No more late nights for me

photo credit: randystoreyphotography

I used to be a night owl. I used to stay up late at night catching up on work, my social media, blogging, and the like. My research has been usually the activity that I’ve reserved for when I have quiet time for myself and when I have room to breathe from the insanely hectic schedule I usually have. But since I switched around my schedule, I’ve realized how important it is to really get at the very least 7 hours of solid sleep.

I try to go to bed relatively early on a daily basis. Admittedly, a couple of times in the past week or so I’ve felt compelled to hang out with friends simply because I knew that I hadn’t seen them in a while and I didn’t want to miss the chance. This, of course, led to staying up a tad late. On the other hand, I’ve become much stricter about where/when I go out. If I’m invited out for a drink, I normally request that said drink be on my side of town, and preferably within 10 blocks or so from my apartment.

I made a decision earlier today that will change that, substantially. I signed up for swimming. Yes, everyone. I’m coming back to swimming 3-5 days a week (depending on whether I like the idea of going to UBC for my swim practise). You’ll see… if I come back to volleyball without aerobic training and cardiovascular resistance, chances are that I won’t be able to run and track balls down. So, the easiest way to transition again into competitive volleyball is to swim.

That decision of mine (which I have to admit, I’m applauding myself for doing it), my friends, has also reduced my opportunities to hang out with the night crowd during the week and, for that matter, to be invited to do anything that requires me to be outside of my bed after 9.30pm. Since I have to swim before my morning class, I need to ensure that I’m at the pool on the UBC campus by 7:00am. So, that means, if you were planning to invite me to anything even remotely late at night during the week, I might as well graciously decline the invite starting now.

It’s quite a challenge for me. The busier I get, the less time I get to do a lot of things, including blogging and tweetups. And I do ponder whether it will mean that the traffic that my blog will get will be reduced and whether I’ll be invited to less events. But, as I promised myself, 2010 is my year, it’s a year where I’ll be thinking about how to better myself and where the decision-making process will place me right at the center and everything/everyone else in the periphery.

As I write this blog post, I feel guilty. I worry that people will judge me and tag me as snobbish. But the truth is, I do have a Calendar posted and it clearly states where I’m going to show up and for what events (be it attending a presentation by a guest speaker or be it one of my own speaking engagements). So I hope my friends and readers and followers take that opportunity and attend those events. I’m even seriously considering having guest-bloggers post on my site and represent me at a number of events. All in the name of keeping good fresh on this site for the people who grace me with their readership.

But, long story made short – there will be no more late nights for me. Sorry. I’m working hard to think a way to compensate for the lack of my physical presence at night online and at social events. When I find a way (or if you have any suggestions – please let me know) I’ll post here some thoughts.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. Quiet Nights by Andy Caldwell featuring Gina Rene (deep house music)
2. Empty Streets (Late Night Alumni)