WillWybrow.com

It’s been a bit of a weird result, to be honest.

I woke up at 3am instead of last time’s 2am for the blackcurrant-induced toilet-trip. The only difference this time was that I didn’t immediately get back to sleep again afterwards. In fact, it was more like 5am when I finally did get back to sleep, and those missed two hours were a bitch.

But it’s ok. Despite being a bit more tired this morning when waking up, I got up ok because the doorbell went. The doorbell, you may well know, is located just on the other side of my bedroom door. Plus, I thought it might have been one or more of the prizes I’ve won in competitions this month. But it turned out to be a package for Stuart, probably from the NSS and probably containing a number of their new badges. Shh, don’t tell anyone they’ve got new badges out (I’m torn between the ‘atheist’ recolour in Warwick Atheists colours and the ‘evolved’ creationist-flip-off). Anyway, point is, I got up ok.

I decided that aiming to be in at 10am today is just too harsh. I don’t have to be in until eleven, so I thought it would be ok to just be ready to be in by ten (ready to leave by nine) and then spend the extra time writing this and playing on the internet.

In summary: a bit pissed off about lying sleeplessly for two hours in the middle of the night, but glad I didn’t fail when it came to getting up time.

Overall status: successful.

Today is the first weekday of my new masochistic idea for helping me get out of bed in the mornings – discomfort.

Unfortunately, over the weekend I never got the chance to go out and buy extra bedding for the experiment. The idea was to use one duvet to cushion the floor and another as a cover. So I used some spare bedsheets and a towel and a bunch of old clothes from my suitcase to create a mountain of insulation over me. My house is cold enough as it is without it being a) Winter and b) the floor, so it was important I didn’t catch hypothermia (severe exaggeration but the point remains valid).

I got into bed at about 2307; pretty early by recent standards (considering for the last few nights it’s been in the region of 5am) and got to sleep without much of a problem. Woke up for the loo at 2am (I made a special case to check the time) because of the stupid blackcurrant squash we have in the house at the moment. Blackcurrant is a fucking diuretic and I’m pretty sure it’s giving me lockjaw. But that’s another story. I also resisted the urge to injest caffeine products in the hours leading up to my bedtime.

So, how did it go? It went pretty well. My alarms went off at 8am (for a 10am start). I didn’t hear them very well… On nights when I leave my computer on all night (tonight I was ‘purchasing‘ the film Hook), this thing happens where my ears kind of close up. I guess it’s to block out the sound of the fans whirring away. They go fine again in the morning but it makes my alarm quiet sometimes.

After two presses of the ‘snooze’ button (so, on the third alarm), I got up. That’s much better than six presses of the ‘snooze’ button and then going back to sleep, as has happened more than once in the past. I had time for all the things I needed to do in the morning. I even had time for breakfast, a too-often-missed delight of the morning. I had so much free time, I even sent a reply to my dad’s e-mail.

I’m not very tired either. The caffeine I denied myself last night was a pretty nice treat this morning, and it, coupled with an early morning meal, should keep me energetic and happy all day.

I have no plans for tonight, which means I will be at home in the evening. Getting up at a normal time should mean I fall tired at a normal time, which in turn should mean I get to bed at a sensible hour again. I will try and make it to the supermarket so I don’t have to sleep under a pile of musty clothes that I haven’t removed from my suitcase since packing them before term one last year.

Early Morning Experiment’s status so far: successful.

Having a comfortable bed is the single biggest mistake you can ever make.

I used to think that having a comfortable bed would make a night’s sleep more relaxing, better for you. Better than waking up in the middle of the night with springs digging into your back in painful places (what I get in my dad’s house), at any rate.

Now I know that this is bullshit. A comfy bed only makes me want to stay in bed for longer. I am much more lazy and sleepy than I have ever been before, and it’s just detrimental to getting things done.

So, in the hope of motivating myself to actually get the fuck out of bed in the mornings, I am going to buy another duvet, lay one on the floor and one over the top of me and kip on my floor for every weeknight next week.

I will let you know how that goes, if you like.