I’m a night owl… sleeping can be hard. If I’m lying in bed with my eyes closed and start wondering about what happens when you sleep, what dreams are, what happens if you die in your sleep… makes you not able to sleep

I used to be the same way — do you drink caffeine after 4PM? I was convinced I was a night owl and my most productive hours were 10PM until 2AM. That was until, at suggestion of my partner, I stopped drinking caffeine in the late afternoon and evening. As long as I do that I have no problem getting to sleep consistently and easily.

May not be the case for you but for my entire 20s I simply didn’t realize how much caffeine was actually impacting me.

Same. I don't drink caffeine after noon and I have a much easier time maintaining a functional sleep schedule.

I had a older relative who often complained about poor sleep. I asked if they drank caffeine in the afternoon and they scoffed at the idea it could be the issue. But I have noticed they are not drinking caffeine late in the day now, and the complaining about poor sleep has ceased.

I’ve been a night owl since I was a small child. My dad is also one. No caffeine after 2pm.

It is bit strange. Sometimes there is various levels of dreams, sometimes there is vague feeling of remembering something or waking up for moments.

And then there is those times when time is simply gone. Look at clock, it is 2. Move head next time it is 6... In time that feels like an instant.

They're all different brain functions. A lot of brain stuff happens during REM and deep sleep. Different brain stuff happens during concussions and anesthesia. I wish it was as easy as some planned experiment monitoring input/output but brains are complex.

Small video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_-7tsmcWWI