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LifeHack Challenge - Day 1: Sleeping tonight - it's just a dream

While contemplating the merits of participating in the LifeHack: Become An Early Riser In 5 Days Challenge early yesterday morning at around 7 after having been awake all night, I didn't think very far ahead to what it would be like actually starting it.

Originally vowing to get up at 6am each day to make way for waking up with enough leisure time to shake the cobwebs and get in a little exercise before heading off to work, I set the bar for Day 1 pretty damn high, rolling back my Monday wakeup time to 3am to catch some live mixed martial arts broadcast from Japan where they're 14 hours ahead.

No, little did I think of how difficult it is for me to hop into bed and simply pass out, especially when I've been awake slightly less than 12 hours to begin with. So, with an hour and a half left until my obscenely loud alarm clock is set to jolt my heart rate through the ceiling, I've elected to stay awake. All night. And all day.

I've done this sort of thing before when I knew I had to shed my nocturnal behaviour for that of a daybreaker. The sun burns through the retinas just a bit hotter, and the mind tends to wander off in completely new directions, or conjure up thoughts you were sure you'd forgotten. But hell, it's just one day. It's just a bit more lost traction on my running shoes than normal from a more pronounced dragging of my feet. It's no big deal.

As I scroll through some of the comments on the LifeHack Challenge page, I notice a lot of people who want to wake up an hour earlier, or a half hour. There are some who already sound defeated, saying they'll "try" to get up earlier. I seem to be the only one admitting that I'm coming back from the other end of town where the sun has been a stranger.

So, with day 1 less than 2 hours old, I am up to the challenge... up all night.