Caffeine Therapy.

I can't seem to regulate my sleeping patterns. Wait. That's not quite right. Actually, I can't seem to bring myself to go to bed at a decent hour, even when my 8:00 class requires me to get up at 6:30 every other morning. I end up procrastinating and going to bed at ungodly hours -- which makes me a very sleepy boy indeed when early afternoon hits. Most of the time I resist the temptation to take naps during the day but sometimes, falling asleep anyway isn't unheard of for me. And then I'll wake up disoriented, groggy and occasionally not knowing whether it's AM or PM.

This probably needs to stop. I'd say I need an average of six hours of sleep nightly in order to function properly the next day, making midnight my target bedtime. Problem is, I don't remember the last time I wanted to go to sleep at that time. I consider myself a nocturnal creature like millions of other people, but this doesn't work well with my morning schedule. So I turn to coffee.

Currently I only drink an average of one cup a day, during breakfast. This boost gets me through my classes in the morning hours and a little bit after lunch. Inevitably, I crash around 2 or 3 pm and never fully recover (which is bad news for my afternoon classes). I drink the occasional second cup in the evening when I study after dinner, but for the most part I've been okay at going without. But I've been sorely tempted to up my regular caffeine intake so I can be more functional as the day goes by -- and believe me, this semester has been and will continue to be full of long busy days.

Scientific studies say too much caffeine is bad for me and I wholeheartedly agree, which is why I'm trying to cut down. But there's no doubt I study better in the evenings, so why not strive to be as sharp and productive as I can be with the help of a nice cup of coffee? It's hard to argue against that, and so I indulge in that second night-time drink.

Then again, it's even harder to argue against being more disciplined and consistently going to sleep at a reasonable time, isn't it?