So, it turns out that having espresso drinks (almond milk lattes, to be precise) at 7:50AM as part of a light breakfast can inspire me to wake up much earlier than usual. I don’t mean minutes after I drink them, but the following morning. By perhaps 2 hours?
I retain a deep personal suspicion that my uphill neighbor’s espresso-drinking habits are more relevant to my sleep, because she is the one in her kitchen slamming cabinets at 2:30AM, so I’ll need to do some more ‘science’ to be sure. But being up at 3:30 or 4 happened a few days in a row after the rare days I was early enough to buy an espresso drink, so that’s data I must cope with.
(I say espresso-drink mornings are rare, but the perky, caffeinated, cool barista remembers my name, so my position may not be credible.)
My sleep is precious to me, and I seem to need a higher quality of it than I had earlier in life. If you see me after a few days of sub-six-hours nights, you’ll understand quickly the jokes about it being called, “beauty sleep.” [This is only useful at Halloween.]