If you have been following The Diary lately, you should know that I’ve been making gradual changes in my life. One of those changes is waking up early for work—ideally at 8:00am. I did just that on most workdays after ToyCon 2025, and there were times I even woke up at 6:00am. (That’s a feat for a nocturnal person like me, and even my family is shocked by the fact that I woke up before they did.)
Now it’s beyond the middle of August 2025, and I admit that I haven’t really been waking up as early as 8am lately… and that’s fine.
(Buckle up because this is going to be a long post.)
“Sleep is Medicine”
On the night of March 25, 2019, the day my world almost went away, I met Dr. M (my therapist to this day). Every single day or night, she would visit me and check up on me in my hospital room. From talking about what happened on March 25, we started talking about my life, my loved ones, and things that I love (e.g., Batman, Foo Fighters, professional wrestling) while we talked about scientifically-proven ways to ease my anxiety and battle my depression.
One of the things Dr. M prescribed me to do is to sleep for nine to ten hours. She said:
Sleep is medicine.
I admit that at that point, my sleep was less than ideal, so it makes sense that longer and better quality sleep will improve my mental health. With the help of medication that helps me sleep well, we worked on my sleeping schedule (starting with sleeping at 9pm sharp). That became the template for whatever sleep schedule I make in the coming years.
Six Years After…
Fast forward to 2025, I’m in my second year of working full-time for the family business, which is technically my second corporate job. And even if I’m really a nocturnal, I need to start waking up early again because of my day job. I need to start waking up as early as 8:00am.
I started working in my family’s company in January 2023, and as I kept working, I noticed that the busier period for me is the first week of the month. But when April 2025 arrived, so did the flood of paperwork and stress. That busier first week period turned into a whole month. The number of permits and proposals was (almost) unbearable, and visiting mall admin offices for permit approval became more often than my Satchmi hangouts.
2025 also marks my sixth year of surviving the 25th of March, 2019, and the sixth year of consistently taking my nightly medicine. Yes, I still slept longer, but I also woke up as late as 10:00am, and my job requires me to wake up early. Sometimes I even wake up feeling groggy, even if I had nine to ten hours of sleep.
Side note: Aside from my sleep issues, my nightly medicine increased my appetite, which led me to gain more weight in the process. Sometimes I would even eat mindlessly. I ended up looking like a chubbier Bruno Mars at that point, and I earned a “HE’S FAT!” remark from the one and only Scott Steiner. (Watch the video below for context.)
And let me rewind: It’s been six years since I’ve been taking my nightly medicine. Six. Fucking. Years. That’s ridiculous. I realized that it’s time to make some changes. It’s time to change my sleeping habits for the better, and it’s time to lessen the dosage by half… with or without Dr. M’s orders.
So, almost to the end of April 2025, I started drinking half of my nightly medicine and lessening my phone time at least an hour before bedtime (at that point, I decided that sleeping time starts at 11pm). What happened after that? Just like how I drank the entire medicine, I fell asleep right on time for bed when I drank half. Why didn’t I do this sooner?
And what happened when I woke up? I didn’t ignore the alarm within the first few seconds, and I woke up before 8:00am… and I didn’t feel groggy. In fact, I feel refreshed. If I did feel like shit during work hours, it’s because of the fuckload of paperwork and the farther commuting and not because of my lessened nightly medicine.
It’s been decided: I will take half the medicine per night going forward. Again, I wondered why I didn’t do this sooner.
An Early Wake-Up Streak
When I changed my most important prayer last May (“Lord, please hold me longer… to keep alive, a moment at a time.”), the universe gave a few amazing things in return, starting in June, while I started making more gradual changes to my life. I already said that I want to wake up as early as 8:00am before the change of prayer and all, but this time, I want to truly commit to that kind of change.
And I’m proud to say that after June 15 (the Monday after ToyCon, a truly memorable weekend for me for many reasons), with the help of my lessened yet still-effective nightly medicine, better sleeping habits, and even an improved morning routine (that’s for another entry soon), I slept from seven to eight hours of sleep instead of my then-normal nine-to-ten. I was consistent in waking up early for most workdays. I would wake up as early as 8am. Sometimes I would even wake up at 6am, a few hours earlier than my family did, and they were incredibly shocked about that. I even got a “good job!” from my Father and Younger Brother, which warmed my heart.
I admit that the process wasn’t perfect. There was a day or two I lacked sleep because I treated myself to a late chicken burrito dinner, and then I had to suddenly wake up earlier for a site visit in the south. But the important thing is that I kept my promise—I really did wake up early for work.
My Mind Says Something, My Body Disagrees
And then the Monday morning of July 14 happened.
For the first time in weeks, I woke up at 9:00am. And instead of getting pissed about not waking up at 8am, I considered it a blessing. It was the most satisfying ten hours of sleep since Dr. M recommended that number of hours of sleep in 2019.
It was like my mind said:
Wake up at 8am.
But my body disagreed:
No, we won’t. We need nine to ten hours of sleep.
That quality ten-hour sleep was so energizing that I did my entire morning routine with a smile on my face, then I finished the billings and photocopied the reports all in one workday. I also remembered celebrating that high level of productivity by watching a few Season 1 episodes of my favorite show, the American sci-fi crime action/drama Person of Interest, plus having a glorious nightly affogato hangout at Satchmi after.
Side note: Wait a minute, Dewey. An affogato at night? Doesn’t that ruin your sleeping schedule? For me, not really. My nightly medicine helps me sleep properly, even if I enjoyed a caffeinated drink before bedtime.
Since waking up at 9am is not that bad (at least I don’t hear any complaints from my bosses/parents for now) and I work at home anyway, I decided to pair my early/morning routine with a more flexible sleeping schedule (starting from 11pm):
- Sleep for seven to nine hours when I’m required to wake up early between 6:00am to 8:00am.
- Sleep for ten hours when I’m allowed to.
With that kind of schedule and a solid early routine, I still get quality sleep while keeping my promise of waking up early. That’s a win-win for me.
Conclusion (& Notes to Self XVI)
I remember what a friend of mine, Sam, said to me recently (this definitely counts as a Notes to Self entry):
It doesn’t matter how early you wake up. What’s important is how you use your waking hours.
Sam’s quote definitely hit a nail on the head. I shouldn’t beat myself up for not consistently waking up at 8am if my body truly needs more hours of sleep, but I shouldn’t let my body slack off when I’m required to wake up early. Right now, in my current job and lifestyle, and as long as I have a solid early/morning routine and a nightly routine, having a flexible sleeping schedule does wonders for me.
Since the start of August 2025, I have been waking up at 9:00am (there are no complaints from my bosses/parents yet), yet I have been consistent in my early routine, and I still get the job done. Again, that’s a win-win for me.
Extra Notes
I almost forgot to mention. Weeks after I started drinking half of my nightly medicine, my appetite decreased, and I’m starting to lose weight. Now I can wear my favorite clothes with confidence again. Yes!
Also, before I finished writing this post, I checked my dashboard and found out that this is the 400th post here on The Diary. I thought I would reach such a milestone with another Minute Warning post. Thank goodness.
Happiest 400th post, Diary! See you in the next post, everyone!
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The Diary of The Deranged Writer 