I’m not a morning person, but I work a normal 8-5 job. I actually get super tired in the mornings, regardless of how much sleep I got the night before. I usually go to work tired, my eyes hurt, etc, but I can still do my work. I eat lunch and then about half an hour later I get REALLY tired.
I will actually drift off to sleep for seconds I get so tired after I eat sometimes (that usually goes with the more I eat, the more tired I am). I did an inside sales phone job and I would actually fall asleep in the 20 seconds from the time I picked up the phone to the time someone would answer; and I did it on every call for an hour!
I really don’t understand it, and would really like to prevent this from happening. In my job I can’t afford to sleep on the job, literally! I actually only feel awake and energetic for about 2 hours out of my working day. And when I come home I feel awake even up until I fall asleep. I can’t fall asleep usually for like 30 minutes or so.
It’s like my body clock is totally off and I constantly get tired at the totally wrong times of the day. The only time I actually get tired before I go to bed for the night is when I hang out with friends on the weekend till early in the morning. Then I usually make myself stay up until I can’t possibly stay awake any longer. Those are the nights when I actually get in bed when I feel my body needs me to.
And by the way, I sleep approximately 7-8 hours every night, usually closer to 8.
It sounds like that's exactly the problem. Your body's internal clock doesn't match the one you need to follow for an 8-5 lifestyle. My husband saw an article today on Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome, where your body's Circadian Rhythm is off by several hours, your body just doesn't feel tired until it's 'sleep time' arrives, like when you stay out late at night. For years I thought I had insomnia, but this makes so much more sense to me.
I've had this issue my entire life, my mother has this same problem, and my youngest son as well. I've found that, especially when I was in college and staying awake until I was tired (between 1 and 2 am, usually) I would rise at the same time every day, usually between 10:30 and noon...and feel perfect. Unfortunately I work a job where I have to wake up at 5am several days a week and can't even focus my eyes well or speak in full sentences for at LEAST an hour or so, because my thinking is so fuzzy. Look in to Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome on the internet and see if it fits.
