Lately just about EVERYBODY tells me how I need to get up at sunrise and work outside until it’s too hot.  And I refuse to do so because I don’t need more injuries, don’t need to be miserable all day and it just doesn’t work for me.
So I had to watch Marjory Wildcraft’s video on SLEEP and how she almost lost her leg:
https://youtu.be/p9OAi_lhrXg
Yup, she was lucky!
In theory, getting up at 5 am and heading outside, working until it’s “too hot”, then doing lunch and siesta until 5 pm or so sounds great.  In reality, if I sleep during the day, I don’t wake up refreshed at all, but then can’t sleep at night and it just screws me up even more.  Both my grandpas used to take naps in the afternoon, but it’s not for me.
And then there’s the “too hot”.   During last week’s heatwave, it was WAY too hot when I got up around 10 am and approaching 100 F.  I remember that I felt too hot even by 8 am the few times I tried to work in the morning.   Sometimes I’ve been screening dirt till 11 pm and it was still 90 F — but DARK.  It’s nice to work outside with a bright moon (snakes are out too!)  But working in 90 F in the SUN is totally different.
Not to mention that I can’t water or transplant in the morning, the poor seedlings would be fried by evening.
I need a bout 8 hours of sleep to be fully functional, but especially when I have to get up early, I can’t sleep at night.  And then I actually need to make up for the lost hours, if I get 4 hours one night, I should sleep 10 or 11 hours the next night to make up for it.  That’s just how it works for me.
I’m very busy, managing a new Airbnb house and trying to keep everything going in the gardens.  Fortunately have a helper here and he goes to bed early and gets up at 5 or 6 am and works then.  But he’s also completely fried the rest of the day, not good for much of anything.  That’s what the heat does.  It’s ok for him because he has to do absolutely NOTHING the rest of the day.   I got 10 hours of research, web work and decision making to do on the average day in addition to the outside work.
Of course it’s also extremely important for our health to get plenty of sleep as sleeping RESTORES and HEALS body and mind.
Every person is DIFFERENT.  Some people need less sleep and love napping.  Do what works for YOU and stay healthy!