Well, experience tells me that sleeping pills don't help a lot. You sleep tonight and then the tomorrow night you to take extra amounts or it doesn't work.

There are some natural sleep aids, but I don't know much about them, maybe someone else will come along.  

We have similar problems. You must work from home because the root of our problem is that no one has to leave the house at any particular time 6 out of 7 days of the week.

We could just set alarms and get up, but we're so much more productive when we've had enough sleep that no one is inclined to "force" themselves out of bed when it isn't necessary. Getting to bed on time is hindered by any of a dozen different things that are sometimes our own fault and other times outside our control. The baby, for example, refused to sleep before 2AM last night and then was up at 7AM... not exactly my idea of a full night's sleep.

Our big kids are on a decent enough summer schedule, going to sleep around 9 or 10 and getting up between 8 and 9. But as they were waking when the baby and I were going back to sleep, I didn't see them until after noon today!  

Oh yeah, I have this problem -- and how!

I live at home.  I don't have a job and have never had one, because I don't need one financially, and now I have no experience.  So I volunteered to translate a thousand-page French book for a priest at CMRI, which I am slacking off on as usual and which is causing me intense dread due to the size of the project.  But I also feel like I need a project like this to help me do God's will instead of my own, to teach me to suffer.    

I want to be disciplined, get up early, and put in full days on this.  On Sunday, it's easy to get up earlier, but on other days, it is very hard.  But as I go deeper in the faith, my fear of God increases, so I'm just hoping that will solve my problem, that when I love God enough I will HAVE to be obedient in even the smallest particulars.  And I know, as we all should know, that if you ask for something, God will grant it.  I believe that one day my lazy self will be a thing of the past and I will be a workaholic like St. Paul.  But it takes time to change.  If I tried to be perfect too fast, I'd burn out, as I almost already did.

I also have a much louder alarm now

I am nocturnal as well. Night has always been the best time for me to write and concentrate, but that may due to the relative silence and calming darkness. When I was a kid, I thought it was the moon... and when I was a college student I knew it was the legitimate consequence of procrastination (late night cramming!). Yet even to this day the night is the best time for me to write and ponder and pray.

I have often been stricken with insomnia since early adolescence, so that definitely makes me even more nocturnal.

The problem, however, is that I have to wake up at 5 AM for work most of the time, so... mornings are often difficult. Sugar helps.

So, I'm a family man, and I'm still nocturnal.  I've been a nocturnal guy ever since I was a kid.  Sleeping in until 12, 1, or 2pm isn't new for me.  

However, it IS new for the wifey, and especially for the 2-year old.  I was unable to get to sleep at a decent hour last night, and woke up rather late today.  I miss half the day with the family because of this.  

Questions:

1. Does anyone else have this issue?

2. What do you recommend?

I swear, sometimes if I try to go to bed at the same time with everyone, I will be in bed staring into the darkness for three or four hours, and it makes me insane.  I was considering sleeping pills.  I don't know.

First, I for some reason feel guilty about your thumbs down for this post as if it was maybe a knee-jerk reaction to the thumbs up I gave it. So, I'd just like to clarify that I "liked" the post not because I think staying up and sleeping in is a good thing, but because I was impressed that you brought it up at all and think it is a worthwhile thing to discuss. Sorry if I had anything to do with the other person's dislike.

Anyhow... as for suggestions...

Going to bed drastically before you're tired usually isn't very helpful. You lie awake for a few hours and then sleep in just as long the next day as you didn't actually go to sleep any earlier. I don't know about your household, but time is a precious commodity around here and we just can't afford for anyone to be doing nothing for a period of time like that.

If you want a rapid change, setting a specific get-up time is more effective. Not my preferred option, though, as you're tired all of day 1 (and probably into days 2-5, but I've never made it that far) and we can't afford much of that around here either.

I set bedtime goals and then make sure my nighttime habits are conducive to meeting the goal. For example, if I've been going to sleep at 2 am, I'll set a goal of 1:30. Then, I'll make sure not to have any engery-boosting snacks after midnight and spend the time between 1 and 1:30 doing something relaxing. If I'm serious about meeting the goal, my computer has to be off 1/2 hour before the goal time. If the 1:30 goal is met a few days in a row, I'll move it back to 1 and adjust the other timeframes accordingly.

Is it possible to change your sleep patterns slowly over time? Say for example, instead of going to bed at 2am and getting up at 10am you could make an effort to go to bed an hour earlier or half an hour if the hour is too much. And you could get up an hour earlier. You could do it incrementally over a long period of time. You could do the hour for a fortnight or however long it takes for your body to adjust and then do it again and try another hour earlier until you get into the desired sleeping pattern.

This is just an idea as I don't know whether it will work though it may be worth a shot.