An amazing thing happened. The holiday hours at my night job were dramatically reduced, but I’ve managed to keep my same sleeping schedule. In other words, I have the option to stay up late or to sleep in, but I’m choosing to stick with the sleeping hours I worked out for myself during the holiday season. With these hours I’m in bed around 11:30 PM and up at 6:30 AM. I have to admit, the temptation to stay up later, or to sleep in can be strong. Fortunately, the payoff from having a disciplined schedule has been worth the effort.

I now find that longer days allow me to accomplish more when I am at home. I no longer scramble at the last minute to finish tasks before heading out to work, unless I decide to take my downtime early. In the same manner, I find myself looking forward to Friday nights, since I do have the option of sleeping later on Saturday mornings. Thinking about it, I’ve not kept such a schedule since high school. In college, I had the ability to set my own schedule, so I opted for classes every other day, sometimes just twice a week. Even when I held several part-jobs, I only worked early mornings three times a week. It was the combination of working for Karen, and the holiday season at UPS that allowed me to find new discipline in terms of consistent sleeping habits. My new schedule is a complete success.

Is everything now perfect in my life? Absolutely not! My sleep schedule is set, but I’m still working on my daytime schedule. Time management via time blocking is still tricky, but I feel as if I’m on the cusp of a breakthrough. More importantly, if others can make time blocking work for them, certainly I can do the same. I never thought I would get my sleep time under control until the thought of sleep deprivation frustrated me. Now I can’t imagine going back to my old sleeping habits. I know time management will work for me. It is just a matter of finding inspiration and that moment where everything clicks into place.

Has an event in your life forced you to come to terms with your own self-discipline? Do you find it harder to stick to good habits when you are only accountable to yourself?

papercamp schedule Matt Biddulph of Flickr

Papercamp Schedule by Matt Biddulph of Flickr