The Problem with Weekly Tasks

There are a couple of things I want to do at least once a week. There are a couple of things other people want to do once a week. We all never do them. Goals I plan once a day are fine. But if it's less than that, even if it's a less demanding responsibility, it never happens. I think the problem lies in the amount of leeway I'm giving myself. If I can do something any day, and I don't feel like doing it today, I'll say "eh, tomorrow". And then tomorrow I'll say "eh, tomorrow" again. Repeat as necessary. When the week is past I've sort of forgotten when the deadline was, and even if I remember think it can be fuzzy (since I'm already up against the well). Then it becomes "eh, I'll do it next week for sure" and the process repeats.

This isn't a problem if I do something every day, because then I, well, have to do it every day. This makes the solution set simple:

A) Make things happen daily. I have to update the blog every day, for example.
B) Make things happen on specific days. I have to update the blog every Wednesday. I can update before then, but I still have to update on Wednesday.
C) Build a dynamic. Yes, I know this is the obvious solution. Still.

I'm gonna try A for a bit, although I'm adding the caveat I can also update The Other Blog.

Sleep Schedule

I'm a night person. My normal sleeping schedule is 1:30-9:30, later on weekends. So basically, an average student. This is not something I'm overly fond of. Yeah, it might be natural for me, but so having no hand-eye coordination. If I can learn to juggle, I can change my sleep schedule.

I'm generally a lot happier with a 11-7 schedule. This isn't just a "life would be better if I was a lark" wishful thinking. There have been several month spans where I'd force myself wake up at 7 every weekday. The rush I get from being up early is incredible. There was even a month where I did 6, out every day before the sun was up. It felt like stepping out into a barren world and watching it come alive. I'm just a lot happier on days when I wake up early. On the flip side, if I get up past 10 I just feel miserable. It's like the whole day is wasted.

There are a couple of big disadvantages to an early schedule. One, I'm shifting two of my awake hours to when nobody is up, or at least socializing. I'm taking a small hit to my social life. Then again, I'm usually in the apt at that time so I'm only affecting my fb and roommate interactions. I'm not particularly worried about either of those. The other issue is that I'll have to get better at completing assignments. When you stay up late, you can trade sleep for homework time. But if you go to bed early, you have no idea when to wake up to have adequate working time and can botch an assignment that way. This means I'll have to get better at doing assignments in advance and managing my time well. Horror of horrors.
 
The bonuses are huge and the problems easily resolvable. So why don't I do this all the time? Like I said, my body naturally does a late-night schedule. It's also a lot easier to go to bed late- it's only a matter of procrastinating sleeping. Sleeping early requires a lot more dedication and willpower. I've only recently tried to pick it back, and have consistently woken up at 7 for the past week. I stopped it during the weekends because everything interesting happens in the evening and night.

I'm going to try to keep this up at least until Spring break. I've never kept up an early bird schedule during vacation. I think that would be nice to try. It's just a lot harder when you don't have obligations during the day. Even if I stumble over vacation I'll attempt to pick it back up again for the new quarter and run with it until finals. It seems like it'd be really nice to do during the Spring. I'd get an extra two hours of warm daylight.