Changing Work Schedules | Balancing Work & Family | Writing Forum

My ideal work schedule has been getting up at 4am and then working from 5am – noon, Monday – Thursday. But that hasn't gone according to plan on a regular basis since moving in with my now-husband. While he's willing to get up early with me, so waking him isn't the issue, his schedule means he gets home fairly late. There are nights when he doesn't get home from work until 8pm. That's when I should be hitting the hay for 4am wake-ups (although I generally don't sleep that early anyway). By the time we have dinner, unwind, and spend some time together, it's at least 10pm before bed. And then it takes me a while to fall asleep. So I'd be looking at 5 hours of sleep a night on work nights. That wears on you over time, and then I sleep in and screw up my schedule again. 

So I'm thinking it might be time to adjust things a little bit. Maybe I'll get up at 5, and start working at 5:30am. It won't cause me to start much later. I'll just lose some of my prep time in the morning. And I'll still finish before my brain-drain afternoon hours come along. My hope is that it will be easier to stick with over time, rather than sporadically sticking to my schedule when I'm not completely zonked. We'll have to see how it goes. 

What about you? Have you ever had to change up your work schedule because of someone else's schedule? How did it work out for you?