A new leaf

Coffee is my friend--especially Ethiopian macchiatos.  And especially when I'm sleep-deprived in Ethiopia, as I was in this photo.

If there's one thing that has eluded me my.en.ti.re.life.--and actually continues to do so--it is the discipline of waking early, and getting a head start on my day.

I'm a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom--and truth be told I prefer rolling out of bed at a cozy 7:45 in the morning.  My kids usually rise right around then too, so I'm encountering all sorts of small, energetic, banana-eating people as I stumble towards my coffeepot.

The thing is, I'm a big fan of doing what works.  And up until this point, starting my day at 8 am worked magnificently.  We're generally home during the day, which means plenty of hours available for all of the things we need to accomplish.  None of my kids are particularly early risers, and it's worked.

But now there's this little issue of the blog.  Which has been growing lately and I actually have some pretty exciting (okay, REALLY exciting if they actually come to pass) opportunities ahead.  And as I'm starting to think about my goals and such, I'm becoming increasingly aware that, um, well...this writing thing requires time.  And discipline.  Kind of like a job.  And there just plain AREN'T enough hours in my waking-up-at-8-am-day to school my children, keep up with friends, maintain my home, prepare nutritious meals for my family, and write.

So what THAT means is...gulp...I need to start waking up earlier.

I've decided that my writing, blogging, and answering emails will be primarily relegated and confined to the early morning hours.  Because otherwise, I inevitably wind up sneaking in computer time while my kids are making a huge mess eating breakfast, or in between teaching math and leading copywork exercises.  It simply doesn't work.  It stresses me out.  It makes me crazy.  And I've been operating this way for months now, and I hate it.  And of course evenings should be spent relaxing, enjoying my husband's company, and reading good books--NOT clacking away on the keyboard.

But quite frankly--and I know this makes me some sort of loser wimp--the prospect of committing to an early wake-up time is utterly terrifying to me.  Perhaps because I am positively certain that my entire day will consequently be spent slogging around, pining for those lost two hours of slumber. 

Because you can't get those hours back, you know!

Yet the rational part of my brain says that, realistically, my day ALways goes better when I wake a little earlier--and when I don't sit on the computer during the hours I should be schooling my children or doing my laundry. 

So.

I figure a reasonable goal to start with is...wait for it...6:45.  I know, I know, that probably sounds ridiculous to all you bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed early birds out there, but it sounds downright intimidating to me.

But maybe this will revolutionize my life.

Or maybe it won't.

Maybe it'll be a major fail.

Either way I'll let you know how my great big get-up-early experiment goes.

And in the meantime, how about you?  What time do you wake up?  And has anyone else out there made the big leap from non-morning-person to early riser?