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What are your best working hours?

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JavaJones:
I think there are two things that are important in what you said.

1: Try waking up even earlier, even if it's earlier than you "need" to. Yes, I thought of this after reading your initial post when I was writing my own. I haven't *really* tried this. But there are some potentially fundamental issues with it which I'll go into in a moment.

2: Do "something" when you wake up. This is interesting and I think it's good advice, that I haven't really stuck to before.

So I think I can say it's possible you are right, since I haven't really given either of those methods a good try. Here are my issues and thoughts however (most are solvable, but not necessarily easily/cheaply/efficiently):

A: I find it phsyically very difficult and a very long process to wake up at almost any time of day. There are rare moments when I simply wake up almost instantly and it just somehow works, and I wish I could channel that at other times, but I can never do it at will. The brain state that controls me at wake time is a different one than one who might resolve something the night before, so even though I may have intention to just spring right out of bed and "do my thing", my morning brain puts a quick stop to that. I don't know quite how to circumvent that.

B: I have done the early morning thing for many years before now, so it's not a matter of time spent doing it. I do have some associations with early mornings - school and work of course. I'm not sure whether these are involved.

C: I also find that 8 or less hours of sleep is best. More than that almost always makes me more tired. 6-7 seems fine most of the time. Less can be an issue, but even then it's not usually major.

D: I do not drink coffee on a regular basis. I'd say about once a month. So lack of stimulants could be a big issue, even though you "only" drink once a day. :D

E: I don't watch TV, don't have a TV (watch movies, etc. on my computer though). When I wake up in the morning my time is purely functionally oriented. I take about 20 minutes to get ready for work so I wake up about 20 minutes before I have to go. That's it, no leisure time, no "getting other things done" time. I think of extra time awake before I *have* to be awake as wasted and unpleasant. This may tie into my poor time management. There are few tasks I can think of that would be genuinely productive for me to do in the morning that would be short enough to fit into a reasonable morning timeslot. I suppose all my forum checks could go there, that wouldn't be bad. A general morning 'net check. Exercise would be a good thing too...

F: The biggie: cold. It's almost always way colder than I like it to be any time before 10AM. The cold is a big part of what keeps me in bed where it is invariably warmer. I could get a space heater or something, but it would have to be on a timer. That too is feasible. It's not something I've ever tried. But my assumption is that if the outside temperature were pleasant or even warm, I'd be more inclined to get up. I simply detest the "shock" method of waking up - getting out of warm bed into cold air, splashing water on the face, taking a morning shower, etc. I don't do any of that because I don't like it.

So perhaps a lot of it comes down to attitude or ingrained habits. I don't really know. I do still feel that there are people just more naturally inclined toward day or night schedules, or somewhere in-between, and it is very hard for me to argue how well my natural sleep cycle tendency works in terms of time spent sleeping, awake time, ease of waking up, etc. 4AM to Noon seems to be my sweet spot...

I will consider your experiences and advice though. Somehow I doubt I will change anything fundamentally, but it could be interesting to essentially have my work day in the middle of my day - wake at 5, go to work at 9, return at 5, sleep at 10 or 11...

- Oshyan

app103:
At first I was against it, but when I finally gave in and agreed to allow my daughter to totally change her sleeping habits to something that was very abnormal for a someone her age, I was pleasantly surprised to find out it worked very well for her.

Instead of sleeping at night like normal people do, she would sleep after coming home from school, wake up at about 12m-1am and get all her homework done, write poetry, clean her room, etc. Then start getting ready for school.

Gone were the days of not doing her homework, the quality of her work increased, and morning chaos was gone, with her making it to school on time almost every day and fewer days absent. And my home was much more peaceful.

Before she made the change, she was notorious for not doing her work and showing up late....the typical slacker. The change turned her into a powerhouse of productivity. And the clean bedroom was a nice bonus!

I do believe that some people are just naturally nocturnal.

I have always felt like I was doing something unnatural when trying to be a day person. It just never seems to work for me. I enjoy the peace & solitude of the night. Working during the day just makes me more prone to frustration and more likely to end up in a bad mood. I think better at night.

It is unfortunate that most people don't have the luxury of being able to live by the hours that they are best suited for. This is still a world for day people and I don't see that changing any time soon.

If you are a night person and have a career that allows you to keep the hours you are best suited for, you are a lucky person.

jgpaiva:
Definitely it'd have to be 10am-9pm. Anything i code past 9m comes out absolute rubish and i have to redo everything on the next morning :S

nudone:
i hear what you are saying, javajones, and i have to agree about the room temperature.

the crucial thing is that if you have to get up early and you find it an ordeal (and i most certainly did) it is better to get up with the attitude that you are doing it for yourself, i.e. to do things for yourself, rather than being forced to get up because you have to rush to work within the next 30 minutes.

i hate my job (i'm going to resign later today) but i still find getting up early a good experience because of the time i'm using for myself.

sitting in front of the pc, getting through your emails and daily browsing addictions is something i'd recommend doing first thing in the morning.

mouser:
are you really resigning today??  :huh:

GOOD LUCK!!!

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