Perpetual Ruminations

Thursday

We are going to try a different approach. It's similar, but I think this will work better, Rhonda also thinks this plan will work out better. I'm talking about making better use of our time, and being more productive, as well as less tired.

The problem stems from getting up three day a week, sometimes more, at three in the morning. Typically, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we are up at three. We try and get to bed by eight-thirty at the latest, but it seldom works out that way. Then, on Sunday mornings we sleep in until five, and usually stay up a bit later. Monday it's six, sometimes seven when we get up, and again, we get to bed even later. Tuesday and Wednesday we sleep in as much as possible and end up not getting to bed until even later.

This tends to leave us feeling tired and it's difficult to get into any kind of a routine. Even when we do get a routine of sorts going, something comes up and messes it all up. This was the case this last week. I had to go into work Monday morning, so we got up a bit earlier. Then, on Wednesday, the store called around five to let me know the opening guard had not shown up. Luckily, they called back right before I headed out the door, and told me he had just pulled in. Even so, it messed us all up, since we had been up the night before, close to midnight.

Our revised plan is set to partly compensate for these days when I have to get up on my day off, or when the store calls at five in the morning. I was looking for a way to cut down on the amount of time I needed to get ready and drive in, if needed. As it is, I live twenty-five miles away, and any time I can save gets me in faster.

We were talking about it this morning as well as how we could get better organized and make better use of our time. Rhonda has been trying to get me to bed earlier for a long time, and we have made progress, but not as much as she would like. I was thinking about this as we talked, and realized it wasn't so much the time I was going to bed, but the time I was getting up. I mean, if I slept in, then I would stay up later. since I got up at different times throughout the week, it only made sense that I would get to bed at different times, as well.

It made sense, but it didn't' do anything to fix it. The different times had resulted in me being very tired, taking naps, and not being very productional throughout the week. It likely contributed to my being sick so often, too. My thoughts on fixing this, as I mentioned, focused more on the time I was getting up, not the time I was going to bed.

It makes more sense to look at from the waking viewpoint, rather than the going to the bed side of the equation, even though they are directly related to each other. I suggested we set a standard time for getting up. I suggested four in the morning at first, since three days mandated getting up at three. That would make one-hour difference, an easy adjustment on our days off. But, that also means we should be in bed by eight in the evening. Way too early during the summer.

Rhonda kind of gave me the evil eye with my suggestion, since I often do not get to bed until closer to nine or ten. I explained that it would regulate my sleep-wake cycle better if I was up at the same time, and then I could get to bed easier at night. I thought it over a minute and suggested nine to five instead.

We would get to bed by nine and then get up each morning at five. The exception would be the three days I need to be to work early, when we would get up at three. Since we seldom get to bed sooner than eight-thirty or nine, this made sense, and we both agreed it would help make it easier to get to bed a bit earlier once we became accustom to getting to bed at the same time each night. We would also be up in time to enjoy the sunrises, and have the mornings to be productive.

As for a quicker response time to getting called in, this worked out great, as well. We set the coffee up to start a bit before we get up, so it's fresh, hot, and ready when we get up. That means we would be up at five, have coffee ready, and have our day starting, if or when they call. The store opens at five, so they tend to call a little after if no guard shows up. I would be up, coffee ready by the time they even called. I could be out the door in a matter of minutes.

All the way around, it sounds like a sound plan. Sure, it will take a bit to adjust to, but it won't be as bad as trying to set a schedule that varies throughout the week. Three days I will get just as much sleep as I usually do now, the other four will provide eight hours, more than I get now. And, once I get adjusted to going to bed at nine, at the latest, every night, getting into bed an hour earlier will be much easier, as will getting to sleep.