As an early riser, I try to maintain a very structured routine every day to maintain emotional stability.

I am most productive in the mornings (it is 3 am as I write this), and I know that I have to take it easy by the early afternoon. That's why I get to work before everyone else.

The problem starts on those days when that routine is suddenly disturbed because I have meetings scheduled into the evening. (It seems as if the majority of colleagues work better during the second half of the day.)

It is hard to adjust to those days. My internal clock will not allow me to start my day later just because I know that it's going to be a loooong day, so I end up spending 14 hours at work, being mentally exhausted by the time the later meetings begin.

The next morning, I feel as if I have an emotional hangover, which directly affects my mood, even though I try to re-establish my normal routine as quickly as possible to shorten what I call my "recovery" time.

I do not think that most of my colleagues understand this. (If I could, and I do try, I would schedule all important meetings where I have to maintain mental acuity in the mornings/ before mid-afternoon.)

How do others cope with maintaining a personal routine and protect it from external factors? How do others return from "emotional hangovers" after that routine has become unhinged?

(By the time you are reading this I might be "done" with the day...)