Ask YC: [How] do you maintain a daily routine?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1064175

by coffeemug • 17 years ago

8 6 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I usually waste a lot of my time on things that don't matter and as I'm getting older it's becoming a bigger priority for me to spend my time wisely. This year I resolved to get this part of my life under control. I think the best way to do it is to have a daily routine. When I tried to force a routine on myself, I realized there are three problems I need to solve:

  - Sometimes I just don't want to do things in the scheduled order
  - Sometimes other things take priority so I can't stick to schedule
  - I cannot force myself to have a regular sleep schedule

I solved the first two problems in the following way. I divide the day into four hour chunks. The rule is, I can rearrange the tasks within a chunk any way I want, but they must be done within the designated chunk. If something prevents me from doing a task, when I get back on schedule I can drop any of the items within the chunk I'm currently in, but not in any other chunks. This way I have enough flexibility to do the things I want (or can), but enough structure that I don't lose track of things.

But I can't solve the third problem. My natural sleep schedule is very irregular. If I go to sleep at a given time, I can't fall asleep, and can't wake up in the morning. If I sleep when I want, my schedule becomes very irregular (I end up going to sleep on different times every day, usually my sleep time shifting later and later into the night until I flip over). Every time I was forced to keep a sleeping schedule (for a full-time job), I have been very unproductive and miserable.

This has been the biggest stumbling block to implementing a daily routine. Does anyone have a similar problem? How do you solve it? All the standard remedies (exercise, etc.) don't help me go to sleep at a regular time, and I don't want to force myself to sleep via OTC medication. Perhaps I can work around it? Or force a schedule somehow? How do you do it?

catweasel• 17 years ago

I think I'm pretty much in the same boat. I don't stick to any particular sleep schedule except I religiously sleep for two hours in the early afternoon.. just can't help it. I find my most productive time is between 6am and 10am .. by noon I'm tapped, then after a siesta I'm back into productive mode again.

marilyn• 17 years ago

I have been grappling with the same issue. My sleep schedule is all over the place, which I am finding to be very disruptive, particularly with reguard to my daily relationships with other people. Few people think well of the recently laid off/entrepreneur who is still asleep at 11am, even if she was working till 4am the previous night.

A couple of things have helped me reel myself back to a more regular schedule. Melatonin is one, a natural sleep aid. The other was some personal self discovery that led me to the realization that I was using poor sleep habits as an excuse for failure. Not that I want to fail, but if I do, I have my dysfunctional sleep patterns to blame it on. Coming to terms with this has certainly helped me get closer to a more consistent sleep routine, though I'm not there yet. I am still working on creating pre-bed habits that will hopefully give me that Pavlovian response that it is time to sleep. Melatonin is helping with this strategy.

Another piece to my strategy is to write everything down. Every to do list item, every idea or thought I might want to save for later. If it's written down, then there is no use for it to be swimming around in my head at bed time, keeping me awake. Pre-bed journaling can help with this.

Everyone is unique when it comes to his/her relationship with sleep. I hope you find what you need to have a consistently restful sleep, so that you can make the most of the hours you are awake. That is my aim.

ramanujan• 17 years ago

Extremely simple rule: when you can't sleep, you work on your least favorite important task.

Doing such a task has a way of making your brain sleepy. I start the task with the anticipation of falling asleep, which makes it less unpleasant. And if I actually am super alert doing it, then I make progress.

So it's no lose.

Wump• 17 years ago

I have been struggling with this since I went full-time with my venture a couple of months ago as well. I have always had a chaotic sleep pattern, and the lack of a full-time job has just increased the irregularity.

Here's a thought, though-- is that so bad? I find that I do my best, most creative thinking late at night. It's always been like this for me. Why fight it? I'm trying to embrace the chaos now instead of trying to control it.

Confusion• 17 years ago

What works very well for me is that I really want to go to my sports training in the evening. To be able to make the training, I have to get up at 0600, start work at 0700, finish at 1530 and drive back home. I can then relax a bit, eat at 1800 and start training at 2000. Any deviation from this schedule means there is a large chance I will hit heavy traffic and can't eat sufficiently long before the training. To prevent myself from feeling like a wreck when getting up at 0600, I'll have to got to bed at 2200. I have trainings on mondays, wednesdays and fridays, which also enforces the schedule.

Short version: have specific activities at specific times that you will miss (in two senses) if you fail to keep your schedule.

lsc• 17 years ago

I've got a similar problem. and none of the OTC stuff helps me sleep, I've tried.

If it's super important I wake up, drugs help with that. place a bowl of chocolate covered coffee beans between yourself and the alarm. Eat one or two before hitting snooze.

the problem with that approach is that I'm kinda wasted the next day. I'm less productive. But, if I need to be up at a certain time, it's the most sure way. And if I stick with it, it can be kindof okay (you can bet I get to sleep okay if I only had 2 hours of sleep the night before.)

It helps some to have a partner; my girlfriend is the only reason why my schedule is only way out of whack one week out of the month rather than 3 weeks out of the month.

Ask YC: [How] do you maintain a daily routine?

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