I was going to write this blog post about 'How Steem has changed my life'. I have a bucket load of positives for steem - but one great big fat negative.
Sleep. The lack thereof.
I have always been a bit of a late bird. From pulling 'all-nighters' as a student to get the assignments in before the 9am deadline, to working through the night in the office when I first started my business, to getting over-absorbed in online gaming when I was an Entropia addict.
But they all tended to be occasional. Steem has become habitual.
Getting to bed by 3am is an early night for me in my world run on Universal Steem Time. Many nights I am still awake to see the sunrise. And then I start work again by 9.30am.
We all know the story. Discord figures heavily in it. With DMs coming in from people all round the world, and all around the clock, it is hard to stop. I always try to answer every message.
I set myself extra steem challenges by having a continual rollcall of time critical fixed points in the week - A Dollar A Day donations every day, My Life In 8 Songs every Thursday, The Alternative Lifestyle Show every Friday, MSP Sustainability Curation post every Sunday...
They all have associated actions that have to be done at certain times. "It can wait til tomorrow" is not usually an option.
And I have a full-time day job as well, so most of my steem activity has to start after 5.30pm when my second work day begins.
I enjoy it, so I keep doing it.
But I know it is not for the best. Working late into the early morning is not good for my health, it is not good for my productivity, it is not good for my creativity and not good for my inspiration.
It has to stop. But how?
I am going to try to flick the switch - go to bed early, and get up early.
Maybe real early, like 5am early. Then I can still just catch some of the American east coasters that I work with and the west coasters should be fine. It should also be okay for the people in south east Asian that I interact with.
So that is the plan. I am going to try to get to bed by 11pm at the very latest.
If you see me on Discord after that time - feel free to remind me it is my past my bed time. Shout at me and publicly humilate me on air if I am still lurking around listening to a radio show.
Except my radio shows on Thursdays and Fridays - they will have to be the exceptions.
I know when I do so occasionally have a long night's sleep I am all of a buzz the next day with super productivity and new ideas aplenty.
So if I do manage to turn back time and get my sleep patterns repaired look out for some weird and wonderful stuff come flowing from my brain.
But for now sleep tight and I'll catch you with the sunrise...
PROJECTS :
Introducing @communityaction - taking steem out into the community
A Dollar A Day charitable giving project : July 2018 - summary of donations received and given out
BLOGS :
RADIO :
The Alternative Lifestyle Show - Friday 10 August 2018 with @informationwar [recording]
My Life In 8 Songs - 9 August 2018 - @d-vine, @darrenclaxton & @onemedia [recording]
[ images from pixabay.com ]