I am a night owl. I usually stay up late working. It’s when my mind is able to focus best on the things that are important to me.

Staying up late causes me to sleep when other people are awake, and to sometimes put off sleeping so that I can be with the people I love. I suppose this is how insomnia goes for many people, although I know others have a much more pathological problem.

Over and over I get advised to try sleeping pills. To me this is akin to asking me to try heroin, and I may not be alone:

Sleeping pills appear unsafe in any amount, Kripke writes in his online book, “The Dark Side of Sleeping Pills.”

“There is really no evidence that the average 8-hour sleeper functions better than the average 6- or 7-hour sleeper,” [psychiatry professor Daniel] Kripke says…

Sleep Deprivation: The Great American Myth (viaLiveScience)