When I got my first job at 15, I worked nights in a pizza place. Then, for years, I worked from noon to eight at UPS. Then I switched my schedule there so I could go to school at night, which meant that I usually studied after school. I have not been in the habit of getting up early in quite some time, except for that last semester of undergrad when I had to get up at 5:30.

And boy, I got a lot done that semester. I was more productive than I think I've ever been, at least in retrospect. And I need more productivity now, because I'm just not getting enough done. I'm on top of my classwork and RA, but not getting any research accomplished. 7:30 ain't early enough. I'd been contemplating more serious earliness, but a post by YelloCello (one of my new favorite blogs) finally pushed me into action. I am backing my wake-up time up by increments - 6:30 yesterday, 6:00 today, 5:30 tomorrow.

And it hurts. Getting up early produces a bizarre psychic pain for me. My first thought isn't about coffee or loved ones, it's usually Kurt Cobain yowling the chorus of You Know You're Right: paaaaaiiiiiinnn. paaaaaiiiiiinnn. It's very awful.

God, I'm such a drama queen in the mornings.