So when you truly *need* to be somewhere you can make it or at least get there a lot closer. The problem is that you can't convince yourself that that's the case for your current work situation. Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation. Honestly, I'm in a job where I still struggle with the same thing. There's no set expectation and schedules vary widely and aren't always consistent (so one colleague is on an established 9:30-6:30 schedule and others, like me, kind of get there anywhere within the range of 8-9:15 or so and stay until we've gotten our hours in). And for us that's fine because we get our work done and have no problem putting in extra hours when it's necessary. Heck, at least 85% of the time I'm there before my boss anyway (my measure of what's acceptable). It's all very flexible. My trouble comes in when I factor my husband into the equation. He IS on a set schedule with his job, so he is home at 5:30 every day for the most part. When I am at work after 5 I'm losing time I can spend with him, and I'm not able to come home and make dinner for us (which I love doing) or I have to make something super quick and not as fun so that we're not eating intolerably late. So when I am able to overcome my natural tendency to avoid mornings it's because I'm thinking about somebody else and creating more of an extrinsic motivation for myself. I don't know what you could use for that though. That's one of the difficulties with smart people...it's hard to trick them and even harder for them to trick themselves