Are You A Night Owl?

Photo of a Great Horned Owl

Great Horned Owl, photo by Joel Sartore, National Geographic

I am a night owl. Waking up early is grueling. I’m still tired. I hit the snooze button. I drag myself out of bed. I spend the day longing to crash. Then, 10 p.m. rolls around and energy is coursing through my veins. I am awake. I am raring to go. I want to watch a movie, to read, to write, to clean, to start new projects, to plan, to rearrange, to talk.

You know people like me, right? We’re late to school, to work, late to meetings, late to get-togethers, late to doctor and dentist appointments, late to parties. We are masters of excuses  and apologies.

I don’t mean to be late, but somehow I can’t seem to get there on time. I know it hurts people and makes them feel disrespected, or unloved, or unvalued, or just plain angry.

When we were kids, my younger brother and I got a morning paper route. It was the ’70s and folks loved that a girl was getting in on a job typically held by boys, and so charming that we were such industrious, responsible, hard-working siblings.

Paper delivery boy

Paper delivery boy

In the old days, every decent sized city had a morning and an evening paper, and every decent person read one, if not both of those papers. Those who signed up for home delivery of the morning papers did so because they wanted to read it while eating breakfast at home, before leaving for work. Since most people left for work by 7 or 8 in the morning… Can you see where this is going? We couldn’t.

It should’ve been so easy. We’d each do it every other day. We’d share Sundays.

Instead, each of us usually overslept, forcing us to wake the other in a mad panic. On the worst days, we’d beg our Mom to get up and drive our route in her VW bug. One on each side, we would ride on the car’s running board as she drove, grabbing a paper from the back seat and dashing up to each house, breathlessly cramming the paper between the screen and the door.  The worst was when irate customers would yell at us in frustration as we ran up and down the driveway. We didn’t last long.

I’m much better now, but I still have room for improvement. I did a bit of looking around and found some of tips.

This Elle article explains that folks like me may have different neurological wiring, making us enjoy the last minute panic.

No one has ever explained a night owl’s life better than Mr. Jerry Seinfeld, with his Night Guy and Day Guy routine. He nails it.

I just bought this perfect shirt.

This book was written just for night owls.

Planning fallacy? (Sounds dirty.) This WSJ article outlines it.

Are cell phones making us late?

Technical difficulties? Can’t say no? Rebellious? Fear of downtime? WebMD offers solutions.

How to breathe yourself to sleep in less than a minute.

My granddaughter's note for me during her stay with us last summer. I was sleeping late and she and Grandpa were hungry and wanted me up to make breakfast!

During a recent visit, my 8 year-old granddaughter placed this note on me as I slept. She and Grandpa (both early birds) were hungry and ready for breakfast, and they wanted me up to make it. Priceless.

Are you always late? Always punctual? Early? How do you get places on time? Tell me how you make it as a night owl in an early bird world.

 

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