There really should be something a person can do to eliminate unimportant middle of the night phone calls or texts.
I don’t mean ones from family or friends. By all means, if they need me or us, call or text.
Wrong numbers don’t even terribly bother me, because I tell myself maybe that person is in need. Although, they should have their important people on speed dial.
I don’t want to stray from my point. I just want to take a minute to have a little rant.
It was shortly after 11:00pm last night when Mister and I went to bed.
At 12:22am. Mister turned his bedside light on and asked if I was going to answer the phone, which sleeps on my side table. I was in the mist of one of those sleeps where the single ding from the incoming message fit right into my dream.
Now, with my heart in my throat I sat up and reached for it. Middle of the night stuff is usually not good news.
All I could see without my glasses was that it was a text message. I keep a pair of drugstore readers handy, but of course this time they didn’t bring the words into focus.
So, off I went to retrieve my glasses from the living room where they spend their nights. Mister patiently waited to find out what was up, because he also leaves his prescription glasses in the living room so even though he tried he couldn’t read the screen either.
The text was a notification from the automated service our home real estate company uses to book showings. Did we really need to know and confirm this appointment at 12:30am., a day and a half before the requested showing.
My biggest issue is once I’m woken, I’m awake and up. So it was very early coffee and cookies for me this morning. I did manage a hour or so nap on the couch before the sun came up. Mister even had had trouble falling back to sleep. He had to sit in his recliner for a bit before he headed back to bed.
Why oh why would these automated pre-recorded reminders or notifications some businesses use be scheduled for the middle of the night?
So there’s my rant. You can bet I will be discussing this with our listing agent.
No matter where I am, I purposely take the phone with me to bed every night, incase there’s an emergency on our end or with family or friends.
I know there’s way more pressing issues in the world today, but what else was I to do in the wee hours of the morning besides write. I did play some computer games first.
How do you feel about getting woken up in the middle of the night?
Can you easily fall back asleep?
kathy knull 
Ugh! That would be frustrating for sure. With something like that it would be hard for me to go back to sleep for like you said, calls or texts in the middle of the night is usually not good news. So my heart starts beating fast. Adrenaline rush that you can’t just shut off!
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It probably is the adrenaline that makes it hard to fall back back asleep.
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I feel like I could when I was younger, but I really struggle with it as I get older. My BF snores, so there’s that also. Once I am awake, I cannot be lulled back to sleep by the really loud noises coming from the other side of the bed. LOL
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Yes, that is difficult. I always joke that’s why I fall asleep fast. I have to beat Mister to sleep.
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I usually switch my phone off or put it on silent when I go to sleep. But I understand how irritating it can be!!
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You’re lucky to be one of those that can just turn the darn thing off. 😀
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Seems someone does not the know the difference between a.m. and p.m. That would be my first guess since the message did come from a business you are using.
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That was my first thought too.
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Sorry to hear of your rude awakening. Trying to fall asleep after waking in the middle of the night is no fun. Makes me drowsy all day. I use the Do Not Disturb function on my phone. It turns on at 10:00 pm allowing calls from only the contacts I have designated, then it shuts off at 7:00 am. No unwanted calls or texts for me to disturb my sleep, yet emergency calls and notifications come through.
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Thanks for the information. I should look into setting that up on our phone, because you’re right it’s not fun to fall back asleep and usually throws the next day off.
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Hi, Kathy – I consider myself a great sleeper…unless I am awoken once asleep. Then it’s game over and I toss and turn all night long. For that reason, I shut my phone off when I go to bed and turn it back on as soon as I wake up. Richard keeps his on vibrate near his bed. He is a light sleeper so even the vibrate will wake him up…but then he instantly goes back to sleep.
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Hello, I do fall asleep fast too, but like you if I’m woken I’m up and instantly hungry. Need a coffee and a cookie right away. 😊 Oh wouldn’t it be nice to fall back asleep.
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It can be really difficult to fall back asleep.
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I wake up easily but I also go to sleep quickly… We are on a no call list and it works pretty well. Any middle of the night call would be worrisome!
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You are lucky with sleeping habits. Yes, those middle of the night calls are the worst.
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I leave my cell phone on, just in case of emergencies, but I would not consider that call an emergency and that agent would be getting an ear full.
I do fall back to sleep easily, but still.
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I agree. I told them today that we weren’t impressed. You are one of the lucky ones if you can fall back asleep.
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I have the landline phone ring off in the bedroom and my cell is always on vibrate. It resides in my purse on another floor almost all the time. If someone needs me at 1 a.m. they’ll have to wait until 5 a.m. when my husband gets up. Once something wakes me up (like the dang fire alarms) it’s hard to get back to sleep.
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When we first moved out here we had to respond to some time sensitive matters a couple times in the middle of the night. There was a wild fire threat, a few security company calls regarding our other properties, plus a few others. Having had to do this made me one of those people who just can’t not answer a ringing phone.
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Sounds like you are on duty 24/7.
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We were. Things have changed a bit, but old habits are hard to break.
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This may be the fault of your provider. Many providers, especially those who send messages on equipment not their own (think Telus in rural areas for example) pay a lower fee to send the texts during low traffic times. So they will save up all their texts sent during the day and then send them during the middle of the night. Companies sending texts will get reduced rates for messages marked as ones the texting company can delay for a few hours. So if your real estate agent has such a contract they may prepare the texts in midafternoon but do so knowing the company may send it at a later time. The third possibility is your carrier has a contract with the carrier that sent the message saying they can delay the message until low volume times and only send texts during low volume times. So the fault lies with either your carrier, or the carrier who sent the message, or the company that created and sent the text. Basically you’re stuck. If you are rural and have only one provider sharing their equipment, you’re really stuck. What I do it my family and friends know to call my landline because I turn off my cell phone at night. Of course I still get the odd 3:00am call, usually someone drunk at a party looking for someone else. I will leave it on if there is a potential for severe weather so I get the text alerts. The only I can think of to completely avoid this is to get rid of the cell phone.
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Thank you for this information I hadn’t thought of that. I did relay a question to our real estate agent asking if that was what time they actually sent message, but I haven’t heard back. We don’t have a landline, so we’re stuck keeping the cell.
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I suppose there’s the obvious solution. Take note of who generated the call/text. Set your alarm for the next night, at that time, and call them on their home phone or cell, to respond to their earlier message. Explain that you understood it to be urgent (since it came in the middle of the night) and it has only just now come to your attention.
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That might just work. 😊
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I don’t blame you one bit! I often suffer from insomnia and so my sleep is extra precious and no, once I’m awoken by something, I can’t just fall back asleep. I also know what it’s like to try to sell a house while you live in it. No fun! And, thank you for posting about something normal in this day and age!
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Thanks. Sorry to hear you also struggle with sleep, it is an annoying issue.
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Yes it is!
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That is the worst! I have friends who have texted at 5:30 AM! I would call the company or block them. I have been known to quietly leave the conversation of group texts. I can check to see if they messaged the group when I feel like it. Be sure to take a nap!
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I will talk to the company because blocking them isn’t an option. It’s how when your house is for sale they let you know when someone wants to come and look.
A nap is an possible option today. 😊
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It totally depends. Sometimes I fall right back asleep. Other nights I find myself reading on the couch…
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You’re lucky, even sometimes would be nice. Of course it didn’t help that this one had my mind going through things to put away and such before the showing.
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Yeah…mind was overworking as it was
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For sure. 😊
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Lucky for me, I can fall back to sleep usually. But I agree with your rant – that’s an absurd time to text! I also have my phone nearby and on for emergency notifications. I might go as far as to either text back or when I am in touch with that company, tell them. Maybe they don’t know?
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Yes, you are one of the lucky ones if you can fall back asleep. I will be letting them know incase like you say they are not aware of it happening.
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