Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night ...

Due to a lack of free time nowadays...and my view of sleep as a huge waste of time (needed, unfortunately), if I wake up in the middle of the night, I go straight to the bench.

I usually fall asleep at my work bench.  my kids gave me a bar stool with a back on it so I've learned how to fall asleep sitting up.  Doesn't really help getting projects done though.

John

Yes, I have.  But I will often wake up, thinking about some issue or problem.  I think our brains go through information that way, when we're asleep, and sometimes some bits get put together in a way you can recognize.  A lot of times, it's crap, too.

Similar to waking up thinking about a build, I go through cycles where I wake up early and will sit at the bench for a half hour or so, before I have to get ready to go to work.  I'm in that kind of cycle now, as the days are getting shorter, but I'm still used to waking up at summer's sun-up.  It's kind of therapeutic to work on a project before heading out into the world, I find.

I have drifted off to sleep thinking how great my next project will be..........only to be disappointed later on. LOL  

the doog

I definitely fall asleep wih thoughts of the next steps and detailing in my head. Seriously.

I keep a notebook on the nightstand.  If I wake up thinking of something, I just write it down.  Then I can fall back to sleep almost instantly.

I learned to do this for two reasons, I learned that if I thought of something and didn't do something about it, it would either keep me awake until I was really fatigued or I would wake up knowing that I thought of something but couldn't remember what. Then it would nag at me most of the day until I either remembered it or couldn't.

I get ideas for fixing things, or suddenly remember where I saw that one specific photo, or things like that. I have learned that my subconscious is sometimes far smarter than when I am awake, so when someone told me to keep notes, I jumped at the idea.

Now, if only I could remember who told me about using a notebook,,,,,I think it was in a Heinlien book,,,,,,,maybe I will write it down tonight,,,,,can't think of it right now,,,,,,,we'll see in the morning.

I definitely fall asleep wih thoughts of the next steps and detailing in my head. Seriously.

LOL !! All the time!! I obsess over obstacle and sometimes my best ideas come out of the blue. Great thread!!

Jon_a_its

Frequently...

I put it down to my age & one too many beers...

^^^^This! 

Frequently...

I put it down to my age & one too many beers...

I go to bed around 1:30/2:00. Wake up for various reasons at all hours starting around 3:00 and usually can't get back to sleep for a couple of hours. I usually read or go to the workbench until the eyes start to slam shut and then I sleep till about 10/11:00. It seems I do some of my best work during those times, and if I'm reading, I have better recall when I wake up. Such is the life of this old fart.

Jim 

Same here, guys.

When drifting off to sleep or just after waking up and totally relaxed, I've come up with solutions to tricky fits, or other problems. Problems that I could not resolve when sitting there at the bench, wracking my brain. Strange the way the mind works sometimes.

I also find myself daydreaming about builds, formulating ideas, etc. etc throughout the day, though I suppose we all do that.

Don Stauffer

Yep.  

I have woken up with ideas for how to do particular tasks on scratchbuilt projects that were baffling me during the prior day.  That is really handy.  Proves the mind still works when we are sleeping.

Kinda related to this there was one time I worked for hours trying to figure out why my car wouldn't start. When I finally went to bed that night I had a thought/dream that turned out to be the solution!

I'll wake up at night thinking of the strangest things. For instance, a few weeks ago were talking about the days before indoor plumbing and how people would use what were referred to by some as p*ss pots. We tried to think of the more polite name for these pots but couldn't. Well, last night I woke up at 3:36 and the first words that came to me were "chamber pot", which is the name we were looking for. Now why that would come up at that time, I have no idea. Jeez, I don't even know now why we talking about it in the first place!

I have never woke up at night thinking of modeling, but I do sometimes think of something model related at work. Then get all anxious to go home! 

This is a hobby meant to offer relaxation, not stress.

Only time I wake in the night is when I need to pee and its much better than not waking up in the night when I need to pee

Phil

Yep.  

I have woken up with ideas for how to do particular tasks on scratchbuilt projects that were baffling me during the prior day.  That is really handy.  Proves the mind still works when we are sleeping.

Nope, only wake in the middle of the night when there is chocolate in the house.........

I don't even remember going to bed the previous night!

I'm out when I hit the pillow.

But I've solve many a vexing problem while walking the dog.  That seems to be my solitude time where I get my serious thinking done.  It's how I figured out I hand landing gear struts upside down on a model, once.

As for going to sleep, I'm out.

I guess my sleep senses work a bit differently than you guys'. I find that when I'm having trouble going to sleep, thinking about my current model - or, for that matter, one I haven't started yet - often has the effect of sending me right off to dreamland.

Four years ago I had to spend several months in the hospital, worried sick. I found that concentrating on the model I intended to build when I got out was remarkably therapeutic. (The pile-driver-type sleeping pills didn't hurt.) And several ideas for solving modeling problems have come to me late at night.

i wake up in middle of the night with 5-6 thoughts running thru my heaad including models   i got  a.d.d. so many thoughts at a time  a.d.d.  aka multi tasking    lol

Heh - I'm usually in bed by 1 - 1:30 a.m. so... no I don't wake in the middle of the night.

echolmberg

Interesting question!  I don't know if I've ever woken up in the middle of the night and started thinking of a current build but I DO know that I've drifted off to sleep with the wonderful thoughts of my current model swimming in my head.  I think of what step I'm on now and what steps I'll be taking next.  

I've found it to be a very relaxing way to let go of the stress of the day and a great "last waking thoughts" of the day.

Eric

Glad to know I am not the only one. I often drift off thinking of my current build.

And I should say that it wasn't like a stress thing that I was sweating over something, but it was just that my mind kept thinking of all the things I needed to do in the next steps and I couldn't shut my thinking brain off to get back to sleep.

Hi;

  Can't say I've done it over models .Now , events at board meetings and model work at the Museum had me do it a couple of times .

Thats interesting,no I have to say worrying about a build and loosing sleep hasn't happened me.