Literary Lifehack: Still Successfully Stirring

In mid August, I wrote about my so-called "Night Owl's Literary Lifehack", where I used the anticipation of reading for 15 minutes as motivation for getting up in the morning. I have to say that it has worked beyond my wildest dreams. I've gotten up immediately, every morning, except for today.

I've been fighting off a sore throat since late Saturday night and I've felt gradually sicker, although not severely so. This morning I thought that perhaps my reading time would be better spent resting. When my second alarm went off, I felt as if I would really benefit from getting some adequate rest today by actually *gasp* taking a sick day. It would be my first whole sick day in the two years that I've worked at Duke.

When I woke up again, it was almost six hours later. When I looked at my alarm clock, I expected it to say some time after 9am, but instead it was after noon. I must have been right about needing some extra sleep.

Speaking of extra sleep, one thing I've learned since I started getting up on time is that it's important to go to sleep earlier in the night as well. That alarm filled or snooze alarm interrupted sleep is still more restful than getting right up. I know if I get a decent amount of sleep every night, I'm a lot happier and less cranky, so it's important to adjust accordingly.

Coincidentally, this morning I would have finished my first book since experimenting with my "lifehack". Of course, if I'd noticed yesterday that I only lacked two pages, I might have finished yesterday anyway. Tomorrow, assuming I'm up to it, I'll start a new novel to read for the next month or two. This way I also truly get to savor a novel that most people finish in a couple of days or less.