I have a new schedule at work, a schedule that just might force me to become a morning person.
By nature I am a night owl. I like to stay up late. If I have to see a sunrise I prefer to do so before bed rather than just as I wake up. I love being the only one awake, free from interruption and constant demands to switch projects. Unfortunately, this can lead to problems. I am usually rather prickly in the mornings which doesn’t put me in a repentant mood when I am rebuked for staying up so late the night before. Perhaps worse, my first round of procrastination before my feet hit the floor, setting a pattern that is often continued through the rest of the day.
All of that looks like it is going to have to change. My new work schedule has me rolling out of bed before the June dawn. It will be simply unsustainable to maintain my habit of watching the clock change from one day to the next. When the alarm went of at 5:20 this morning I finally realized that I really need to get to bed earlier. I’m going to have to force myself to be a morning person.
That is rough, coming from a fellow night owl. But you know what they say, morning people are more productive. This is a good chance to compare before/after. Let me know how it goes!
Hmmm, I wish you luck in changing your schedule. Hopefully the switch pleasantly surprises you!
I, too, am a night owl by nature. 8 am college classes first forced me to rethink my sleep schedules (in high school I was able to get by on 5 hours of sleep at night, most of the time, but I was always tired). Going into the professional work force part time as I was finishing up my final semester of college strengthened my resolve to remake myself into a morning person. Working full time, getting married and getting pregnant (the first time) made me think I was about at my limit. Ha! Little did I know that once the baby was actually born would be the true test of my sleep need. By then it was too late, the baby didn’t care how tired I was or how little time (sometimes minutes, not hours) was my sleep allotment. :)
I say, if you can retrain your body now, you are doing great. Sometimes we just need the right motivation to change the routine we have set. I do know, though, that when I get up earlier I do achieve much more (although I am still more creative in the later night hours) each day. Since my husband’s alarm goes off each morning at 4:30 am, I have no basis for complaint when I have to get up “early”. He averages 5 hours a night. He is a morning person by nature, so the early morning is not bad to him, it is the late nights that he has (having 4 kids still in the home hinders early bedtime if he wants to ever get to see them) problems with. By Friday he is really tired.
Anyway, sorry long story that may not make any sense. Keep us posted on how it goes.
Pam in Colorados last blog post..When One Can’t Speak Out…
I’m thinking that having the mirror of your schedule isn’t that wonderful either, although I’m much more of a night person than morning person. I’m leaving a bit before you’re waking up and could drive home without headlights because the sky is light enough to see. And hearing all of the morning birds as I’m going to bed is just plain annoying. Oh well we’re a bit more than 1/3 done now at last count.