Spring is... springinging!

This time of year has a funny effect on me. The transition from winter to spring awakens something inside that changes my being.

The days get longer and sunrise gets earlier. The first time I hear the birds singing when my alarm goes off, my brain links that sound with the need to get up and get ready for work. For many subsequent days, weeks and even months, I hear the birds singing in my sleep and my brain wakes me up. Even during mid-summer. At half past four in the blimmin' morning.

I'm determined to train myself out of that one, and I'm initially going to try a little reverse (read: idiotic amateur) psychology. I'm going to change my alarm tone to the sound of birdsong. This may (read: does) sound like complete lunacy, but the bit of MP3 I've chosen has a very specifc bit of some thrush warbling away, so I hope to awaken to that particular part, and not the random chirpings of a sparrow sat on my guttering.

I've been a light sleeper ever since my daughter was born. Previously, my teenage years had bestowed me with the ability to sleep through elephants mating at the foot of the bed - purely hypothetically of course.

Then, the very night she was born, something in my head clicked and I became the lightest sleeper alive. A gnat could fart a mile away and it'd raise me from my slumber.

This has its advantages. I always get up on my first alarm - no need for snooze buttons in my house. I tend to feel wide awake soon after rising, which is nice - especially compared to other people I've seen who aren't 'morning people'.

Of course, it has its disadvantages too. I've only had a couple of proper lie-ins in twelve years, and those have been down to being over-tired in the first place.

I'd love to think I could train myself to sleep better. I've often thought of playing cds on loop through the night to desensitise myself to noise, but the thought of a string of sleepless nights at the outset really puts me off.

I think having someone to sleep with would help, in every sense. Having slept alone for the vast majority of the past decade, I'm sure that'd take some getting used to also but hell, it'd be worth it.

More of my spring-time idiosyncrasies to follow.