A Morning Experiment

I've decided to experiment with the idea that one can be trained to be an early-morning riser.  Over the past nine months, I have gradually become more of a night owl, which, of course, has led to the loss of many morning hours on the following day.  Last week, when I was forced to lay on my couch doctoring a sprained ankle, I saw no reason to get up early and slept until 10 or 11 o'clock every day.  What a waste of precious time!  But it felt so good...

O bed! O bed! delicious bed!
That heaven upon earth to the weary head.
~Thomas Hood, Miss Kilmansegg - Her Dream

On Monday (my ninth day of lethargy), I googled "how to become a morning person".  And this is what I found - a series of very helpful articles from a motivational speaker who specializes in self-discipline.  (and we all know that I need more self-discipline...[eh hem - that was sarcasm]).

Mr. Pavlina theorizes that getting up early in the morning is simply a matter of training your subconscious to make the decision to rise for you.  There is no way that your conscious mind will listen when you try to reason yourself into getting your crack outta the rack.   I've tried that.  It doesn't work.

So, as I lay in bed at night, I visualize myself going through my desired morning routine:

1. Alarm chimes obnoxiously at 5:00 a.m., immediately roll over and turn horrible noise off.
2. Young, hefty cat jumps onto tummy, nearly expressing full bladder.
3. Stretch sleepy muscles and fill lungs with fresh morning air.
4. Push both feet outside warm cocoon of blankets and toward floor (holy crap it's cold!).
5. Feet touch floor, eyes barely open, shuffle to bathroom.
6. Subconsciously feed yowling hungry cat under feet.
7. Make morning deposit in ceramic bowl.

And then I repeat the visualization several times until I fall asleep.  When the alarm sounds the next morning, my subconscious is prepared, and my body does what it is told.  The cats act in full support of this experiment.

There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast.  

~Author Unknown

At least, that's the theory...

I am currently on Day 2 of a 30-day experiment to change my late-sleeping ways.  Now I just have to figure out a way to keep myself from falling back asleep while drinking coffee on the couch at 5:45 a.m.
   

The amount of sleep required by the average person 

is five minutes more.  ~Wilson Mizener