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kfitz

Early Birds, and All That

I have this genius plan, whereby I get up super early every morning this semester, do the requisite teeth-brushing and contact-lens-in-putting, and then plop myself down in front of the computer for at least one hour, and conceivably two, of working on my own writing — and nothing else — between the hours of 6 and 8. This is to be followed, many days, by running or some other exercise form, and then by getting ready and toddling off to the office.

It is, as I say, a genius plan. Except for the fact that, as of yet, I have been unable post-Hawaii to drag myself out of bed before 7. And the plopping down in front of the computer happens precariously close to 8. And what I accomplish at the computer at that time is mostly blog-oriented. And by the time I stop, there’s no time left to run.

But other than that, it’s going well.

So here’s the issue: I need to shift my internal clock such that getting up at 5.30 isn’t agony. The problem isn’t a natural aversion to that hour — I love few things more than being up before the rest of the folks around me, able to sit and collect my thoughts in the dark and quiet. The problem is that, at that hour, I’m sleeping incredibly well. And I put a high premium on good sleep, as it’s not that easy to come by, for me. And usually, as I’ve only gotten to sleep around 11.30, an extra hour of sleep is really appealing. So it’s much too easy to justify turning off the alarm and getting just a bit more rest.

How do I go about forcing the issue? Do I just need to do what it takes to make myself get up earlier, such that being tired from getting that bit less sleep will result in my going to bed/falling asleep earlier as well?

I’m determined to make this schedule work, and am a bit surprised by the level of will-power it’s requiring of me, at least to get started.

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