Now, I tend not to do anything always but, by and large, for the most part, if I can possibly help it I do not get up before 6:00am. Travel, illness, emergency, a friend in need, a special crazy opportunity, these are all reasons that I might peel myself out from between the covers before 6 but I try to keep them to a minimum. If I get up before 6 as many as 10 times in a year that can't be classified as good.
After Emily died I was getting up as late as 7:20 to leave the house by 8. As soon as Eddie arrived I moved the alarm back as far as it would go, right to 6:00am and no farther. I shower, I dress, dry my hair and try to be headed out the door with him between 7:30 and 7:40. We stay out between 45 minutes and an hour then go back so I can feed the beast, pack my lunch, brush my teeth and batten down the hatches before leaving for the day. I could get up earlier and we could go out longer. There might be advantages to that but I won't do it. Not if I can bloody well help it.
This morning when we left the house it was still dark. I noticed all the people dressed, with travel mugs in hand heading out for their day. I saw the grocery delivery men unloading orders for the 6:30 - 8 time slot and marveled that they've probably been at work a couple of hours by now. Most baristas in my neighborhood don't have to roll in to work until 7 or so but at least 2 were already brewing by the time I got out in the world.
For me, ideally, I would go to sleep around midnight and get up around 8. Pre-dog, in a Manhattan apartment, working for a non-profit I blissfully lived that rhythm for about 8 months before I turned my life upside down and departed the country like my ass was on fire. I have friends who, if given as little as 3 days of freedom, will revert to their internal rhythms and live all night, sleeping all day. Of course there are plenty of others who consider 5:30am (on a weekend!) a late start and 10am time for lunch.
What about you? What's your ideal schedule? Do you get to live by it?
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while i wouldn't say my schedule is ideal, i'm up at 5am daily. i willingly do this, however, so i can beat the Baltimore traffic home every day...because sitting in a car with a manual is painful after an hour on 95. basically, either i must come in at 7 to leave at 3, or i need to wait until 9:30-10 to get out of here around 6. since i'm more active earlier in the day, if i get home later i'll crash out quickly and have no motivation to get anything done at home.
ReplyDeleteTry as I might, I can't get myself to SLEEP past the time I wake up for work during the week. Mind you, I don't get out of bed on weekends at that time, but I also don't actually sleep, either.
ReplyDeleteI'm much more geared toward the mornings anyway, though, so it's not that big a deal. If left to my own devices, I would likely let my functioning shift to the sun - I hate getting up before it's light, and I'm ready for bed as soon as it's dark (which makes December and January decidedly UNproductive months for me...)
My time of day is the nighttime.
ReplyDeleteI just woke up from a nap....that lasted three hours. sheesh.
ReplyDeleteUsually though, I'm down by 10 and up by 6:30-7. Ideally I would use that kick around early time for the gym and throwing in a load of laundry. 9 times out of 10 it's spend drinking coffee and facebooking while watching Matt Lauer. I've designed my new work schedule to start at 10 so I can actually do some things around the house or pick up supplies or work before I go in. Up to now, two weeks in...it's been spent facebooking, while drinking coffee and watching the Today show.
Ideally, I'd wake at 7:00 A.M. I should be so lucky as to really sleep that late. Mostly I'm awake between 5 and 6 A.M. Is it any wonder that I'm ready for bed by about 9:30 P.M.?
ReplyDeleteI've always been an early girl. I get up now between 4:45 and 5:20 am weekly. Not really my ideal. But 7 seems to be my norm.
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