braisler

There was another thread last year that kind of touched on this, but focused on the idea that 'early risers' tend to be more successful. The thread there seemed to rapidly progress into a discussion of what you might consider successful.

I'd like to revisit this issue with the following questions in mind: If you consider yourself a Night Owl, do you find that you are staying up and getting lots of important work accomplished? Or are your late night sessions more devoted to video games, music, watching movies or just chilling out? If the latter is the case, do you consider yourself to be a lazy person (not judging here, just asking)? Do you find that you do your 'work' during the day, and just wind down at the end of the day... that tends to stretch into the night.

I'm a morning person myself. When I do get up, I tend to start a lot of projects early in the day and get a lot accomplished right from the start. Whether it is running several loads of laundry or getting in a workout or paying bills, it is usually done before my spouse wakes up. Allowing for the fact that I'm also a goal-oriented person and focused on efficiency, this isn't very surprising.

On the flip-side of the coin, are there any self-identified early risers that wake up and just go hang out and waste time for a while?

Xerxys

Yep, myself included. I don't call the stuff you reffered to as 'projects' projects rather as chores seeing as I do most of them early in the morning myself. I wake up, clean up (everywhere) get my exercise on, cook for the day and get to work before 10AM.

Pretty much 4 hours is enough for me here. I am dreading going to school cause I have to reschedule all this to add homework and study.

I don't think night owl is a euphinism for lazy, but personal experience has dictated that I must not be left with enough time in my head to goof off or sleep past 9AM for any reason. I am yet to meet or hear from someone who actually wakes up past noon and accomplishes something at night, besides go to work.

I am lazy, simply because I can't be bothered to deal with very many things outside my interests (maybe that's just selfishness ... I don't know) but I consider myself organized because I tend to get simple things done that would otherwise annoy others (like vaccuum).

All in all, It is my personal opinion that people who wake up early are more productive than the majority of those who don't.

braisler

Oh, to clarify I wasn't classifying my chores as projects, just giving other examples of what I might do with my time when I get up early. I will occasionally go right into a woodworking project when I get up or start work on remodeling the downstairs bath.

The point was, that my time between when I get up and when my spouse gets up is used to actively do things. My wife, a self-described night owl, will often decide to stay up later than I do. Her time between when I go to bed and she does is used to watch movies, play video games, etc. For the purposes of this thread, I'm not calling out my wife as lazy, but using our dynamics as examples of 'early riser/morning person' vs. 'night owl'.

vanblah

I'm a night-person. Always have been ... even as a baby. My daughter is a night-person. My wife is not a night-person. I wouldn't consider any of us lazy.

I get more done in the wee hours than some do in a day. The only difference is I have to plan ahead if I need something since most stores will be closed.

It all depends on what you mean by "accomplish something." I write music mainly at night and in the early morning hours before going to bed. I don't sleep past noon; but if I were allowed to sleep past noon I would. I also prefer doing "chores" at night.

Fotzlid

Life long night owl here too.
I am completely useless before 10am. I do a lot of my best work after 5pm.
I've never liked getting up early and always liked staying up late.
I've had a few day jobs and I was always exhausted and cranky. I prefer to go along with my natural sleep/wake cycle.

thingstodo

I used to be a night person. Somehow I have shifted to more morning but I still cannot work out in the early morning. My mind works well but my body says stop!! I do need 8-9 hours of sleep.

I think everyone's clock is different just like people are different. thank goodness for that, huh?

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MSD

My body clock does not accept being up early. I force it for work, but I'm basically useless until around 10 AM. When I was taking ADD medication that would help me wake early, I would enjoy having a few hours before I had to get ready for work or school with nobody awake or around. At night, I do work if I have to, but I relax if I don't.

PonyPotato

I am a morning person. I get up earlier than normal now (5 am) but otherwise I'm out of bed before 7, generally even on the weekends. If I stay up late, it's because I'm screwing around, not often because I'm getting something difficult done. I like to wake up and start on projects or work early, so I can use the afternoon and evening to spend time outside, sit still, and slow my brain down before bedtime. If I'm working on something important at the end of the day, I often can't shut my brain down to sleep and then have a difficult morning the next day.

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braisler

Vanblah aside, few have professed to getting a lot of things accomplished while they are up late. I agree that everyone should abide to their own natural sleep cycle as much as their job, environment, family obligations allow. But my contention was that people who self identify as 'Night Owls' use their extra time at the end of the day to unwind and relax versus a self identified 'Morning Person' who might use their extra time to accomplish things at the beginning of the day. This is my personal experience in this area, and I wonder how many other people share that experience.

To draw the comparison with crystal clarity, let's clearly define the parameters. Let's say that both the Morning Person and the Night Owl are awake and active from the hours of 9AM to 10PM. For the purposes of this exercise, let's say that both accomplish a similar level of tasks during the period of 9AM to 10PM. The Morning Person rises at 6AM, while the Night Owl remains awake until 1AM. During the 3 hours where the other party is not awake, it is my hypothesis that the Morning Person is more likely to be productive than the Night Owl.

Agree or disagree?

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Xerxys

I agree.

Sleep cycles dictate that during the wee hours of the night, around midnight to 4AM, special fluids and fancy named hormones are released that help the body grow, rest and rebuild whatever may have been lost during the previous day.

Because of this, I beleive in the morning one is brand new and sleeping past 8 or 9AM is useless and counteractive for the body. Failing to sleep during night hours would require you to reverse at least 18 years of synching your body from waking and going to school during the day and sleeping at night.

Typically, the body is brand new in the morning. More sharpenned senses and more focused. I think this also relates to taking a 10-15 min nap in the afternoon makes you far more productive later into the day.

snowy

I'm more of a morning person now than I used to be, and I think I'm more productive as such. I get up at 7am just about every morning (it's to the point I find it difficult to sleep in) and start the day. I usually make the coffee and start in on my daily chores while listening to public radio. By the time 7:30 rolls around, the kitchen is usually clean and some laundry is ready to go (have to wait till people finish showers). I also like to hit the books in the morning. I do my best studying and paper writing in the morning (post-coffee), but my best reviewing is done at night. In the evening, I am not really interested in getting much work done; I'm tired and I just want to veg out.

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Grancey

Another night owl here. Sure, there are things that have to be done during the daylight hours. However, my most productive, creative and satisfying work is done way past sundown. 11:30 pm - 2:00 am is my peak time. I have always been this way, even as a child.

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