[tifareth]

This is my life, every single day. In order to maintain a semi-regular sleep pattern, conking out for a full-night's rest is not optional because the following night I -will not- sleep. Case in point - I have to be up in five hours for work. I went to sleep two and a half hours ago and I'm still awake.

Oftentimes, it feels like the worst kind of torture. I am living in two worlds and in one, I am barely better than an observer of my subconscious mind acting out routine. My ex-roommate had this to say after he'd lived with me a year:

"Tif, you wax and you wane..."

This was a years ago. I think about it once a month or so - he was of course referring to my self as alert and present as well as, alternately, a vapid automaton driven by the eerily invisible clockwork of the subconscious.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get my coffee of the stove...

[flatfilefan]

A lesser evil might be to wake up every time an hour or two earlier than what would have been natural. This way you would be tired in the following evening. Almost guaranteed.