It’s usually the very first question I get asked when meeting someone and they learn what I do for a living.  My answer?  3:15 AM.

The next question is normally something along the lines of “what time do you get to work”?  That would be shortly after 4 AM.

Bedtime?  Around 8 PM.

Nap?  You betcha’.  At least :40 minutes each afternoon or I don’t function well at all  the next day.

How often does this schedule get messed up?  All the time!  Getting to bed by 8 is tough with family activities.  And the nap almost always gets interrupted by phone calls or I’m busy doing something at home and time gets away from me.

I tell people that as awful as my schedule sounds there are others who have much harder lives and jobs to do and I really count my blessings.  As an example, I know a former TV person who used to go to bed at 1 PM and go into work around 10 PM to start working on their morning show.  Or the men and women who work on our interstate highways in the summer heat or winter cold.  Or the guys who do roofing!  You get the idea.

One final thought.  I normally keep my schedule all week long.  So weekends find me toddling off to bed early and getting up early as well.  Except for next week when I will be enjoying time off and will be able to live a so-called “normal” life.

Doug