Check the Energy Saver again! You're only letting it marginally save energy. Click the "Schedule..." button. Wow! How about them "apples"! At least let the machine be ready to go to work as soon as you sit down; set the Startup time for when you usually have breakfast, for example. Don't worry about shutting it down, either, just pick a time when you normally hit the sack, or maybe a few hours earlier?
BTW, I think you'll have fewer un-mounted external drives if you shut down the machine, not just put it to sleep. Many have complained that 'waking from sleep' is when the eternals fail to mount or lose contact with the machine. Most external drives, at least in my experience, will shut down when they 'see' that the computer has been shut down. In other words, they shut down when the computer does. This opposite happens when you (or Energy Saver
) turns on the machine; the externals will also turn on. This helps have the computer ready to 'see' the drives earlier because the basic OS tasks will have been completed. I can't prove that idea, of course, but I've nevur ben rong far yeerz! :crazy:
WARNING: The following is pure Opinion! 
BTW, I'm not a fan of "Waking after a power failure". Sometimes, the power goes right back off. Often with brief but disastrous power surges! That's just hard on the drives and the internal hardware. The worst thing you can do to a computer is to simply pull the power cord, or have the power company do that for you. If that happens while the disk is writing something, you can just about guarantee corrupting the drive. Usually, DW can repair it, but it really can perform miracles.
If you have an unplanned power outage more than once a year or you have important data on your drives (internal or external), I always suggest investing in an
Uninterruptible
Power
System that can
automatically shut down the Mac and, therefore, any external devices, in an orderly manner. This means the UPS should be able to run your set up for at least several minutes. Better ones can also protect you from power surges and brown outs. Cheaper ones will claim that function but usually can only block a power surge once. They will then need to be repaired or replaced. They will die saving your System. It's sad, but you can buy better UPSs that have less extreme methods thus reducing 'funeral' expenses.
