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How can I stop procrastinating and fix my sleep schedule?
I've gotten into a terrible rut with procrastinating all the time on everything and now my sleep schedule is messed up because of it.
I have two jobs, one of them is a work at home and the other I travel to the next city over for usually twice or three times a week.
My issue (although lies in me) stemmed from my first job. It consists of working on projects that are on time as long as they're turned in before my boss gets to work the next day (I send them in online). My boss usually sends over my work around 3pm. I'll start on it around 4 and then usually take a break at around 6. However, I then procrastinate on finishing it until really late at night just because I know that technically I can. Sometimes I don't even start on them until 1 or 2am in the morning and then I'm awake working on them until usually 5 or 6am. Then this turns into me sleeping until 1:30pm in the afternoon or on really bad days like today I slept until 3pm.
This of course ruins my entire schedule and turns into a pattern because now I don't get tired until around 4am.
Another example is that last night I worked for my first job until 5am then went to bed and I knew I needed to work a night shift at my second job today so I made plans with a friend in the same city to meet up with him before I went into work, but that didn't happen because I slept until 3pm. Then I had to get up, take a shower, get ready, get something to eat, check the mail, and get gas. I KNEW I also needed to do laundry, but I need to be at my second job around 6:30pm which means leaving at 5:30pm and I don't have time for laundry now because laundry takes two hours and it's already 4. Now I'm wearing some dirty clothes (mixed with clean) for the second day in a row because I keep procrastinating on doing laundry. That means I'll be wearing dirty clothes tomorrow too because I won't get home until 1am tonight and the laundromat closes at midnight.
This kind of madness gets extremely aggravating on Sundays because by the time i wake up everything is closing within two or three hours so I can never utilize those days to their full potential.
Ideally I want to be going to sleep at 2-3am and waking up at 10 or 10:30am. I keep setting my alarm for these times, but I just hit snooze without even thinking about it every time until it eventually turns off altogether.
Help! How do I fix this!
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The problem is that break you take at 6. her are two idea you may try
1) Don't take a break. Whatever you do during you break time try to remove it. for example if you watch tv during the break unplug the tv before you start working. The idea is to make it inconvenient to watch tv so you are more likely to decide to just keep working. If you can go to an internet cafe or library to do your work so you have less detractions than at home. try to make taking a break as inconvenient as possible.
2) sleep during your break. You can get a reprieve from work and stay well rested. sometime even a shot 30 min nape can be surprisingly refreshing. If you over sleep and wake up at 2am you still have time you get your online work done and you will can stay awake for the rest of the day.
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As already stated, the solution IS simple but like any bad habits or patterns, breaking out of that is not so simple. What basically happens is that we end up fighting ourselves. Its basically a fight between your conscious self and subconscious self. When awake, you can clearly see the issues and know this isn't going to work forever and is actually causing problems for you with time for yourself and sleep and work. I am very familiar in myself at least with how differently my subconscious sees things. My subconscious is where the emotions are stored. Watching a movie that is sad or scary can have me reacting with tears or feeling jumpy or frightened as I focus on a movie that I know isn't even a for real issue, just actors. My subconscious controls all the thing I don't need to think about, blinking my eyes or remembering to take my next breath. It also seems to wish to do whatever it thinks will please the 'awake' or conscious me, like a great support friend in the background. Unfortunately at times, it also views things like a child would, without full understanding. So it assumes that what is focused on most thought wise, is something that I like and want to keep.
Actually most peoples subconscious all work the same way.
So this may not be true for you but if your subconscious is working a plan that goes against what your conscious mind wants, then it may well explain away whats going on.
Lets address the snooze alarm. Even if you know the time you need to be up to get everything done, you choose to sleep in again, and the question to ask is why. Sometimes yes, it may be you didn't get enough sleep. But for some people, we put off that which we really don't deep down like doing. Not all of us have jobs that we really enjoy, its just a paycheck. But if there are other options, that might be a solution. It sounds like though many can handle a night or evening job, that your system does not do well with it or you plain don't like having to work evenings and would prefer a regular daytime job and have the evenings to yourself like most. Or you just may have the personality that responds better to some structure from a job where you leave the house and go to the job. I know it would be hard for me to work from home because I would always see the things that need to be done or I would rather be doing.
It may be that you are having these issues as the only way your subconscious has to getting your attention and getting across a message that it doesnt like something or is afraid, unhappy....
If this is the only job that really works for you and you do not prefer to have a day job, then heres what to do. Place your alarm clock across the room from you so that you have to get up to hit snooze or get up. This helps some people to stop the habit of hitting snooze.
As for working from home. Keep checking or set phone or pc to let you know when bosses work schedule has arrived. Then pack up your pc and leave the house. Find a coffe house or Starbucks that is close to you. I go often and I see a lot of students doing studying there where they can't be distracted at home, and lots of others use an alternative place to do actual work for a job. I've actually listened to them if sitting near me being on phone and pc for work. If you search locations, some places are open til 6 630 or even later 830. If you have work and start by 4 and work til closing at 830, you've already had 4 1/2 hours of work. HOw long does it take, just time put in on doing the work online? If its around this time or more, you've already got a lot done and you don't have the temptations that you do at home to fall into the bad habit again. Looking for a place with internet where you can sit long term as long as you buy a drink or some food, is the best thing, and if you want more work time, then look for one that is open even longer. There is one Starbucks in the N. end of my city that stays open til midnight. That would be ideal for you if you need to break your habit of being distracting and putting work off. Once you feel you're back on track, you can move to working from home location again and see if you can stay on track. If it only lasts a while and you fall back into the old patterns, then you seriously need to keep working on pc from a location outside/away from your home, or really get serious about finding a structured conventional job away from home where you put in your 8 hours. If honest with yourself, how much do you really like this job? If you tend to dread it more than finding aspects of it that you like, keep working it but look actively for something else.
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Hiya!
uh... That was a lot to keep track there. haha XD
But I think I can help. What you need to do is simple. What I do when I got a lot of papers due at a certain date, I dont wait. I do it all as soon as I get it. Because I know that if I do it on the last day, it will be rushed, sloppy, and stressful. Get what you need to do done soon as possible. And then right after, you can relax a bit.
Now for your sleeping problem. Living on this kind of schedule is very dangerous. A human needs 7 hours of sleep, no more or no less. Because if this continues there are consequences that develop, like depression, hunger, drowsiness. One day of little to no sleep raises your blood pressure. If this continues, it can cause heart problems which then could lead to death.
So this is what I prescribe to you, go to sleep eight hours before the time you do get up. You need a few hours of actual sleep to stay healthy. So get the amount of sleep needed, then slowly go up in your times so you can wake up at a more reasonable time.
I hope I helped. Sweet dreams!
-Dr.D
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