Alex Edelman

Turn off the alarm clock. Your body will probably wake up at the same time anyway, but it’ll do so naturally and pleasantly, not at the behest of an infernal machine. If you sleep a little later, then that’s your body telling you something (probably: go to bed earlier you dummy.) I used to be religious about waking up to an alarm but I find that I’m much happier in the morning without it.

I used to have cable TV and a Tivo. Both were great, especially the Tivo, as I finally freed myself from the shackles of commercials and the programming schedule. But when the Tivo broke, I wasn’t willing to go back to unfiltered TV. Eventually I pulled the plug, literally, and canceled my cable service. When I went to the cable office to return my box, the woman behind the desk said “you’ll be back.” It’s been nearly 2 years now and I don’t miss it at all. Renting TV shows on DVD from Netflix is all I need, with the occasional treat whenever I’m in a hotel room.

Needless to say, the extra time it frees up leads to more productive activities like reading and writing and having friends.

After 10 years of fencing, I took a hiatus for 7 years while I started my post-college life and professional career. Now that I have a little breathing room in my schedule I have started epee fencing again, and I’m so glad I did it. I’m getting back in shape, making new friends, and getting a great outlet for stress. Read my fencing blog for more details.