Perhaps in an effort to gear us up for years of early waking (for most specialties, at least), nearly all of our lectures and exams are at 8am! I found that my brain just wasn’t working at full capacity come exam time, even if I went to bed early the night before the exam. It was conditioned in my brain and body clock that 8am was supposed to be sleep time, no matter that a test bubble sheet was before me on the desk.

I also came to nearly the same conclusions you did–that the key is ALWAYS waking up at the same time whenever possible. I chose 6am, and it’s working well thus far. I’ve been much more mentally alert for my last couple exams, and yet when push come to shove I can still stay up later if necessary for studying or finishing up some assignment.

I agree that arguing with yourself will result in failure. Don’t think, but also, don’t force yourself to dash out of bed as if you have your normal full energy. Accept the fact that your body will be very slow, until you’re fully awake. When the alarm goes off, don’t stop to think: immediately (but SLOWLY) ease out of bed for your SLOW 15 minute wake-up period. Don’t fret the fact that you’re not useful until this time is up. Just putter around until you’re awake. Then start your day with full energy. I agree that getting too much sleep actually gives me LESS energy during the day. The sleepiness I feel when I first wake with the alarm is deceptive: it is not an accurate measure of whether you have gotten enough sleep. The most accurate measure of that, is several hours later: if you get sleepy later, you didn’t sleep enough the night before. If not, you’re fine without your 10 hous.