# How are your sleeping habits as a creative person?



## Mistro (Jun 18, 2021)

One of my biggest challenges is getting proper amount of sleep due to creative activity. Like 2 nights ago, I wanted to get some sleep early because I had a meeting the next morning. But around 12:30 am, a melody started in my ears as I was improvising on the keyboard and I just had to record it in case I forgot it the next day. By 2:30am I had it down and love the melody so much I couldn't stop playing with it finding different voicings etc. Went to bed at 3am happy about my new developing song but then later in the day (got up around 8am) when I wanted to really get into fleshing it out, at first I thought I was having a block but it was me being very tired and in need of more rest. Same thing happens with my visual art but on a different scale. Musical ideas are one of those things that can escape if you don't capture it in a timely manner.

So if you know you have to get up in the morning and a new idea pops in your head late at night, do you sacrifice sleep?? (probably a dumb question to ask another artist lol) I do hate that feeling of fatigue during the next day as it really affects progress. I'm thinking artists should be considered nocturnal creatures. The wee hours of the morning are the absolute best time to work. But I'm seeing if I can find a good balance. Or just say screw it, whatever...the creative process will always have a messy side


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## Henu (Jun 18, 2021)

Horrible.

Give me a project and I guarantee I'm on the verge of insomnia until delivery. Not because of the deadlines, but because I can't turn my brain down from being too excited. In years, you learn to cope with it and have different tricks ranging from melatonin to "no computers after 8 PM" but it's always a complete uphill battle.


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## soundslike72 (Jun 18, 2021)

I think I have pretty good sleeping habits, at least it's something that I take seriously now, more than ever. The work I do after a good nights sleep is just so much better, and I'd much rather work half the amount of hours being focused on a song or project, than sit and work forever (and probably needing a lot of edits afterwards, because my ability to make good decisions is flawed when I'm worn out).

Some years ago, having realised how important getting good sleep was to me, I started getting up at 7am every morning, regardless if I work or not (ok, maybe not after a night out ). This habit also helped me in getting to bed at a reasonable time in the evening; something that had been a challenge to me for years. Also right now, I make most of my living as a freelance sound engineer, which means I don't have a regular schedule, so getting some consistency into that part of my life has been really beneficial for me.

Regarding the "nocturnal" state of creatives, for me it just doesn't work that way. I stayed up late because that's what I had been told creative people do. But I really have so much more energy and focus in the morning and I get better ideas, so turning the whole thing upside down, has been good for me. Sure, I work evenings too sometimes, but I really prefer daytime.

The late night ideas also come to me - usually just before I go to sleep (great timing there ), so in that situation I'll record a rough take on my phone, and leave it until the next day.

Also, getting at least some exercise during the week has helped me a lot in getting more consistent sleep. Your brain needs a rest!


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## MeloKeyz (Jun 18, 2021)

Ask yourself this question, how can your wellbeing survive and create anything without taking care of it? You're the SELF that creates all these amazing stuff so you need to find a way to take a good care of it. I have an amazing sleeping and exercising habits. When new idea pops up, I simply record it in my phone with my voice (hum hum hum) and then I go to sleep like a baby. I take my full 8 hours then wake up exercising for 1.5 hour and eating my good breakfast after that. Believe me! if you really want magic to happen in your composing and orchestrating writing, sleep and eat well. Heck! I even gave up lots of coffee when I write. Only 1 coffee a day. You won't believe the level of concentration and productivity that you're going to witness when you commit yourSELF to these things. It's all about a nice weekly schedule! My 2c  Good luck!


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## JohnG (Jun 18, 2021)

Mistro said:


> if you know you have to get up in the morning and a new idea pops in your head late at night, do you sacrifice sleep??


Yes. If it's just a melody I write it down on manuscript paper and go back to bed, but half the time you start off with one thing and before you know it it's broad daylight.

IDK who gets "enough" sleep.

I get that we need to take care of ourselves, but the deadlines are merciless. It's like the old joke about the miner mining coal. "I have complete freedom to do whatever I want all during my shift. Provided I get hold of two tons of coal."

If you seek predictability, this is not the job.


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## NekujaK (Jun 18, 2021)

I've been a night owl all my life. My body's natural tendency is to stay up to 2 or 3am, even when I need to be at a job at 9am or earlier. My energy generally starts ramping up after 9pm - especially my creative energy. For most of my life, I've only gotten 4-5 hours of sleep a night, but of course, there's a price to pay. At the end of most weeks, I would need a day of 10+ hours of sleep to catchup and fully recharge.

I did practice meditation for many years, and I believe it enabled me, in part, to survive on such little sleep. I mediated 20-30 minutes every morning, and it definitely vitalized me and helped me focus my energies.

That said, when I hit my late 50s, everything changed. Nowadays my brain and body want to shut down around midnight, and now my most energetic hours are usually in the mornings. This change has been extremely frustrating for someone who used to thrive during the late hours, but there's no choice except to adjust. I stopped meditating about 10 years ago, so that might have something to do with it, too.

But all in all, whenever creativity strikes, I always go with it - consequences be damned!  I always thought Billie Eilish's parents had it right. As kids, Billie and Finneas didn't have to go to bed as long as they were playing music. That's how to nurture creative people.


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## Mistro (Jun 18, 2021)

I found out my ideal hours of sleep is 6-8 hours especially as I passed 40. 7 hours is the sweet spot for me but often hard to get. Most of the time it's when I force myself off the computer by midnight and then I have a great following day. I don't think the money rat wheel would ever be in harmony with true creation.


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## allen-garvey (Jun 18, 2021)

I'm currently re-reading https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists-Work-ebook/dp/B009Y4I4OM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=daily+rituals&qid=1624044652&sr=8-1 (Daily Rituals) which is a compilation of daily routines of famous creative people, mostly writers, artists and composers. What I found interesting then, and still do now is how similar the vast majority of them were. A very large majority were morning people and their routine was to get up sometime between 6-9, do creative work until lunch, have lunch, take a few hours break for a long walk or socializing, possibly work for a few more hours, have dinner, some free time and go to bed early. When I first read it it changed my perspective since for the large part of my life I was a night person, but now I try to wake up early and do stuff in the mornings, and when I'm able to get into a groove of doing that I'm able to get a lot more done.


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## d.healey (Jun 18, 2021)

I usually go to bed around 12-2 am, read for an hour or so before sleeping. I tend to get up around 9-11am, unless I need to be up early for something.


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## NekujaK (Jun 18, 2021)

Oh, and I forgot to mention the all important NAPS!! I don't nap every day, but after pulling an all-nighter and having to get up early they next day, an afternoon nap of just 30-60 minutes can do wonders!


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## soundslike72 (Jun 18, 2021)

All hail the naps!! I usually do only 20 mins if I need it but yes, it does wonders.


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## MisteR (Jun 18, 2021)

Poor sleep linked to dementia and early death, study finds | CNN


Older adults who have significant difficulty falling asleep and who experience frequent night awakenings are at high risk for developing dementia or dying early from any cause, a new study finds.




www.cnn.com


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## kgdrum (Jun 18, 2021)

I happen to think sleep is extremely over-rated,years ago I read a really interesting book about an American who was locked up in a Russian Gulag for many years as a suspected spy,one of the interrogation techniques they employed was sleep deprivation………..
He talked about the psychological breakthrough he made when he had the realization how he could get by without a problem without sleeping more than a few minutes at a time for week after week………
IMO the amount of sleep most people think they need is based on conditioning and accepted norms people take as gospel.
Some of my most creative moments musically often occur when I’m in a total sleep deprived state of insomnia.
I don’t know what to say,some of you are obviously posers proclaiming yourselves as night owls! lol 😂 (I’m joking)
I generally average between 4 and 5 hours sleep nightly (in one and two hour increments)and on rare occasions maybe once maybe twice a week 6 hours. My usual time for failing asleep will be between 6:00AM - 8:00AM. If I have trouble getting to sleep this can sometimes morph to 10:00AM - 11:00AM.
I’ve been like this pretty much most of my adult life,even when I worked day jobs for years I’d still be struggling to get to sleep by 4AM even if my time to wake up was 7:30 or 8:00AM.


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## Bluemount Score (Jun 18, 2021)

Sometimes I decide to make coffee in the middle of the night to keep a creative streak going without faling asleep


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## Tatiana Gordeeva (Jun 26, 2021)

An interesting article by Maria Popova (BrainPickings.org) about this:








Famous Writers’ Sleep Habits vs. Literary Productivity, Visualized


The early bird gets the Pulitzer … sort of.




www.brainpickings.org




Followed by








The Science of Why We Sleep and What Happens Inside Our Brains When We Do


What your brain’s chemical lullaby has to do with how screens are making you perennially tired.




www.brainpickings.org




As a composer I rarely begin my working day before 13:00 (1:00PM) and rarely finish it before 1:00 at night, often going to 3:00.  Is it the quietness or the way my brain works? I think it's both.

Here's an interesting article about circadian rhythms and creativity.








This Is Why Some People Feel Most Creative Late at Night


Have a seat, smug morning people.




www.vice.com




My husband (scientist) normally sleeps 3-4 hours a day and is also most creative at night.


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## Mistro (Jun 26, 2021)

Tatiana Gordeeva said:


> As a composer I rarely begin my working day before 13:00 (1:00PM) and rarely finish it before 1:00 at night, often going to 3:00.  Is it the quietness or the way my brain works? I think it's both.
> 
> Here's an interesting article about circadian rhythms and creativity.
> 
> ...


I like that Vice article! That feeling of alone time at night, plus I'm more of an introvert.


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## justmjulie (Jun 26, 2021)

Record the idea on phone or write it down on paper!

I try my best to finish the day of my work at 21-22:00 and doing things to relax (meditation, reading book) preparing to sleep. (at 0:00)


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## Wedge (Jun 26, 2021)

I've always either gotten up stupid early or stayed up stupid late. It feels like between 1 and 5am is my time. And since it's my time, I tend to get caught up in things and get into more of a flow, whether it's composing, painting, coding, gaming, it just doesn't matter. I get caught up in it, time flies by, I tend to get a lot more done and I have more fun doing it. The peace and solitude of night is just kind of freeing.


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## shadowsoflight (Jun 26, 2021)

I have two little (under 3) kids and a full time non-music-related job, plus I like to hang out with my wife, which means that I basically have to choose between good sleep habits or composing.

Currently very sleepy 🙃

Without the kids I would still most likely be a night owl for my creative work. If I was skilled enough to be a reasonably successful freelancer I might switch to more like an 8-5 schedule.


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## chillbot (Jun 26, 2021)

It seems like most creative people are either night owls or early risers. I always wondered if there is something to internal clocks from where you were born... I was born in the middle of the US and when I lived on the east coast I was a night owl and the day I moved to the west coast 21 years ago I instantly became an early riser. Maybe it's where my internal clock is.

I usually get up around 5am and my most productive hours are from 5-11am when the phones aren't ringing and the emails aren't coming in and everything is quiet. Though I understand working late at night is similar it's just not for me. I tend to need stimulants and I work better on coffee than beer or wine. I get 6-7 hours a night and find that fine for my age (mid 40s). I get up at 4am or earlier if there's a lot of work. If I "sleep in" until 6am I feel like I wasted the whole morning.

Anyway that's not my point, just wanted to throw in that I've been on the keto diet for 3.5 months now and I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I do but I am never tired anymore and my focus is amazing. Something about not burning carbs really works. For your consideration.


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## FireGS (Jun 26, 2021)

How are your sleeping habits as a creative person?

_fucking terrible._


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## Tatiana Gordeeva (Jun 27, 2021)

By the way, some of you might also be interested by this thread that is turning to be somewhat similar to the present one:

Do you have hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations sometimes?




__





Do you have hypnagogic or hypnopompic hallucinations sometimes?


Especially auditory hallucinations? Hypnagogic = before falling asleep and Hypnopompic = upon waking up Sounds that sounds so real like phone ringing, door knocks, bangs, knocks, etc. During that weird semi-conscious period where "lucid dreams" happen? Nothing to worry about as 25-33% of...




vi-control.net


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## Niah2 (Jun 27, 2021)

I tend to compose, produce, and record live instruments, etc, mostly at nighttime. I am much more focused and there is something about the silence of the night like Tatiana stated...plus I live in a very noisy street. The double glass windows block a lot of the noise but when you are composing/producing orchestral music those quiet moments in a piece can really be a challenge during daytime.

I've tried to change my habits to morning time to see the benefits but I was grumpy most of the time hahhaha. Maybe when I'm older...


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