I need to change my nocturnal lifestyle. Seriously.
It’s bad enough that the sun sets before 5 and the day is over before it even starts, but sleeping at 4am and waking up past noon is honestly driving me nuts.
I work in the evenings, and always did. I can’t help the flood of ideas that come to me at 3am. I write and edit best past midnight. I guess writer’s block decides to take off when the clock strikes 12. But this schedule is exhaustingly unhealthy. I'm ready to replace the numbing, zombie-like feeling in my head with a more energetic self.
Getting emails from other editors at 1am makes me think I'm normal. Even so, I’ve tried many ways to dose off early.
Nothing's worked—yet. But at least I know what doesn’t work:
Thinking about “tomorrow’s plans”: I’ve heard that thinking will lead to exhaustion, and hence snoozing off. But all thinking leads to is more ideas and even more planning. Before I know it, I’m lying there for hours mapping out the next 20 years of my life. Not good.
Taking a multivitamin pill: OK. So I’ve forgotten to take one in the morning (‘the morning’ here is technically ‘the afternoon’), and want to make it up by taking one before the day 'ends'. The result: A paradoxical burst of energy, which keeps me up even later. Also not good.
Playing Fowl Words: This game is so addictive and time-consuming. The more levels I pass, the more incessant I become at beating my previous record. But it’s the after-effect of the game that’s the concern: I try to make up small words from every word I see. It’s haunting me. Hmmm... HAUNTING: HIT, AUNT, TING, THAN, THIN, THUG, THING...
Listening to music: Yeah, when a song gets stuck in my head, there’s no way of taking it out...unless I listen to another song. Then it’s a different tune that keeps me up. *Shakes head* It’s a cycle that never ends.
I want to be a morning person. I really do. So if any of you out there knows the solution, enlighten your fellow human being. Please.
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