[zcid]

If you removed artificial lighting (including computer screens, tv, etc) from your life between sunset and sunrise, I can almost guarantee your sleep would fall into a pattern. Artificial light wrecks havoc on our automatic systems and stops our internal clocks from properly tracking time.

I highly recommend you try this for a month. Have a set time (say, 10-12PM) after which you will be able to get 8 hours of sleep and declare that blackout time: no lights, candles, tvs, computers, phones, etc. You will be amazed when within that month you aquire the ability to go to sleep and wake at the same times each day.

[botker]

I have a hunch that you might be absolutely right. But it's unclear to me whether following this advice would improve my quality of life. Right now I'm productive, working whenever I can without respect to the clock. Limiting my productivity just so I can conform to an Earth day seems like it could be counterproductive.