May 17, 2019 - News Post

It's time I woke up before dawn again.

Voluntarily.

It not easy to beat the sun at its own game. Most of my social and computer life has been dominated by a late nights. I work during the day because I have to, then stay up as late as I want because I'm a grown up. Every once in a while, however, I will mix things up:

• A decade ago, I woke up every morning at 4:30 in order to go running. I did this for over two years. This lasted until I injured myself and discovered the wonders of sleeping in.

• When I lived on the west coast, I worked east coast hours. Every weekday, I'd get up and prep for 6am meetings. On weekends, I'd wake at the same time and go for hikes. This lasted until I moved and discovered the wonders of sleeping in.

• When I started making Flash animations, I decided to wake up at 4. I'd work before work because it was the only time that was available. This lasted until my clients stopped paying me and I discovered the wonders of sleeping in.

I don't enjoy waking up early. It's a gruesome, miserable thing to do. There is no amount of sleep that can make me enjoy waking up before the sunrise. Yet once I am up, I find I function best on a fresh brain. It's shockingly worth it.

This isn't meant to say that waking early is good for everyone. Why our society has decided that staying up late is lazy but getting up early is somehow noble has always been baffling to me. I'm merely reflecting on my own schedule.

So why am I going to force myself to wake at an inhuman pre-dawn time? There's no dramatic or pressing reason. The days are getting hotter as we approach summer, and life is slightly more comfortable in the mornings.

It seems that the sun, my old enemy, is more intense here than in the north. Who knew?

It's going to take some work. Yet, by this time next week, I fully expect to be engaged in a brand new schedule. This may not be newsworthy to you, but it's a big deal to me.

The sun could not be reached for comments.

-Jeff