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You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

42floors.com

41–50 of 111 posts

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#41
The thing about morning people is you just can't trust them, because a part of them will always believe that night people are lazy; they just can't get over it, no matter how rationally you explain your situation. And you can't trust people like that, because they'll never understand the difference between something they just happen to like or believe and something that is universally Right, Good, and True. To them there's no difference. Every Dystopia was a morning person's idea, I guarantee it.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#42

"Be the first to share this on Hacker News" I'm not sure how this is news worthy- I guess some people feel every entry in their diary of personal accomplishments must grace the pages of Hacker News. I'm glad the author overcame his disorder, but asking people to post it to HN... I also imagine this will be a great way for a lot more people than the 0.15 to 0.17% of the population that actually has Delayed Sleep Phase…

> I also imagine this will be a great way for a lot more people than the 0.15 to 0.17% of the population that actually has Delayed Sleep Phase Disorder to rationalize their lack of willpower. Yep. Unless you've been professionally diagnosed, just pointing to a Wikipedia page and saying "I have that!" as an excuse for your behaviour is not the right thing to do. The same thing happened with Asperger Syndrome; it becam…

What is the difference between a disorder and being a dick? What if I have Assholegers? Is that less acceptable than Autism? Why?

(Aspergers is no longer a disorder, it got rolled into autism.)

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#43

"Be the first to share this on Hacker News" I'm not sure how this is news worthy- I guess some people feel every entry in their diary of personal accomplishments must grace the pages of Hacker News. I'm glad the author overcame his disorder, but asking people to post it to HN... I also imagine this will be a great way for a lot more people than the 0.15 to 0.17% of the population that actually has Delayed Sleep Phase…

Whether he misdiagnosed himself is kind of irrelevant. The case is: - He's had a chronic problem with sleep. - He was able to overcome his problem with sleep by realizing it was not so much a personal or moral fault, but a problem that was being approached the wrong way. - He related the story to a friend who felt that her inability to sleep was a character weakness, and upon realizing that maybe it was just that she…

>>Whether he misdiagnosed himself is kind of irrelevant

I never claimed the author misdiagnosed himself or was lazy-

>>What exactly is "willpower" and why would a lack of it need to be rationalized... To insinuate that someone needs to "rationalize a lack of willpower" implies that willpower is some sort of moral resource...

Assuming the people in question do not suffer from a legitimate disorder: Willpower is the ability to make yourself do things you feel must be done when you don't feel like it. It is an extention of self-control and lack of it IS a moral deficiency.

>> "Morning people" don't need to exert a lot of mental effort to be wakeful in the morning

Now is getting up at the crack of 8:00 AM easier for some people than other? Yes it is. However we all face things that are harder for us than others in some area of our lives and become able to overcome that is important.

>>If they're not interacting properly, and you can organize yourself so they interact better, then it would be foolish not to.

I completely agree and did not say otherwise.

>>But all that's in there is hormones and neurons and flesh and blood.

A disorder is when a persons biology is so abnormal/dysfunctional they require treatment. If you have a sleep disorder I would give anyone a free pass in this department, but for anyone else I expect them to master their biology. The same way we must master our biological tenancies and 1. control our tempers 2. control our sex drives 3. control our desire to over eat 4. control our desire to be "efficient" and not exercise. Unless you have a disorder, sleep is no different.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#44
post #35
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm deaf, and I can't wake up to the traditional beepy noises that alarm clocks have, so I have this really awesome vibrating alarm clock that clips on to my pillow. I used to have such difficulty waking up, but this vibrating alarm clock annoyed me so much, I'd actually end up waking 5mins before to turn it off before it could vibrate... I did that all through high-school, and now I've gone from a night-owl to a mor…

[deleted]

I think the point made above is that sleep patterns are not 'natural' but 'flexible'. I also have experience where a long-term need to wake up super-early for something that was very important for me made it easy for me to turn gradually into a morning person.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#45
False. Guilt is not shame, because it is rooted in fact. The fact of the matter is that if I fail to feel guilty for oversleeping, I will eventually be fired. If I am fired, I will no longer be able to support myself. (You can see where this is going, logically.)

So yes, I do have to feel guilty for oversleeping.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#46
post #35
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm deaf, and I can't wake up to the traditional beepy noises that alarm clocks have, so I have this really awesome vibrating alarm clock that clips on to my pillow. I used to have such difficulty waking up, but this vibrating alarm clock annoyed me so much, I'd actually end up waking 5mins before to turn it off before it could vibrate... I did that all through high-school, and now I've gone from a night-owl to a mor…

[deleted]

Err. Not an advert for an alarm clock. I google image searched, and then copied the URL.

Apologies if you think I'm trying to sell you an alarm clock.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I'd call it "too early" when it was the norm for most of human existence. Sleep at sunset, wake at dawn, enjoy some nocturnal activity mid night. Artificial lighting hasn't been around all that long, yet we have forgotten what natural lighting means for sleep cycles.

In Seattle, the amount of time the sun is in the sky varies from 8.5 hours to 16 hours across the year. Do you believe we really need 15 hours of sleep in the winter, but can get by on barely 8 in the summer? I don't think our sleep schedules need to vary THAT much for seasonal disaffectance.

Gotta feel bad for those Inuit's as well, apparently they should just not sleep for several months of the year.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#48

The annoying thing when it comes to this kind of sleep problem is that it never gets completely better. Over time I've come up with ways to ensure I actually get up early enough for important events and don't sleep through alarms - not even 'i hit the snooze button' problems but just alarms literally not waking me up - whether it's by making alarms louder, setting 6 alarms spaced out 15 minutes apart (yes, really), o…

>I also find that forcing yourself to adhere to a sleep schedule that doesn't feel natural can result in more fatigue, and I wonder if other people have the same experience.

I'm usually go to sleep at 1 at the earliest, and I generally sleep like a rock. After coming back from a trip to India last year, I decided to not fight my jetlag and try this "waking up early" thing everyone's always on about.

The waking up early was actually kind of nice (I got to meditate in the mornings; have some time to myself, etc), but I have literally never slept worse in my life. I would wake up almost every night, toss and turn for hours. It was miserable. I wasn't sure what to attribute it to for a long time, but as soon as I drifted back to my 1-2am bedtime, lo and behold, I started sleeping like a rock again.

Correlation does not necessarily imply causation, but seeing how I don't have a job that requires me to be up early, I'm fine with my circadian cycle. Even if it does mean I'm up till 5 occasionally.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#49
Melatonin works for me. Unless you have DSPS, I cannot tell you how amazing it is for the alarm to go off at 7:30, once, and to be able to get out of bed. It has changed my life.

I take my girls to school. I check email before 8. At the weekends I can lie in till 10 and its a real lie in, not a normal weekday.

Re: You don’t have to feel guilty for oversleeping

#50
post #46
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Err. Not an advert for an alarm clock. I google image searched, and then copied the URL. Apologies if you think I'm trying to sell you an alarm clock.

No, that's not what I meant, sorry. :)

I was curious why you replied to me specifically, even though my point was so obviously not related to yours (and in some ways directly opposed to it). In some way it felt like I was declaring "X, not Y!" and you replied with "I solved for Y with Z, it's awesome!".

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