What would a Samurai do? (Part 1)

I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark would burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
-Jack London

Lately work has been very busy, and since the number of hours in a day are limited to twenty four, my sleep habits have been blown all to hell. I've recently started to realize that my work performance has been suffering, as well as every other aspect of my life. I have been toying with my schedule, sneaking in power naps here and there, drinking tons of coffee, and basically just trying everything I could think of to get by. Well, what I've learned is this, I'm going to be tired regardless, so screw it, I have obligations, and I'm going to meet them head on.

When I say obligations, I'm not just talking about my commitment to my boss, or my job, I'm mainly focusing on my obligations to myself. When I was much younger, I was fascinated by the Samurai of feudal Japan. As I grew up, I based a lot of my own personal value system off of the Bushido, which is the way (-do) of the warrior (bushi-). The Bushido is a pretty complex value system when you really get into it, but one of the chief themes throughout all of it's tenets is duty. Duty to one's master, duty to one's clan, family, etc. This point of view served me well during my time in the in the military, and it has been my guiding principle for as long as I can remember, however, in the past few years, my commitment has waned.

I have allowed myself to become complacent, I no longer guard my thoughts and actions, in short, I have grown lazy. I find that I spend much of my time wishing I were some place else, or even in some other time, whether it is a pleasant memory from the past, or an exciting fantasy about the future. Something that I've lost sight of is perhaps the key too all of the Samurai philosophy, and that is the constant awareness of the fact that death is right around the corner.

When you hold that realization in the forefront of your mind, and constantly remind yourself of it, your whole life takes on a sense of urgency that it previously lacked. How can I allow myself to half ass anything I do today when I know that I might not have a tomorrow, or a next week, or a next year? Am I going to glide through day after day because I didn't get "enough sleep?" Or am I going to suck it up, and do my very best? What would a Samurai do?