Been trying to find advice on this and my google skills are lacking. Plenty of sites that tell you the advantages for starting your day early, plenty of sites with advice on how to get it to become a habit, but they all presume you can have a set schedule. I can't. I'd like to get to a point where my usual time for getting up is 6am (perhaps earlier). I'm definately someone who needs sleep, and have gotten into the habit of usually just getting up whenever I wake up (or a bit later), usually around 7:30. As well as tips and tricks to actually help you get up, the main advice seems to be to work to it gradually, maybe getting up 15 minutes earlier every day or two until you reach your goal. My sticking point, is that with basketball games at least 2 nights per week, I can end up having a couple of late nights. This week for instance both Weds and Thurs nights I didn't get to bed till after mid-night.

I guess I'm wondering, do I still force myself to get up at the allotted time, and maybe catch up sleep by going to bed earlier the next chance I get, or with an afternoon nap. Or do I allow myself to sleep later to get around 7-8 hrs sleep and just get back to earlier waking on the days I can get to bed at a decent time.

Anyone have any experience or advice?