[Landveg]

Hi everyone -

I just found this forum and wanted to introduce myself. I'm 39 and I've struggled with DSPS since I was a child, although I only found a name for it a few years ago when I participated in a university study on the topic. I'm a researcher myself, a sociologist, and until now I've been lucky enough to have fieldwork jobs with very flexible hours. In fact, I chose grad school over law school strictly based on the fact that I knew I'd never be a good litigator before noon. No way.

Anyway, a few months ago I gave up the consultant/freelance life and took a corporate research position. It's definitely improved my finances, but it is KILLING me physically. They offer "flexible" hours, but that means you're expected to be in by 9:30am, and with traffic in the morning that still means I have to be awake at 6:30 or 7:00.

It's so bad that I'm considering taking a huge pay cut to return to my old style of working. I'm finding it extremely difficult to function at the office in the morning and although they agreed to let me work from home once a week, they also appear to resent it and they don't make it easy. (I can be up, semi-conscious and working at 9:30, I just can't be showered, dressed, and 1 1/2- 2 hours away from my home at that time.)

I joined this forum hoping to learn some coping mechanisms, hear how other people have handled less-than-understanding employers, and hopefully find some way to make this work.

How have you handled not fitting into the 9-5 office grind? I'd love to hear about it!