You’ve been a night person for as long as you can remember. You’d stayed up late on weekends and every so often to finish a project in high school. On breaks you’d get to sleep in, so your late nights would become more and more normal. Then came college. You’ve got more projects and exams, and require more nights that turn into the early morning hours. You may have classes that don’t start until way late in the day. You've stayed up late more often with parties, and movie marathons with friends. You may no longer be living with a parent to wake you up for weekend brunches. Face it; college messed up your sleeping schedule big time. It’s been completely flipped upside down, turned inside out, and your circadian rhythm is writhing in agony. That little piece of your brain that gets tired when the sun goes down, and wakes up from seeing sunlight? You might have killed it. Here are tell-tale signs you’ve living with a wacky sleep schedule in college.
1. You’ve gotten ready for bed as people are starting their day
2. Dinner with your friends has often meant breakfast for you
Hey, at least we’re all awake at the same time for once, right?
3. You’ve tricked people into thinking you’re a morning person because you wait to send messages or emails until the wee morning hours
You even save Facebook post to share later, least you should reveal this dark nocturnal secret of yours.
4. You’ve casually mentioned your odd schedule and some friends are horrified
But then you may also find someone in the same boat and it’s the best feeling in the world.
5. The painful realization that the more you fall into these patterns the harder they are to break
6. Feeling your friends loving resentment when they try to make early weekend plans with you
7. If you've needed clarification on homework or a project due tomorrow… good luck
For some reason your friends don’t answer messages at 4 a.m.
8. You’ve had some deep thoughts about how time is an illusion, and a man-made construct
9. You’ve felt ridiculously accomplished by going bed a reasonable time and getting enough sleep for at least two nights in a row
Hey it was harder to do than you think.
10. Underestimating the anxiety that comes from being fully awake at an odd time
I’ll never forget waking up from a five hour “nap” at 10 p.m. on a school night. Haunting.
11. You’ve gone to a morning class when it was basically the middle of the night for you
Who would have thought you’re 10 a.m. would occasionally be a night class?
12. You’ve considered traveling to a foreign country with a different time zone
Somewhere out there people are living on the same schedule as you.
13. You’ve almost been late to an afternoon class
Didn’t think you had to set an alarm for a 3 or 4 p.m., class? You’d be wrong, my friend.
14. Sometimes seeing the sun is your reminder to go to bed
It’s harder to take the passage of time seriously, when you haven’t been awake long enough to be tired yet.
15. Speaking of the sun... you really miss seeing her more, don't you?
16. Enjoying that one night you got to bed super early because you fought off falling back asleep after class like a warrior
But then in my case you somehow slept for 13 hours, and still lost plenty of productive-humans hours.
17. You've felt super isolated
When day is night and night is day but everyone goes on with life normally, it just amplifies that you live in a subjective reality.
18. It’s really easy to lose track of time
You know that last bit of time before going to bed that you waste online, or straightening your room or whatever? Well, that can last hours when you’re not on schedule to be tired.
19. Looking forward to the days of older adulthood when your sleep schedule is more consistent
At this point, you wouldn’t even mind turning into a morning person.
