I&#x27;ve had this problem all my life, and I&#x27;ve found a solution. I think. Before I say what it is, I have to preface it by saying that there is a greater than zero chance that I am a natural shortsleeper, and not just a night owl.<p>That said, here&#x27;s what worked for me:<p>I accepted that mornings are a wash and are not going to be super productive either way. So I stopped trying to wake up early, and instead wake up at 9am or as late as 9:30am.<p>I killed my commute (more rent, but it&#x27;s worth it cause I don&#x27;t need a car). That means that even when I get up as late as 9:30am, I am in the office by 10:15am.<p>And I avoid all serious work at least until lunch time. Those two to three hours are where I pack code review, any meetings, everything that&#x27;s necessary work, but doesn&#x27;t require deep focus and a lot of brainpower.<p>This is also when I load up on caffeine. In those two hours I drink the equivalent of two energy drinks (CogniTea is my poison of choice because it&#x27;s high in caffeine, and low in crap).<p>Then in the afternoon is my focus time and I get about 5 hours of mostly uninterrupted time. Caffeine keeps being drunk, of course. Just less than in the morning.<p>At 6pm I leave and go to the gym. Going to the gym daily helps with making sure my body is tired. If I don&#x27;t tire out my body, then it&#x27;s almost impossible to get a good night of sleep. And I&#x27;m also very edgy and agitated all day.<p>So remember, make sure your body is tired.<p>After the gym I have my relax time, and I drink more caffeine at around 9pm. This might seem stupid, but there&#x27;s a good reason.<p>Drinking caffeine in the evening speeds me up and makes sure that at around 2am or 3am I will crash. I can get more work done (or whatever) between 10&#x2F;11pm and 2&#x2F;3am.<p>And then I am tired. Like really really tired. Hard to stay awake.<p>Which is perfect, because I can go to bed. And if both my mind and body were tired enough, I will fall asleep 3 minutes after my head hits the pillow.<p>And because I&#x27;m well tired, I sleep like a rock. Sleep tracking apps sometimes think I&#x27;m dead.<p>Because I got good focused sleep, I am rested and ready to go next morning at 9am.<p>Or as Arnold would say &quot;Sleep faster, I would recommend&quot;.<p>You might have noticed I only get 6 hours of sleep per night. Sometimes a bit less. That has historically been way enough for me. I don&#x27;t know why, maybe I&#x27;m a genetic freak, maybe I&#x27;m fooling myself, but it&#x27;s a pattern I&#x27;ve been able to keep with small variations for the past 10 years of my life.<p>The approach boils down to:<p><pre><code>  * sleep when tired
  * focused work when rested
  * fuzzy work when fuzzy</code></pre>