This last week I’ve been setting my alarm clock a little earlier than normal. My attempt was to be up by five in the morning each weekday in order to work on the various writing projects I need to work on over the summer (in addition to the reading). I’ve been thwarted, however, by exhaustion.
My wife and our son have been sick during the past weeks and apparently it was Dad’s turn. So my nose runs, I have a cough, there are headaches and droopy eyes. I don’t know why I intended to get up at five in the morning anyway but it didn’t work. The first day I set my alarm for five and promptly woke up at seven. “It didn’t go off” I thought. The second and third mornings the same. When I asked my wife about it she said “It went off… you got out of bed and turned it off.” Wow. My subconscious self was letting me know something important. Sleep is imperative to productivity.
Let’s be honest, I may be able to get out of bed at five but that’s no guarantee that if I write something it will be intelligible. There’s no guarantee that if I read something I’ll have any concept of what I’m reading. Bottom line: sleep. Take the time to sleep because if you don’t you’re not going to get anything useful done anyway. Sure, you’re going to pull the occasional all-nighter but don’t make a habit of it and don’t have a long string of sleepless nights.
I’ll probably try to get up at five later on, after my body has freed itself from illness. After the sickness is gone I’ll at least have a change. More than anything, though, I’m attempting to start my day earlier. Re-train myself for the morning. In fact, if I can get this down I might actually become a morning person (something that would help my endless studying). At any rate… don’t change too quickly and don’t fight your body too much. Sleep is important.