Sleeping schedule. To shift, or not to shift
 

First off, I would like to say hello everyone! :) I'm new to the forums! Many years have I been reading Steve's articles; I'm surprised I didn't join the forums earlier!

It is currently 12:48 A.M.

Here is the problem I've run into:
After 3 months of summer vacation, I've shifted my sleep cycle around into a variety of formations--one I happen to like very much. Practically the whole summer I would go to sleep at 4 P.M. and wake up around midnight. Sometimes I would go to sleep later, but I never varied too far, give or take a few hours.

I like the alone time I get from it. I also enjoy the fact that there are people awake around me as I sleep--it feels much more secure.

I started school, last year of high school, three days ago, and have run into insomnia due to the drastic transition from bedtime 4 P.M. to 10:30 P.M.. My mind has become accustomed to being mentally awake in the early morning hours which causes me to be afraid of going to sleep and losing consciousness. On average, I've only gotten 3 hours of sleep each day of schooling.

No matter how tired I am, my mind knows it should be awake.

So here is my proposal:
I go to sleep at 6 or 7 P.M., wake up at 2 or 3 A.M.. This would fit my schooling time slot perfectly (6:45 am - 2:00 pm).
Benefits:

• More time to work on academics
• 8 hours of healthy sleep
• Time to wake up and enjoy the morning before school

Anyone else have experience with this? Do you think I'm crazy?
If you think I should go for it, how should I go about the transition (I can handle little sleep very well)? Does this sound reasonable? Suggestions?

I would also like to add that all my past years of school, I couldn't sleep until late, resulting in 5 or so hours of sleep--so there must be something I need to change. I see this as a problem since I'm still growing.

I know I wrote a lot, so I thank you very much for taking the time to read it! :)

Changing the sleep cycle creates a lot of neurological problems, and should never be disturbed, unless absolutely necessary.

Choose whatever sleep cycle that you want as long as you get adequate sleep (average of 8 hours per day for most people) and it doesn't mess up your school and social life.