I see no point to be sitting at the computer if it's a beautiful day and I already got stuff done early or am going to do stuff late.
I know smart people manage this by blocking calendars etc though.
> Most common time people choose to wake up: 6:00 AM
https://snoozester.com/The-Wake-Up-Time-Report.snooze
> The peak time for waking up is between 6 and 6:30am.
Ever since the Apple Watch came out, I tracked my sleep and for the last two years I average 6.5 hours, no matter what.
I just kind of assumed it was a consequence of becoming older.
I exercise everyday it wakes me up if I feel tired.
* Plan ahead
* Establish a clear list of goals and objectives with your manager. Make sure your moving toward completion of the goals and they can see that. This keeps them off your back.
* Make it clear that you want to manage your own time and ask if that’s going to be an issue. If it is, find out what can be done to alleviate it.
Sorry if that sounded obvious but it’s taken me years to figure this out.
Like one family I know eats dinner at 1 am, because that’s when the father gets home from work. The kids nap in the evening, and do homework past midnight.
I originally thought that was madness, but they have 6 kids and 4 have gone to Ivy League schools apparently it works for them.
As harsh as it might sound to put it this way, the answer for how some people will be able to manage better with their SO and kids is, "because I don't have your SO and kids for my SO and kids," or more specifically, "by not allowing my relationship with my SO and kids to be like your relationship with your SO and kids." For kids especially and with people I know who have this problem, it's because they infantilize and underestimate their kids (past the point where they're actual infants) and think "that's just how they [i.e. kids] are." Your question posed as if it could have an answer that would somehow be general/widely applicable (and not highly dependent upon the tendencies and personalities of the people involved as individuals) certainly hints towards this.
A valuable (possibly the most?) life skill is to be able to tell people to fuck off in the most sincere and HR approved way imaginable, it's very empowering, would recommend 10 for 10.
The practicality of telling people to fuck off means saying the equivalent of, "I need you to fuck off right now [so I can take care of something important without any distractions/obstructions]," ideally having cultivated the kind of relationship where the receivers understand that importance, whether it's stated plainly or merely implied.
In understand this is a luxury not everyone can afford but what I do now is work from about 6-9am, go out during the day until about 3, work 4-6. Which if you add it up is still a solid 5 hour day.
For whatever reason it just makes me more productive and sleep better at night.
Before I did this I just felt like a slave to my computer, super tired all the time, depressed and lethargic. I had sleeping problems because I felt like I was missing out on “life” and for some reason I’d stay up late on Instagram, YouTube etc, maybe watching others live vicariously ? I felt dissatisfied.
Knowledge work pays well but IMO it can come at a pretty high cost if you don’t prioritise your life.
Edit: I read your reply on another post, I think you’re doing way too much at your job. It’s not manageable and it sounds like you’re burned out and likely failing at at least one of your duties making you feel down.