Early(?) to bed...

Decided to "treat myself" and go to be "early" last night: 1:10am. Luxury!!!

I figure that going to bed an hour or two won't meaningfully delay my e-mailing my final draft to my committee. Worst case, it makes it a day later than it would've been. And I might break even: I'm finding the cumulative effects of sub-optimal sleep are catching up to me and pounding me something silly.

So, I decided to pack it in early tonight. Rounding off to the nearest quarter-hour, last night would've been the fifth night in a row that I went to bed at 2am or later. Bleh. So, decided that I'd watch "The Apprentice," put in another hour afterwards, and shut down around midnight. As it turns out, I got on a roll and ended up working until around one.

Here's my tally of "quit times" for the last week, when I really started "digging in" to my dissertation for the final push. Note that the dates actually represent when I got up that day, not the technical "post-midnight = a new day" date. Also, note that this is when I pack up; my actual BED-time is about a half hour later -- after taking care of the dog, closing up the house, brushing my teeth...

Mon, 5/9 = 1:20am
Tues, 5/10 = 1:00am
Weds, 5/11 = 1:40am
Thurs, 5/12 = 1:55am
Fri, 5/13 = 2:25am
Sat, 5/14 = 2:50am
Sun, 5/15 = 2:25am
Mon, 5/16 = 1:10am (last night -- early...!)

Luckily, The Lady drives us to and from work, so I nap in the car going in -- and sometimes, on the way home!

Hmm -- now that I've typed up the times, I'm inclined to dump it into a spreadsheet and make a line graph. I won't -- but I wanna!!! That's why I'm a social scientist, I suppose: I dig looking for patterns in social data. (A "data nerd"? Such a thing?)

When I was in college, I kept track of the number of CDs I owned (vertical axis) versus the date (horizontal axis) on graph paper. I'd go on binges: not buy any for a few months, then go and buy a whole armful (nearly always at used CD stores; they are your friend -- more band for the buck [pun a fortuitous mis-type!]). Despite the "dry spells," it was a linear relationship -- a near-perfect straight line over three or four years; a constant half-yearly average.

Ayep! :)

--GG