Thank you for posting this. It's encouraging me to consider giving that a shot again. (especially since I woke up at 5pm and that's been pushing later again)

What changed is that I noticed how, left to my own devices without external schedule pressure, I would naturally drift 3h forward every day - and so I realized I had the opportunity to actually fully go with the schedule my body seemed to want to have. I informed my family what I intended to do, cleared my calendar for the next week, and went for it.

First observation: my biggest hesitation was social judgement. I was consciously aware of how little I wanted people to think I was a weird dude.

Well, turns out I'd rather be weird and feel great than normal and feel like a zombie. My body almost immediately seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and six months later, this part of my life is amazing.

I find it endlessly curious how some people seem seriously distraught when I tell them what I've been up to. Not because they have any medical opinion, but because it appears to challenge something that clearly gives them a feeling of being normal.

My doctor actually had very little to say, once they heard me out and read the research I gave them. Essentially, "please stop if you start feeling bad".

Feel free to ask more specific questions.

Off the top of my head:

- easier to find the will to exercise - less cravings for junk food - depression symptoms occur 80% less - back pain frequently forgets to manifest - I feel more optimistic

It's not all roses, though. I am not traditionally employable because I work unpredictable hours. It can be hard to schedule doctor's appointments, for example.

The hardest thing is syncing with my SO. She's actually inclined to keep similar hours, but has a 9-5 job. Still, this hasn't been a huge issue.

I don't think it could work if you had young children.

How did you decide to choose this pattern? Did you hear about it or was it part of a process, or did you stumble across it?

If I don't then my internal clock will immediately shift later and it's incredibly hard to follow the "old" pattern. I think I can get away with one late night every so often but never two. Right now I'm stable but it's very hard to convince the people around me that it's what I need, even though they've seen the effects of not doing it. I believe it's in the same realm as smoking or alcoholism, where if you have a problem then most people will say "why not stop drinking then?" as if that's some great insight. "Just go to sleep" isn't particularly helpful.

And then, of course, they'll fall asleep with no problem and complain if they feel crap after one bad night :/

Really glad to hear you're feeling good on it! I hope it stays that way.

I am not a doctor, but I have spent a lot of time in sleep clinics and reading about sleep. I am also quite familiar with the huge number of issues surrounding the relatively recent book "Why We Sleep" which is essentially considered partially-debunked at this point. I feel about that book the way most of us would feel about a book declaring that people who code or are interested in startups are missing opportunities to play more football.

My rhythm seems to be off by two REM cycles eg 1.5hx2, and I actually find 3h pretty easy to manage as it loops around every 7-8 days.

I don't have any trouble falling asleep during the day, because I own a https://nitehood.ca - the discount code is August15 BTW.

For me (and I'd guess many others) a sleep mask does not make it much easier to sleep during the day. I would need to have a dark environment for a while before sleep. Some people can set up a room like that but I can't at this point. This is not to say that I never get to sleep during the day, but I stay up longer when I go to sleep during the day, even if I have been awake for a while. Some people with Non-24 have the same reaction I do and others don't.

I am very lucky that I am able to control my environment - I have blackout curtains on my bedroom window, which is where I work.

Did you end up with this randomly or do you find it better than regular sleep mask?

I love the NiteHood. It's objectively awesome in terms of function, density and even material choice. 10/10

That all said, statistically I'm much more likely to be awake than not during the day, so many folks would have no idea. Usually there's only one day a week where I'm essentially going to sleep right when everyone else is starting their day.

I'm lucky that my daily shift is 3h - two REM cycles - as it maps nicely onto the 24h schedule everyone else is on, most of the time. 1.5h or 4.5h would be really confusing to me.