Since we’ve been back (12 days now), I’ve found it very difficult to adjust to this time zone, falling asleep at as early as 7 p.m.. I seem to have settled into a time zone all of my own, now, where I’m wide awake at 4 a.m. and absolutely fall out at 9 p.m. That’s only 7 hours of sleep, but my body just doesn’t seem to need it, nor want it.
I’m going to keep it this way. The absolute best time to get anything done in Glasgow, as far as studying, is after about 3:30 a.m., when all of the pub-goers have finished their stumbles home. The city is then absolutely silent until around 5 a.m., when the first delivery trucks begin to rumble by. That’s about the only noise there is until around 7 a.m., when the vehicle traffic picks up enough to be noticeable. That’s the ideal time for a shower cat-lick bath anyway (yes, our boiler’s still out; no, we have no heating or hot water; we are considering breaking the lease). So, getting up at 4 and working ’til 7 gives me 3 solid hours of writing, with peace, no demands, nothing else to do except get up for a cup of tea.
The truly wonderful thing about this is that I’m giving my best time to my studies, rather than trying to squeeze studying in at the end of the day, when I’m tired. In the morning, I don’t check email, I don’t look at blogs, I don’t tinker with photographs: I just write. It’s … fabulous.
Wow, I’m not sure if I could swing such strange hours, but the idea of a full 3 hours of peaceful writing sounds incredible. I do need to work on my habits, everything’s piling up too much.
I loved getting up in the wee hours before everyone else in times gone by, but lately, I only desire more sleep and so instruct Bill (through barely coherent mumbles) to wake me up only moments before the need to start the morning drudgery with the children. Can’t wait till summer!
Ahh, the urge to hibernate. I know that one well. Full-spectrum lightbulbs are the answer. On a timer, in the bedroom. It’ll fix you right up. 🙂
Very cool. I love when the city’s quiet.
Paz
Love the quiet hours. So glad you have found some and can get some quality work done. So sorry if you wind up having to break the lease. This looked like such a great place when you first found it!