Note to Self: Wake Up, Stay Up

I'm sure we've all heard sayings about how beneficial it is to be an early riser. When hearing these quotes, the speaker failed to mention that early rising doesn't always come with ease. Nonetheless, it's supposedly essential to having a productive day.
-It is the early bird that gets the worm.
-Early riser.. out before them other guys, that's the way to profit everytime.
-Cultivate the habit of early rising. It is unwise to keep the head long on level with the feet.

Any of these ring a bell?
Unfortunately... they all ring too many bells in my ears, and I've learned a valuable lesson.

Wake up when the alarm goes off, and stay up when the alarm goes off.

Like many, I have the habit of tricking myself into believing if I catch 15 more minutes of sleep, I will be better off. The problem that comes with this way of thinking is that those (measley) 15 minutes usually turn into an hour and some change. The problem? If you're in college, which I am, you've missed a class or two as a result of your "fifteen minutes" . Some don't see the harm in missing a class. People keep telling me, "Don't worry", "Everyone does it", "Just make sure you're at the next one".

However, I see a problem in this. It's one thing to copy notes from someone else. It's another, more informative, thing to hear the teacher elaborate on the notes first hand. Furthermore, just because everyone's missing classes doesn't make up for my absence. I have plans on changing the world; I can't do that following the paths of other people.

There needs to be some set of helpful hints instructing us how to rise early, effectively. For now, the obvious answer to me is- Go to bed at a reasonable time. I am a night owl, I usually don't hit the sack til' around 4 in the morning. That will have to change. Sitting up wasting the night away because sleeping just doesn't sound entertaining is no longer an option. If the time I'm up isn't productive, I'm better off sleeping. That's all there is to it.

2 fingers and blessings,
B

*Random (yet, on my mind)- WHAT IS OJ THINKING ABOUT! Was it not enough that he got off with accusations of murder? Now he wants to test the waters and give robbery a try too. While I'm struggling to wake up in time for classes, he's creating another controversial issue for us to discuss in Journalism. And, for what? His own personal collection of sports memorabilia. Loser.