Daylight savings

As someone who struggles through the short, dark days of winter, I always dread the clocks going back and the prospect of it getting dark before I've even finished my working day. So this year, I'm trying something different ... I'm staying on BST for a bit longer. Yes, I did change my clocks yesterday (that would be too confusing), but I'm shifting my day so that I get up an hour earlier, start work early, have an early lunch and hopefully, finish at my desk before it gets dark. I've never been particularly good at getting up in the morning and one of the key benefits of being freelance is being able to get up when I want, so I was a bit unsure at the prospect of a seven o'clock start, but it wasn't too bad this morning and so far, the new routine's going great. In fact, I was so productive this morning, I'd finished work for the day before four o'clock and that was with a break mid-afternoon to go out and do some chores and admire the autumn colours (see below). It's still bright and sunny outside, and now I've got a couple of hours to myself before my boyfriend gets home and I start my evening proper - feels like a nice luxury.

Okay, it was a particularly beautiful, sunny day today, so perhaps not entirely representative of what's to come, but it's an encouraging start. I know the strategy's only going to work for a while, because at some point, I'm going to find myself getting up in the dark, which is probably even grimmer than having to switch the light on mid-afternoon. So I suppose at that point, I'll claim back some extra time under the duvet and my start time will creep later and later, but even if I can stave off that winter feeling for a little longer, I'll be happy.