The Approaching End – My *REAL* Challenge of 2012

 
It's not the writing. It's not the publishing.
 
No, my real challenge of 2012 is … getting up ~8am every weekday.
 
As a self-employed, non-contractor software developer who likes to write, I don't have anyone imposing a schedule on me–except me. And I tend to let me slide.
 
The challenge is actually two-pronged. Because experience has taught me that if I want to get up early, I have to go to bed early. And I've always enjoyed staying up late.
 
So, if I want to get up about 8am, I have to go to bed before midnight. Which is hard.
 
For years, when people would ask when I got up in the morning, I would say, "8 hours later than I went to bed." Which I think is a great schedule. I even tried to find an alarm clock with an "8 hours later" alarm. To no avail. I'm just too far outside the mainstream on that one. (Though I guess modern smartphones probably make that an option, now. I'm sure there's an app for that.)
 
I would continue my "8 hours later" schedule, except that I've found I'm much more consistent with my writing (and other aspects of my life) if I get up earlier. Mostly, I think, because if I haven't checked my email by noon (even if I just got up at noon), I feel behind. And this, I think, stems from the simple fact that the rest of the world still operates on 8-to-5 time. When I get up in the late morning or afternoon, I feel rushed because either noon is right there (or already past), and 5pm is suddenly very close. And I hate feeling rushed.
 
I'm not only more consistent in my writing, I'm just overall more productive when I get up "early" (which is what 8am feels like to me).
 
I like being more productive. But I also like staying up to ridiculous hours doing whatever comes to mind.
 
Which is why this will be a challenge.
 
You might wonder why I don't just do my writing at night. The answer is simple: I know how I work. And that doesn't work. I can write at night on occasion, but I know better than to create a schedule as if I could do that on a regular basis.
 
Here are a few lessons I've learned from my nearly 13 years of self-employment, which might explain some of the various wrinkles in my 2012 goals:

I cannot keep a schedule that requires me to operate at peak performance all day, every day. That way lies despair. Believe me, I have tried, and I have despaired.
I need at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
Because I cannot go-go-go 24×7, and because my wife and kids need me, and because I like my wife and kids, I should make sure I schedule adequate time per day and/or per week for them. And for me. That means, "daily down time" and "weekly down time". And that time can not be taken out of "sleep time".
I like to do "something different" on my weekends. It helps prevent burnout and keeps my hedges from overgrowing my house.

 
The truth is, I have a tendency to obsess and drive myself harder than I should. I suffer the same illusion that powers modern corporate environments: More time spent working means more work getting done. And that is an illusion.
 
The advantage of my situation is that I can be flexible, like Mr. Fantastic. The disadvantage is that if I don't create the structure, none exists, and then Mr. Fantastic tends to be more a puddle of goo than flexible.
 
I've proven to myself time and time again that I get more done, better, when I adopt a slow-but-steady approach. When I get up early and focus on one task, then another, without trying to multitask, and then spend time with the wife and kids. The trick is to focus on that, and not feel like I'm missing out by going to bed early.
 
-David
 
Related Posts:
The Approaching End – My Goals for Indie Writing/Publishing in 2012The Approaching End – My Goals and Deadlines for 2012Focus-ish