advice

If you read my last few post, you might remember I'm trying to bullet-journal, and to also introduce some workout sessions in my life. Of course, since I'm notoriously lazy and sometimes I have projects to work on, working out daily is impossible.

And that's OK.

And it you also want to work out more, you came to the right place, because I will try my best to encourage you on your journey. I'm not a trainer, nor a health guru - but you already know that. I'm just sharing my experiences to help others that also struggle like me.

The biggest mistake I noticed I made was to expect myself to workout daily, the way I have the impression others do. Others, in this context, are various bloggers and vloggers I either follow or sometimes stumble upon. And you know what? I'm pretty sure this is wrong,  because we sell dreams. While my intention is NOT to sell dreams, I can't know who will come across my blog one day, reads it, and thinks "oh, I wish I was more like this author" [I secretly hope for this, to be honest]. Personally, I wish my writing style was more funny, similar to that of the guy behind My Crazy Chinese Family blog - but now I'm going off topic. Let's return.

WHAT ARE MY RESULTS SO FAR

Last month I managed to workout during 11 days, out of 30. I'm not really impressed, but I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to do it at all.

This month I only worked out 2 days so far. I want to improve the number, but we'll see how things go.

My workout sessions lasted about 30 minutes and less. I get out of breath very fast, my heart pumps like mad, and I have to stop or else I feel like fainting. It's OK to stop your routine when you feel like fainting! You also don't have to work out for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time!

Most importantly, when I was done, I would feel happy and proud of myself. Something to do with my body releasing more endorphins. Feeling more happy can motivate a person to keep at this new found routine.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK OUT?

There are many reasons for people to be interested in starting this journey: to get back in shape, to prevent weight gain, to participate in a marathon, to simply change their lifestyle, for health related reasons, and even because they think they should.

So, how about you? Me, I could subscribe to all the reasons above, except the marathon. I simply can't run it makes me feel like veins and nerves are breaking in my brain, I can't see well anymore, and faint. It's really bad. [on a side note, I see many people running downstairs, back and forth. in a way I feel I should do the same, and I feel guilty because I can't. How silly is this? it's not like anyone knows...]

My advice to you is not to compare yourself to others, because everyone is unique. And if you feel fine without working out, nobody can tell you otherwise.

Challenges you might face

Starting and getting into it is the most difficult part. Also, having a busy schedule can make you feel like you don't have enough time for this. These are my 2 main reasons why I only worked out for 11 days last month. I hope to change this.

Having to wear appropriate clothing that you don't own. Sure, it's better to work out in workout pants, but honestly, as long as your clothes allow you to make any movement you need to, then it doesn't really matter. you could be working out naked, but please do so only in the privacy of your house.

Speaking of where to workout, many think it can only be done at the gym. Or they think a gym subscription will motivate them into visiting it. Truth is, this is unlikely. Instead, stretching a bit after you wake up right beside your bed is perfectly fine. There are countless routines that can be done at home or even outdoors.

Now, if you want to have more muscles, you'll want a gym membership and to be strict abut visiting it. A personal trainer will be very helpful as well.

WHY DON'T I SEE RESULTS?

Results don't appear overnight. We're somehow programmed into thinking results appear instantly, but this is the biggest lie we could ever believe. 11 days of working out and a reduced amount of food consumed in June [mostly because the heat took away my appetite] made me lose 1kg. It's not a lot, but slower results seem to be the ones that stick more.

So results will appear only if we're consistent. Also it depends on why we start, on our somatic body type, and the type of routine we try. My somatic body type is the one that gains weight the easiest and has the hardest time losing it - and I forgot what's called. oops.

CONCLUSION

Whether you decide to exercise more or not is fine! whatever you will wear to do so is fine as long as you're free to move as you like. Not doing what others do, is also perfectly fine and OK. Don't do something just because you think you must: you don't.

I hope you'll feel more inspired to live your life as you please because sometimes it takes courage to do so.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

If you know me, you know I dislike cleaning the most. However, it's not something I can escape. Nobody can escape it. To make myself stick to a good cleaning routine I decided to use a bullet journal. It seems like it is a good way to keep people organized and productive. I only just started it now in June simply because I just learned about it.

I tried once in the past year, but I failed at following it. I hope to be more successful this time. The main weekly tasks are cleaning on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I started with Thursday’s task, the stove: it needs a single day, because reasons, see below:

Has your stove ever been this dirty? No? How did you do it? I won't lie, I'm envious because I never liked cleaning and on top of that, I wasn't good at maintaining the place clean either I really have no idea how people do it. But now, thanks to my bullet journal I hope to become one of those people.

The first thing I did regarding this mess, was to grab an old knife and start scratching like a scratch card while the stove was cold and dry. The mess is some cream soup that boiled over so my approach worked really well. It was gone in less than 10 minutes and it also worked on the greasy parts - at least some of them. After 20 or 30 minutes of working on it, it looked like this:

Since I'm not as healthy as I used to be [not that I'm very sick, but I get tired really fast lately], I had to take breaks from time to time. I can't know for sure how long it took me to clean it to this state, seen below. Maybe a grand total of 2 hours? 2 hours and a half?

Clearly, next week, my pretty stove will not be as dirty, and it will be much more easy [and fast] to clean.

Let's see some pics - from before and after, for a better understanding:

I do want to mention the cleaning products I used as well, because the end result was not possible with just scrubbing. I used:

• - a piece of old towel,
• - Axion the grease stripper
• - Triumf for stoves and ovens [a Romanian cleaning products brand] - this think strips grease like crazy! and you need to wear gloves when using it, as well as a face mask because it's off-gasing.

I really don't know. I guess, i just want to tell people that even the most difficult tasks can be taken care of, even if at a slower pace. And that if you need something to keep you motivated, bullet journaling can be quite useful.

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

It is early May and you might find baby birds on the ground. Fallen from their nests. (I'm not sure when wild bird eggs hatch, so this article might come in handy. )

If you do, find such a baby bird, what do you do?

1. You could try to find its nest and put it back.
2. Take it home/ to the vet to see if it's OK - no broken wings or legs
3. Do nothing, let nature take its course. [do you have the heart for that? i don't]
4. Something else this author didn't think about. [care to share your thoughts?]

I only asked "what will you do" and not "what and why." I like to assume that most of us would try and find the bird's nest and try to put it back. We all know baby birds don't belong on the ground. Many would choose to do both option 1 and 2.  And there are quite a handful who would choose the last 2 options, for various reasons.

Saying that doing one or the other is wrong or good - this is actually something we can't be objective on. We were all raised differently and have different beliefs.

However, I will tell you what I did, and what my experience was. You can then decide if this was the right or the wrong thing to do.

About 3 years ago I found a baby grey crow on the ground, next to my building. It was a rainy spring, and the poor thing was soaked. His parents were still watching over him, but couldn't do anything about him - there were just too many humans around for them to risk getting down on the ground and feed him or protect him from the rain.

He couldn't protect himself from the cold pouring rain either because he was bald, only his tail and wings feathers were grown. He would have died if I didn't decide I would take him in, feed him, and warm him up.

I took him in and decided the first thing he needs is to get warm up. I grabbed a towel and proceeded to dry him off, except it didn't really work. The hairdryer did a better and faster job.

The bird was now dry and warmer. But weak. Because he didn't eat in several hours.

WARNING: Baby birds need to eat about once an hour or two. But you need to learn how to feed them because YOU are now the parent!

Learning how to feed a baby bird is rather easy, but if you worry easily, ask someone else to do it. You can find many instructions online, but I will try to explain in a future post how to feed baby crows!

Must tell you Romanian vets are not very experienced with birds, and I had 2 of them telling me he would die because they didn't know what to do to him. Guess what? he didn't die. I had to force some antibiotic on him the next day - he caught a cold from the rain. The worst part was that he could have died at my hands because I only had some strong antibiotic for humans [I used it for a UTI before... so go figure].

Of course I made sure to only give him a tiny bit, trying to figure out about how much based on his weight and to complicated measurements and math calculations on the pill. Fun times! I should be a chemist now, or a vet. The good news is that it worked and the next day he was walking all over the floor.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

In my previous post I mentioned I would make an entry related to etiquette in Romania. So, here it is! These are stuff I either saw myself or was told.

In Romania, you take your shoes off when entering your own home, or the home of those close to you - friends and family, unless told otherwise. It helps with keeping the house clean(er).

You keep your shoes on when you go visit people you're not very close to - say, if you meet the parents of your partner for the first time. Some of these people you don't know very well, might ask you to take your shoes off when entering their home.

• why should I take my shoes off? If it rained, chances are your shoes are dirty and your host doesn't want their floors or carpets to get dirty, especially if the house looks as clean as a 5 star hotel room.

In the past, when paying a visit, it was a sign of good manners not to go empty handed. People were usually bringing something symbolic, like flowers, something sweet, or something to drink. The "something sweet" was something home made, but bought stuff were also OK. A casserole of home cooked food also works well - remember this is something symbolic. If the younger generations do this these days, it must be because they grew up seeing their parents do it.

While this habit might seem weird for some, consider that Romania used to be a communist country and during the regime the living conditions were harsh. For some people it would have been a financial burden to receive and entertain guests, so the guests were considerate towards this effort by bringing something to the "party."

This applies for when meeting them in the common areas of the apartment building, as many Romanians still live in apartment buildings. If you happen to meet any of your neighbors, they will say "hello" and the polite thing to do is to reply. Easy, right?

When visiting friends, you might encounter their neighbors and they might say "hello" even if they don't know you. It costs nothing to reply back with a "hello." Greeting random people they see waiting around their building is not that weird since many Romanians are renting out their apartments. Your friend's neighbors might think you're renting a place there and you're new.

All cashiers I went to, would say "hello" to all their customers, me included. They would also say "bye bye" after giving them their change and receipt. The client is supposed to answer to both greetings. This gesture sure doesn't cost nor time nor money. I generally say "thanks" before leaving. I sometimes add "have a nice day" as well.

Let' assume you're supposed to receive 7.37 ... well, let's just say you'll receive 7.35 instead, and demanding the extra 0.02 is nowadays considered a bit weird, if not quite rude. The cases when you'll receive your full change is rare (I only saw it happening at one supermarket- Kaufland) The coins of the 0.01 value (1 ban) are generally disregarded by most people. I don't think the 0.05 coins (5 bani) are too popular either.

Don't ask me how much money I lost this way. However, you'll be surprised to learn or see just how many Romanians simply leave all the coins in their change to the cashier. They might take the 0.5 coin (50 bani) but not the 0.1 coins (10 bani).

disclaimer: i don't own the pictures in this post, they belong to their respective creators. i just found them online.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

This is not a sad story, but rather one that might make your blood boil to the point where you want to smash something. But let's start with the beginning.

Back in November I was coming back from buying some groceries. As I was opening the door to the apartment building where I live, this little [mostly black] cat dashed right in with me. I have no idea where it came from, but it sure wasn't shy. This little fellow simply followed me home. So I took her in... Lucky that my two 7 and 6 year old male cats didn't try to kill her, but she wasn't happy with their presence either.

This black furry thing wasn't shy nor scared of being touched or even handled. I quickly discovered this was a female cat. "Sweet! I never had a female cat before" I thought to myself. Of course, I talked to my friend about it, and we decided to keep her for a while, until we find a more suitable furrever home. The little cat went in heat in about 2 - 3 weeks after finding her. Her screaming sounded as if someone was torturing her to death. I waited till it passed, and then got her spayed. Quietness returned.

There are more reasons I need a new home for Milky - this is what I named her. Ironic given her color, right? but it's mostly because she likes to nurse on tshirts and pants of a certain texture. She also LOVES milk, so now the name seems more fitting.. The most important reason is that we will be leaving the country this year [hopefully soon], and there is no way to accommodate 3 cat at the new place [with some relatives until we find a job, and a place of our own].

So we posted a few "up for adoption ads" for Milky.  A few nights ago I received this phone call from an older lady showing interest in Milky [the female cat]. We decided to meet the next day, with me bringing the cat to her place. Said and done.

I wrapped the cat in a blanket as there was no need for a cat carrier, and off we went to meet the lady. Luckily, she lived some 3 bus stops away, and this means easily reachable by foot as well. As soon as the lady saw the cat, she melted -"a good sign" I thought to myself.

She led us to her place - some 5 minutes by foot away from the bus stop, on a quiet street. When we entered, I was requested to take off my shoes. She had a good point for it: that place was SO clean and everything nicely arranged. [I will most likely address etiquette rules regarding wearing shoes indoors, in the next post. Let's just say it is not really polite to ask your quests to remove them.]

I told the lady everything she needed to know about the cat, I showed the cat where the litter was, and I was ready to leave. Right before leaving, the lady informed me it is customary to give a little something in exchange for the cat, so she had prepared some bananas and a box of chocolates.  I took that, my blanket, and I returned home.

Later in the evening, she called however I couldn't pick up the phone. I called her back the next morning... The lady informed me she wanted to return the cat! Yes, you read that right - to return the cat after she promised she would take good care of her and all! She complained that Milky cried, that she went on the opened window, and that the cat wanted to suck her pajamas at night. Apparently she couldn't sleep because of all these! Other than the clothes sucking, all the cats go on open windows and cry in a new house!

1. if you're going to adopt a cat, expect her to cry at least the first night if she's sociable, or to hide if she's less sociable. dogs and puppies also cry the first night or two.

2. your new cat or dog is an ALIVE CREATURE! it is definitely NOT a toy, piece of clothing or some other thing you can just return the next day because you changed your mind!

3. having a pet is NEARLY identical to having a human baby! it requires your attention and it needs you!

Do expect your new companion to give you some headaches, but seriously, children are no different.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

My life has been chaotic the past few months. This is why I haven't updated this blog in such a long time.

Let's just say I had a full time job with a weird working schedule.. it got me exhausted. both mentally and physically. The worst part is that even my cats suffered because of this job. One of them gained a lot of weight even though he didn't eat more than before. [or this is what I think.]

However, talking about this job is not why I'm here, but to mention that I did have friends that saw the effects of this job on me, and they got worried. They told me to quit it or else.. [I will get ill or regret it later..]

Did I listen? NO! of course not! Why would I listen to my friends? Do they care about me, or are worried about me, or even know my needs or desires? Given that they're my friends, the answer should be "yes" for most, if not all the above questions, right?

It turns out they were right.. the job was bad for my body...and mind. Or at least the effort needed to perform the tasks on the job and the long hours were too tiring.

I found the image here.

For instance, I had no physical power and no mental energy to deal with or to think about cooking or even cleaning the house. I could only shower, eat a bit, sleep, and wash a couple of dishes [by hand] ... and that was it. every. single. day. I also didn't manage to get enough sleep either, for some reason or another. Seeing my friends or even close family members was also out of the question: I was too tired in my days off to have visitors or to pay visits to people.

I was leaving home at about 1pm and return at about 1am.. daily. With the exception when I had to be there at 7am and still return at 1am for 2 days in a row.. Good luck with that, superman-me! I did it a few times, until my body was too tired to hear the alarm and wake up at the time I had to be leaving out the door.

So, what did I do in the end? I finally quit this soul-sucking job only to realize just how tired I really was.. just like my friends predicted [or already saw].

My advice for everyone reading this entry is to just listen to your friends, or whoever else you have near you and cares about you when or if you are in a similar situation. Listening to them might just save you from a trip to the hospital, from a situation in which you realize you're completely alone because you prioritized the wrong thing, or even from the day you realize you live in a pig's house instead of a house for humans because you had no time or energy to vacuum.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

How blessed are we to be healthy and 'normal?' How many times are thankful for these blessings? How many times are we thinking about those with special needs, about those who are labeled as 'normal?'

Let me tell you: not enough, or never at all.

Tonight I'm at this café/restaurant place right next to my apartment building. At the next table there are 3 girls, enjoying their drinks. But there is something wrong, very wrong with this picture: only 2 of them are talking and having fun. The 3rd one is just staring, obviously bored. But ... this is not what's wrong with the picture.. Her outfit and appearance is a clear sign she doesn't really belong here ... that she is not 'fully normal.' She suffers from the Down syndrome. This syndrome makes everyone suffering from it look nearly the same.

At first, not seeing her face, I was wondering what is she doing here, as she clearly doesn't belong.. She must have come with one of the other 2 girls.

The 2 girls seem cheerful, talking about their .... whatever they speak about. The 3rd girl doesn't only look bored, but she also seems as if she wants to be part of the conversation. But she's being ignored by her companions.

Am I judging them? you bet I am. it is 11.30 pm, and 2 girls brought with them a person who they completely ignore. The 2 girls are drinking beer, but the Down girl is drinking Pepsi Light. Do I find this fair? not at all.

This whole scene made me realize I'm never truly thankful for what I have - be it material or not. and since I'm never truly grateful, there must be others that are the same as me.

I'm never thankful enough for my health. I'm never thankful enough for the roof over my head, for the clothes covering my body, for the food on my table, for the fact that when I go out with someone I'm not completely ignored and forgotten.

I feel bad for the girl has a disability Down syndrome because she's being ignored and left out of the conversation. Because this syndrome makes others label her as 'not normal' or 'ill.' And there is nothing i can do for her nor for others in her situation.

The only thing i can do is write my thoughts here, for you to read. And then, i can only hope that next time you see someone having less stuff than you do, you're going to be grateful for what you have. You could then point this out to those around you as well. Don't judge them as you don't know their stories. Further more, if everyone was equally healthy/ill or rich/poor, we wouldn't have these notions anymore, and perhaps another type of chaos would arise.

You may not be able to help those with less things than you, but maybe someone else can. This is still a form of showing love and compassion. It's still a form of helping, after all.

"thank you visitor for reading./Thank you god for everything you've given me - good and bad, because I grew into a better and stronger me" [or at least I hope so].

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

It seems that talking about a person's weight turned into a taboo subject as it always ends up in a 'body shaming' topic. It seems everyone likes to point how the others are worse looking ... but they forget to look into their conscience mirror to see how ugly their thinking is.

I'm not here to promote any secret magical diet given to me by Fairies. Sorry :( It's not because I don't want to share, but because I have yet to meet said Fairies. I also don't want to tell you "You absolutely MUST lose weight" because in the end, it is your life and your body and you have the right to control them as you think it's fit.

That being said, in a much earlier post I promised I would tell you more about how I managed to lose some weight. I never got around to do it.. until now.

Why did you want to lose weight?

The reasons for which I wanted to lose weight are simple: I couldn't fit into my pants anymore and I didn't want to go shopping for others as I really liked what I owned. I always bought larger shirts, so that wasn't an issue. Just my pants.

So, what did you do to lose weight?

Let's make a few things clear, shall we?

1. I dislike working out - especially running or jogging.

2. I'm trying hard to use my common sense.

3. My common sense tells me that most "losing weight diets" don't give long lasting results.

The first thing I did was analyzing my diet AKA what was I eating and when. I discovered:

1. I would eat the most in the evening and then I would go to sleep.

2. I also found out I was eating a lot of bread and not enough fruits and vegetables.

3. My eating pattern wasn't  'regular' - I never ate at the same hours.

When I realized a few of the things I was 'doing wrong,' I decided it was time to change all that. I never tried to follow this or that "losing weight recipe," but I did try to see a common pattern in them and follow that instead.

I cut down on bread to the point of not eating any at all with any of my meals. I was left still hungry at first. Then, an idea occurred to me: what if I ate SLOWER by chewing my food more? and what if I drank more water?

This actually worked! I would chew more, and therefore I got the impression I was fuller! There is science behind this, so feel free to go search it yourself to convince yourself. I also started to eat more vegetables and white meat [just chicken, though I like fish too].

Not eating in the evening was the most difficult part though. I went and drank water every time I felt hungry. I started hating the water :( However, in the end, not eating in the evening started to feel OK, even normal...?

Another change I made was paying attention to how much I ate, AKA the size of my portions. Eating smaller portions means less ingested calories as well.

Did these changes do anything?

You mean, if I saw any positive results? Yes, I did. Or I wouldn't have written this.

I do have to mention the results weren't fast, like say in 1 week, but maybe more like a month? One month is the earliest I started to see a difference.

You should know that this "common sense diet" is actually a change in lifestyle. It doesn't make one obsessed with counting calories, though doing that would help in faster results. I wouldn't recommend it though. This "diet" doesn't force one say "oh, I can't have cake because I'm dieting," because you can eat anything you want, just not too much.

Do you have any further tips?

Well, if you insist, the last piece of advice I have for you is to look for those diets doctors insist diabetic people follow. They are specially designed to keep diabetes and weight in check, and why wouldn't they help other people as well?

If you like working out, you will also see faster results and your body will tone up as well.

I hope you find some of these tips helpful.

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello world.

Today's topic is something we all should think about. Today's topic is one of the reasons I started writing this blog. I'm not a good person, or better said, I'm not as good as I would like to be. However, this is something that defines "being a human, " isn't it?

But, what does "good person" mean?

"Good person" means anything you want it to mean. It can be a person with a kind heart who cares about the pain other people feel. It can be someone who simply wants to help everyone in need, be it a person, animal, plant, cause, insect, alien... you get the point.

A "good person" can be someone who wants to be the best at doing something: their job, a hobby, at school.. the list goes on.

Can I be or become a good person?

This sounds like a really silly question. Of course you can be! Anyone can become a good individual if they so want. How to become a better person is a topic better discussed in a different entry though.

Back to the current subject, now.

What I noticed is that many people are mean these days. And with each passing day they become more and more mean. I wonder why is this happening.. It can't be terrorism. Or not just that.

I think it's because people take for granted way too many things these days, and each of them has the impression they rule the Universe when it's the Universe ruling us. You don't believe me? Just think about who gives birth: the Universe decided only women can give birth. This is just one sign that the Universe rules over us.

Sadly, everywhere I go I see someone bearing hate feelings towards another. I see hate speech, hateful behavior, and a general lack of respect. All of these are proof that people are not "good." A good person wouldn't do all the above.

Ironically, there is a whole group of people that recently emerged. This group of individuals put up an image of "promoting love, kindness, and consideration towards others," .... but by preaching. Preaching is not "being a good person either." Preaching is trying to give the impression the person is loftier than the rest, but they actually aren't because they still use a hateful speech when addressing others. This aspect is easily seen online when people discuss a controversial subject.

Trying to think of alternative ways of saying something can make you a better person. Walking away from a conflict can be a sign of a wiser or better person, and not sign of weakness. Announcing you're walking away from the conflict doesn't make you a better person though: you have to simply walk away and forget about it.

Am I good or better person by saying all of the above? No. What I'm saying here is something I may be doing wrong and I hope to help the readers to avoid making the same mistakes and choose to be better. 

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

What's up guys?

This entry is not motivational, or at least that's not my current intention. What I want to talk about is what I noticed that changed since I started waking up early.

βΑ¢ΚŠτØℜϒ  - that should read backstory, in case you can't see the characters-

I work as a freelance writer for 5 and a half years now. Like most writers and freelancers I discovered that I'm more inspired to write at night - not to mention that my days were also filled with other activities and chores.

This meant I would end up going to bed really and I mean REALLY late. Think of 1 am which slowly and steady reached 3 and 4 am, sometimes even 6 or 7 am, just to finish a task.

I need to sleep at least 8 hours every night, so I would wake up not earlier than 10 am. During 2015 I would wake up at 1 pm or even 2 pm at times, even if I was asleep at 4 am.  This wasn't good for me ... mentally.

tip: ƒ¡ηР¡ηšΡ¡ℜα†¡Øη! - that reads "find inspiration!"

I also was [and still am] watching the videos posted by Grace about her daily life in Japan. I watched them and I started feeling ashamed of myself.

I'm not saying she leads a perfect life, but in my opinion hers seems more put together than mine. She's also a blogger and a freelancer, so I kinda started looking up to her.

I guess her videos started to inspire and motivate me [if just a little bit] to want to be more proactive in taking control of my life. But the first step was to control my sleeping pattern.

I needed a change. And the change came.

The Change - that reads "the change"

I decided I should search for a 9-to-5 job to make sure I earn more money - I really want to buy a house [=house around here means apartment, and translated to a place that I could call "my own"].

This type of job means I would have to wake up earlier than what I was used to in the past few years. MUCH EARLIER. Of course, that is easier said than done. And it also meant I would have to go to bed earlier as well.

I forgot how I started doing it, but I did. I most likely started to set the alarm to ring throughout the morning and to make an effort to get up from the bed each time - I would go use the toilet or drink some water. It did took a lot of will power, but it had to be done. But then I would go back to sleep and repeat till 1 or 2 in the afternoon, every 2 hours.

TIP:  If you want to make sure you get up at a certain hour, place the alarm across the room: you'll be forced to get up from the bed to stop it. 

While I did manage to start adjusting to being waken up throughout the morning, I still wouldn't manage to be in bed earlier.

However, the "secret" was to remain awake at an earlier hour: say, 9 or 10 am. In the evening, the body would be too tired to be able to still stay awake till wee hours. I managed to do that and it started working. My sleeping pattern started to slowly improve.

In the end I did find a job and I was forced to wake up at 6 am. It was still way early for me. That job wasn't meant to be, but I did learn some stuff, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Plus I got paid too, so I can't complain too much - plus I'm trying to be positive here ;) .

†Η€ ρℜ€š€η† - that reads "the present"

Currently I wake up at 8 am, though the alarm is set for 7:51 am, no exceptions allowed. This means that even on Saturdays and Sundays I continue waking up at the same hour. I go to bed at midnight sharp and I get enough sleep.

Of course, I was forced to go to bed later than midnight, however I still insisted in waking up at 8. I only lingered in bed till 9 for two days [one of them being today] and I'm not happy about it.

I do consider that sometimes is OK to wake up a bit later, especially if there is nothing waiting to be done on the spot. I just need to make sure this doesn't slowly revert to my old habits.

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.