Getting Up

So, last month I mentioned that I had talked to a doctor. When I talked to her she mentioned that I should exercise more, as well as trying to have a more regular sleep schedule.

I’ve been doing pretty well on the exercise part of the plan. I bike to work at least three days a week, and at ~8km each way that’s a minimum of about 48km each week. So I think I’ve got the exercise down.

In the last few days I’ve definitely noticed that I need to work on my sleeping schedule. There’s been a few days where I’ve had trouble getting up, and I think I know why: I’ve been going to bed pretty late recently.

Since I started at the new job I’ve been getting home early – one of the benefits of regularly starting at 9am-ish is that I’m usually home by 6pm. This has been pretty awesome, because it gives me more time to work on my own stuff once I’m home. The downside is that once I really get into something, it’s hard for me to put it down when it’s time for bed.

I think I need to sort out some sort of schedule for my weekdays. Set aside time to cook and eat dinner, some time to just relax, and some time to work on projects. Maybe that will help me get to bed at a reasonable time every day, which will help me wake up a bit earlier every time.

To help me get up, I’ve been thinking I need a better alarm clock. My phone seems to have issues with charging lately, so it’s shut off in the middle of the night a few times already. My other alarm clock doesn’t seem to be doing the job, I think partially because it is just sound, and what I need is sound plus light – an alarm clock that turns on a sun lamp in the morning is what I need.

This sounds like a good first project for a Raspberry Pi! I think I’m going to try and build my own custom alarm clock to help me get in up the morning. I’m going to spend the next few days planning out what I’m going to build. No idea how I’m going to build the sun box yet, but it should be fun to figure out!