Despite the fact that I incorrectly set one of my alarms (that's why I always use two!), I woke up shortly before 5AM this morning. It was a little rough, but I stumbled out of the apartment, found a cozy corner spot in a cafe, ordered this giant coffee (it was actually a regular coffee, but doesn't it look huge?) and got to work. 

Thanks to my early-morning wakeup, I finished all of today's assignments by noon, which means I can spend the rest of the day:

Writing this blog post (check)
Taking on more assignments so I can fund my lavish lifestyle (Old Navy shirts and Redbox rentals don't pay for themselves)
Listening to a webinar that's scheduled for this afternoon (usually I register and end up skipping them)
Cooking burgers before the meat in my fridge goes bad (highlight of my day)
Reaching out to a few prospective clients
Doing a little creative writing 
Eating gorgonzola cheese with honey drizzled on top

Maybe a pre - 5AM wakeup is no big deal for you. If that's the case, then bravo. I completely admire your life habits and I'm mailing a certificate of achievement to your home right now. But I should point out that I have never, ever, ever been a morning person. Back when I had summer vacations, I'd fall asleep at around 7AM each night/morning, and I was perfectly happy with my schedule (I was also a huge Nick-at-Nite fan.) 

Since becoming an adult, I've repeatedly tried to change my night-owl ways. But unless there's a truly pressing (usually work or airport-related) reason to wake up, I still have a horrible time getting out of bed early in the morning. It doesn't help that my subconscious regularly tries sabotage my life by altering the plot lines of my dreams and convincing me that I need to stay asleep and solve an urgent problem in dreamland (does anyone else have this issue?)

Now that I'm a freelancer, you'd think it would be no big deal if I slept in a little or took a siesta in the middle of the day, right? Well sadly, my one attempt at taking a nap went horribly wrong. Okay, I'm being a little dramatic. The nap was supposed to last for 20 minutes and I ended up sleeping for over 3 hours. It wasn't horrible per se, but it totally screwed up my plans for the day.

And even though my body is like "Stay up all night! Sleep all day! Buy more cheese!" the truth is my mind feels amazingly alert when I wake up early (and get a good amount of sleep). On the other hand, if I sleep for just an extra 45 minutes, I not only have trouble concentrating, but I also feel like a total failure.

So will I make yet another attempt at transitioning from a night-person to a morning-person? Yeah. I think I'll go for it. The second half of this article has some helpful tips, and I've never actually tried tip number 6, so I'll test that one out first.

I don't have the highest of hopes, you guys. 

But wish me luck anyway!