I changed my schedule, and it's kind of great.

Who knew I'd be a morning person if I just put my mind to it?

 

After the craziness of early/mid-September, I set my alarm clock for 4:55a and determined that I would get my rear in gear with this whole “being an adult” thing. Disclaimer: YMMV.

Let me tell you, the prospect of a pre-5a wake up time 6 days a week was not something that had me skipping around the house whistling and waiting for the cartoon birds to appear and sing my favorite Disney songs. I’ve always been a night person. On the rare occasions I’ve been up early and happy about it, I have a specific excuse – hitting the road on an awesome trip, woke up with an idea that just won’t quit, etc.

But I set that alarm (and one at 6:15a just in case… and one at 7a also just in case) and tried my darnedest to get to sleep at a decent time. To be honest, I’m still working on that. I’ve always been a night owl.

Much to my surprise, I’ve managed to get up at 4:55 every day (save for Saturdays which don’t have an alarm) for the past 2 weeks. If you’re shocked, don’t worry, I am too.

I get up, I look at my productivity app before I even get out of bed (there are somethings I have to do immediately or else I miss my window and can’t get it done that day, it’s a this-before-that sort of thing) and then I stumble downstairs and start my day. This means that I get to listen to writing podcasts I’ve been meaning to get around to for AGES. It means I eat breakfast every morning and get a jump start on my day’s water intake.

I get to purge the random plot threads that wiggled their way into my brain in the night.

Most importantly, it means that when my 7a alarm goes off, I don’t have to rush to get things done in the half hour before I HAVE to leave for work. I’m ready early, and I have the opportunity to pause and make sure I’m not forgetting something.

What I do between 4:55 and 7 isn’t actually all that important. I work my way through my morning tasks and get some of the daily ones out of the way, but in the end, just having the time is what keeps me on the early-wake-up schedule.

Now I just have to figure out how to get myself to bed at a decent hour…. (and no, a nightly alarm doesn’t work as well as you’d think.