.

It's not a lack of motivation.

If you know anything about this guy and the strategies he uses, please do share. Always looking for suggestions.

[hinkley]

You might be able to tweak it 45 minutes though by living at the edge of the time zone. But you have to figure out if you’re staying up with the sun or your work schedule.

If you stay up until the sun is nearly up then the eastern edge means the sun is up longer before you have to be at work. But if it’s N hours after you get home, then you’ll see more daylight on the western edge which might be more healthy for you.

For me I don’t want to move if the sun isn’t up yet. I need to move farther south so my winters aren’t as rough.