Since mid-last year, I’ve been going to bed unusually early. After coming home from work, having dinner, and taking a shower, I find myself wanting to sleep. Almost every night, I have to really push myself to stay up until even 11 pm. I’ve tried various things like turning off the AC, and fan and turning on bright lights just to keep myself awake, but by 9 pm, my eyes start to close. Some might argue that 9 pm isn’t such a bad bedtime, but I’ve always been a night owl since I was a child.
I’m occupied with work during the day, so nighttime is when I catch up on things and connect with my loved ones. This shift has significantly impacted my relationship. Waking up to multiple missed calls from my baby breaks my heart, especially since we can’t talk much during the day due to work rules. We only manage to check in with each other intermittently over text. I used to be able to stay up until 4 am and still wake up by 5:30 am, but now I can’t even stay up until 1 am anymore.
I understand that being tired after work can lead to sleeping earlier than usual, but it shouldn’t be an everyday occurrence naah. Eh…. What’s strange about this whole thing now is that after sleeping early, I consistently wake up at 3 am to use the bathroom. As if something comes to wake me up! Every single day, it’s at 3 am. This has been going on for more than half a year now, and I can’t make sense of it. Usually, after work, I could do some small chores around the house, but now? I’m just exhausted. I don’t know what to do.