I do have to agree, getting yourself used to waking up at roughly the same time every morning helps a lot. Although I work for starbucks so my schedule is still subject to early morning-ness from time to time, most days of the week and weekend I get up by 9am, regardless of when I have to actually be at work or what else I have to get done. I usually wake up before the alarm, just because I hate being jolted out of any particularly good dreams. Once I'm up the routine doesn't change-- stumble to the kitchen, push the button to start the coffee I'd prepared the night before to brewing, stumble back across the house to the bathroom, smoke a cigarette, by which point the coffee is ready or nearly ready, take coffee cup to my room, sit in front of the computer, drink coffee, smoke another cigarette, write for an hour, get dressed for work about an hour and a half before I need to be in, write until it's about 20 min. till the time I need to be at work, drive the 5 1/2 minute drive to work, get my morning double-espresso and possibly smoke another cigarette, clock in, start work... And the first thing I do every night when I get home is take off my work boots and change into my around-the-house clothes, then smoke, then eat, then check my gmail. Most days of the week I go to bed at about the same time, too, which helps with the waking-up-earlier-than-I'd-prefer. I find the little spots in my routine where i've scheduled some me-time keep the daily grind from eating away at too much of my soul-- days when I don't wake up until an hour before I go in, I'm off-kilter for the first few hours of my shift, esp. if I don't get to write that morning. I also grant myself one indulgence per paycheck-- I get paid, and I let myself go pick up one thing or have one activity that is solely designed to make me happy, because otherwise I start to go a little nutty...

p.