Time management advice?

[littlewings]

In addition to the 6week challenge coming up, I've been trying to plan out my year as much as I can. As you can see, I'm posting this at almost 3:00am here. I am your typical night owl; I like staying up and sleeping in, and over the first semester of school, this worked out perfectly. I've always been like this. However, after new years, it's all going to change and I'm already worrying a bit on how I'm going to adjust.

I'll have classes Monday/Wednesday/Fridays from 8:30am - 7:00pm, and then Ninjutsu Tuesday and Thursday nights at 9:00pm -11:30pm. With catching the bus and getting ready the next morning, I would probably end up having to wake up at 6:45/7:00 AM for school. I've never been good to function on little sleep and yet I'm never able to fall asleep during the day for naps... so that's about 6 hours of sleep a night compared to my regular 8 - 9 hours. My friends say I should just quit ninjutsu, but they also don't think I should try going paleo so... I'm looking for another opinion. I love ninjutsu, the community within it and how it ensures that I'm working out -- especially since I have my housemate doing it with me (although even he's decided on most likely skipping weekdays because of sleep needs). Plus, I've already declared myself a monk and I want to make this work. Anyone ever share a similar problem and any advice to adjust to a new sleep pattern quickly? Am I just planning myself out for a burn-out? (I was also considering a part-time job, but that's really going to depend on how the first month goes...)

Any words of encouragement would be welcome, I'm just really indecisive!

[Oogiem]

Find a daytime Ninjutsu class. IMO there is no way you will survive that type of load with health and sanity intact. So I'd have to agree with the friends, drop the Ninjutsu unless you can find a different time to do it.

[littlewings]

I was afraid of that, haha. There aren't any other ninjutsu classes in the area, let alone any other martial arts classes that I can afford. It's frustrating how late they schedule it. I just realized they do have an extra weekly Saturday's class, however, so I might still pay for it and just attend those.

[Space_Elf]

I'd hate to see you drop ninjutsu! There's this nifty calculator I use when I stay up late to figure out good bed times and wake up times so I feel more refreshed in the mornings even if i haven't gotten the whole 8 hours of sleep. I also use it for naps during the day, if I feel I need them. (a cup of green tea is recommended before taking a nap and the nap shouldn't be fore much more than 2 hours)

Sleepy Time Calculator

[littlewings]

Oh, cool! And it works?!

[Space_Elf]

For me, it does. I realize that everyone is different, so you'd have to try it out and see.

[littlewings]

Definitely will. Thanks!

[humanperson832]

A couple of things that came to mind while reading:

1. Consider leaving your class a little bit early so that you can still make it to bed at a somewhat decent hour. Also, working out that late at night is kind of asking to stay awake for hours afterward, so if at all possible, go to that Saturday class and find some other way to exercise during the week that falls earlier in your day.

2. Trust me, if you have to wake up that early on a consistent basis and don't take naps during the day, you're going to want to go to sleep a lot earlier. Use caffeine to get through the first few days if you need to, but eventually your body will adjust.

3. Do as much of your 'getting ready' process the night before as possible. Pick your outfit and lay it out, make your lunch (if applicable), take a shower the night before if you can, etc. Make it so that all you have to do in the morning is eat, get dressed, brush your teeth, grab your stuff and go.

4. I use an app called Sleep Cycle that wakes me up during the time that I'm sleeping the lightest in a 45-minute window of my choosing. This has been a lifesaver for me.

5. While you're falling asleep, say to yourself repeatedly, "I wake up when my alarm goes off. I ignore the snooze button." An affirmation that your subconscious will eventually ingrain in itself if you focus on it daily.

[Kirkor]

What does ninjutsu training consist of? Is it like karate + kendo?

[littlewings]

Thanks for the responses guys!

@traipsing - Yeah over the past semester, working out so late did get me to stay up til about 1am because I still had so much energy leftover, but it was never a problem because last semester I didn't start classes til 10:30/11:30am. It just sucks I couldn't manage to make my schedule the same as I did last year. I'm definitely going to look into that sleep cycle app, though!! Napping may become something I'll have to adjust to regardless. Also I HATE showering at night- something else I may have to get used to.

@Athena - I've taken into consideration all the studying and hangouts I'd be doing as well, but I will have time in between classes for those, and I have Tuesdays and Thursdays free. (If Ninjutsu was Wednesday nights instead of Tuesday nights it would have been perfect). My campus doesn't have any martial arts classes in between my own schedule, which is why it's so inconvenient... the martial arts clubs are independently organized so they don't really worry about synchronizing it with other classes.

Talking to friends, though, I haven't thought of!! I might be able to find a couple of the guys that would like to practice and spar during the day with me, so I'll for sure try that.. hopefully they'll have some time for it too.

@Kirkor - to be honest, I'm still not up to date with all the different styles of martial arts because I just started in September, but from what I've heard, ninjutsu uses a lot of similar techniques to jujitsu. First hour is lots of exercises: horse stance, shoulder rolls, break falls, snake crawls, pushups -- so just working out. Second hour is self-defense techniques, against both hand and weapon attacks. I prefer kickboxing/Muay Thai which is what I do back home, but there's nowhere on campus or around that's as affordable.

SO, in conclusion... I've decided I'm going to register for the semester. However... I'll just go on Saturdays. It's a lot of money for just 2 hours a week, compared to what I normally go for, but the thought of not joining this year at all is depressing... so I'll settle for Saturdays instead of the full week. As for Tuesdays and Thursdays, if I can't find others to practice with, I'll just do body weight circuits and running again. I guess that takes a bit of the load off.