Seven Days, Day One

Today is day one. My alarm has been going off for the past two hours. Gonzalo isn't in the bed next to me and my neck is sticky from the Tiger Balm applied last night. But I'm up; and today is the first step in new routine for a healthier + happier self.

It was at my second meeting with my graduate advisor, the meeting both Zalo and I went to, that an idea was planted. He told us that it only takes 7 days for a habit to form, for someone to fall into a new routine. He then said that the majority of us are most productive in the morning and for me, this couldn't be more true. But for those of us who work early in the morning, like myself, getting things done before work is more difficult than it sounds. For me there were two options: 1) Continue the current routine of wake up, go to work, come home and do everything else you need to do that day, feel guilty for not getting everything done, sleep OR 2) wake up earlier, get some stuff done, go to work, come home and get a few more things done while being able to spend time with family and/or relax without falling into a guilt-trap. So I chose to change it up.

I went to bed last night at 8pm and even though I did have some trouble falling asleep I woke up this morning at 5am, an hour later than planned, but earlier than usual. I made my coffee, a healthy breakfast and started in on my work. The mystical "work" I keep referring to is my thesis. I'm probably about half-way done with it at this point but still have a lot of work ahead of me and my time is running out. I graduate in March 2015 and with school starting in less than a month I know my time will be even more precious come October. I'm hoping that with these few extra hours in the morning, I'll be able to chip away at that amount of work left to be done and be in a good spot to stop when school starts. Obviously I won't quit working on my thesis altogether, but I have to be realistic, especially knowing the course load I'm taking Fall and Winter term. My saving grace is the almost-month-off we have for winter break. Not saying I'll be doing finishing touches, but hopefully I'll see the light at the end of the tunnel.