1) Computer (AIM/other instant messaging from friends, video games, and of course the Internet)

2) Cell Phone (texting and phone calls from friends)

3) TV (for channel surfing and video games)

4) Bed (tempts you to lay and "rest" for just a couple of minutes, but then you wake up 4 hours later)

If you really want to put in some serious study time, ideally, you need to be physically away from these 4 things. It seems these days that there are SO many ways to be in touch with people and I'm not saying that's not a bad thing…but it can easily get out of control.

Think about this…just 30 minutes spent on each one of the four activities above and you've already wasted 2 hours of your study time.

Therefore, try to stay away from these things when you really need to focus ALL your time on studying. The only exception to the cell phone/computer thing is when you need to use these for study-purposes only. Once done using these items, put them away and continue your studying.

As for getting up at a normal time, that "normal time" is probably defined by your parents. For example, "normal time" for them is when they wake up and go to sleep. So the key then is to try to wake up within one hour of when they wake up and then go to sleep BEFORE they go to sleep…this way they will see for themselves that you are respecting their "normal schedule".

In terms of trying to get to sleep, try to set a normal routine for yourself 45 minutes to 1 hour before you want to actually sleep. And no matter what do NOT include watching TV or being on the computer as part of your winding down routine…it's been scientifically proven that these 2 activities actually help keep you up at night, which will only make you wake up later in the morning, most likely more than one hour after your parents wake up.

Good luck and hope this helps.

Sun Bae