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Ask HN: How to stop working until daybreak?

2 points by jamesknelson ↗ HN
Hi HN,

I, like a lot of other freelance hackers, invariably end up working myself until the sun comes up. Even after a I manage to reset my schedule to a point where I'm going to bed at a reasonable hour, my finish time will get later and later, until I'm working until morning again.

Has anybody managed to beat this pattern? Do you have any tips on how to start working normal hours again - and stick to them? One of the problems I've encountered is I find it fairly easy to go to bed later than the night before, but nigh impossible to hit the sack earlier.

I'd be really grateful for any response - I'm pretty sure my schedule is not helping my health, and I'd like to do something about it.

7 comments

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sdkaufman
I'm also struggling with this problem as my day job has pretty flexible hours and I'm always hacking late into the night after gf goes to bed. Just slept past an important meeting this morning.

Would love to hear some ideas.

On the other hand, I see that we're in the company of great men: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2592725/Memorising-B...

mcbroomjoshuac
For important events, I'd recommend putting your alarm across the room, so you have to actually get up out of bed to turn it off.

If you wake up hours later, stretched out on your bedroom floor, come back here, and we'll try something else. =)

mcbroomjoshuac
Well, there's some scientific basis for it... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm_sleep_disorder

I know I'm kinda in the same boat... my natural "bed-time" is 5a or 6a, but I'm forced to compromise and go to bed by 3a or 4a in order to get up functioning at 7a.

If there's no reason to stick to a "normal" schedule, do what feels natural for you; that's the healthiest thing to do, in general; listen to your body.

chaddeshon
Decide what time you want to wake up. And then get up at that time no matter what. After a few days your bed time will work itself out.

Steve Pavlina was the first place I heard of this method. http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-ea...

jamesknelson
The idea sounds reasonable, although I think I'd struggle with the whole "actually getting up when the alarm goes off" problem.

I found a linked article on his page which addresses this problem, with a solution I'm going to have to try:

> This is going to sound really stupid, but it works. Practice getting up as soon as your alarm goes off. That’s right — practice. But don’t do it in the morning. Do it during the day when you’re wide awake.

codeonfire
You can try going nocturnal. I did this for about 6 months. Go to sleep at 10am and wake up about 6pm. I did this because I had night school then coding till morning. I can't say whether it was good or bad, but it worked out with my situation.