Having life dictated by your sleep schedule is NOT a luxury.

Despite what the other people at work may think.

I come into work at 9:00 am. Not because I want to, but because I have to. The people at work think it's a luxury though, and I get such snide comments as "It must be nice to be able to waltz in at 9 am." But what they haven't seen is the consequences of what happens when I don't. Until today, I hadn't either.

Yesterday I had to be at work at 7:30 am to attend a class. I figured that as long as I could go to bed early enough, I'd be okay. But when I woke up at 6:00 am and could barely think straight, I knew it was a bad idea.

I was in a mental fog all morning, which was great for my information retention. (I'm using italics for my sarcasm font.) But the worst part was today, when I felt the fatigue hit me, like a rainstorm that soaked me through to the bone. By the time 3:00 pm hit, I couldn't stand it any more. I knew that I had burned through all the productivity I had in me. I went home and slept until 6:30 pm.

I'm never waking up early again, whether I want to or not.