Night Owl or Morning Person?

[classylady]

Just curious. Are you a night owl or a morning person?

I'm definitely a night owl. During the morning and early afternoon, I seem to "drag". I don't have a lot of energy, and at times I feel like I'm walking in a fog. Around 8 pm, I seem to get an energy burst. That's when I want to clean house, cook, get on the computer, etc.

I'm not the sort of night owl that functions on very little sleep. I need my 8 hours. When I had a 6 am shift at work, I'd have to get up at 4:30 am to get ready and drive my 35 minute commute. It was so hard to get to bed at a decent hour. I'd try to be in bed by 9 pm, but life seemed to conspire against me. My teenagers definitely didn't want to be in bed by 9, and there was always something they wanted me to do for them.

When I had an evening shift, and got off at midnight, by the time I got home from work it was close to 1 am. By the time I wound down, it was usually 2 to 3 am before I was in bed. My husband had a hard time understanding why I didn't come straight to bed. I was so wired after getting home, I needed time for myself and to wind down, before I could get into bed.

Even though I'm a night owl, I can make myself to go to bed at a decent hour and get up at a respectable time. But, I can tell it's not the way my body wants to function.

[Quin]

Northern Hemi... I'm a night owl.

Southern Hemi... I'm a morning bird.

It's like the toilets flushing the wrong way round, I go in reverse.

Sadly, moving time zones (far east or EU, or heck, even just east past to pacific) alone only works for a couple of days.

Then the durn jet lag wears off.

Q

[Smudge]

I swing between both sometimes I am definately a morning person other times I night owl - and it can switch very quickly - at the moment I am somwhere in between!

[pam]

Definitely a night owl. But it sure doesn't help working 2 jobs. Just makes me tired during the day.

[Backroads]

Morning person. Always have been and probably always will be. As late afternoon/evening rolls around, I lose energy. I don't care for partying late at night, but I'm great about doing anything early in the day.

[Traveler]

I once did an very unscientific study and came to the conclusion that there seem to be a lot more differences between morning persons and night owls beyond when they go to bed and get up. What I thought I learned:

A. Morning persons are more on schedule. They have a time they go to bed and a time to wake up and it is very consistent - even on week ends. I am a morning person and back in my single days I often fell asleep on dates that went beyond 10:00 pm. 9:30 is my normal bed time. 5 to 5:30 is my normal wake up time. Every night owl I know has a messed up schedule and must use an alarm clock to be on time for any morning activities. (I had a saying - Early to bed and early to rise - makes your girl go out with other guys).

B. Because of A - I think the morning persons are generally seen as more boring to night owls and sometimes as well to other morning persons.

C. Morning persons are usually more healthy. I believe this is because morning people maintain a better biological clock schedule and thus have a natural desire for activity and exercise. Night owls seem to have schedule conflicts and exercise seems to be a burdensome chore for them.

C. Night owls seem to have more weight problems. But I believe that is the results of A and C.

D. Morning persons seem to enjoy their missions more. I believe this is because missions require one to be on a very rigorous schedule. Night owls struggle with rigorous schedules and just do not seem as happy about getting up on time. Mission cultures seemed to me to favor morning persons.

E. This statement is likely to draw a great deal of ire. I do not intend it too - but like I said this is unscientific. It seem to me that individuals that struggle with morality issues generally tend more towards being night owls. This is not to say that being a night owl causes moral indiscretions - just that moral indiscretions seem to be better suited to late night rather than early morning activity.

F. This is another wild statement that may cause a little ire. But it seems to me that night owls have more financial problems than morning persons - that seem to be more successful with money.

I could continue - but I am concerned that some on the forum may take offense when none was intended. There are always exceptions - I posted this only because there seems to be certain trends. It may all be because I am a morning person and tend to see some value and reason in D&C 88:124.

The Traveler

Edited October 24, 2013 by Traveler

[Guest]

There are always exceptions - I posted this only because there seems to be certain trends. It may all be because I am a morning person and tend to see some value and reason in D&C 88:124.

The Traveler

I don't see your trend. Most of my night owl friends (I'm one too) doesn't fit your description.

[applepansy]

Neither. :) I'm exhausted all the time.

[dahlia]

Bad habit left over from grad school - I generally go to bed around 2a.m., but 3 is not unknown. The difference for me is that I usually don't have to get up early, so I still get my 6-8 hrs of sleep. I find that by time I do the stuff you need to do during the day - doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, teaching, school admin stuff, making dinner and talking to son, there's my day. I can't get down to my other work - grading, writing, trolling on the internet - until later at night.

I've been trying to change, but it's hard. I'd need a lot of sleeping meds to go to sleep at 10 or 11.

[Wingnut]

I once did an very unscientific study and came to the conclusion that there seem to be a lot more differences between morning persons and night owls beyond when they go to bed and get up. What I thought I learned:

A. Morning persons are more on schedule. They have a time they go to bed and a time to wake up and it is very consistent - even on week ends. I am a morning person and back in my single days I often fell asleep on dates that went beyond 10:00 pm. 9:30 is my normal bed time. 5 to 5:30 is my normal wake up time. Every night owl I know has a messed up schedule and must use an alarm clock to be on time for any morning activities. (I had a saying - Early to bed and early to rise - makes your girl go out with other guys).

B. Because of A - I think the morning persons are generally seen as more boring to night owls and sometimes as well to other morning persons.

C. Morning persons are usually more healthy. I believe this is because morning people maintain a better biological clock schedule and thus have a natural desire for activity and exercise. Night owls seem to have schedule conflicts and exercise seems to be a burdensome chore for them.

C. Night owls seem to have more weight problems. But I believe that is the results of A and C.

D. Morning persons seem to enjoy their missions more. I believe this is because missions require one to be on a very rigorous schedule. Night owls struggle with rigorous schedules and just do not seem as happy about getting up on time. Mission cultures seemed to me to favor morning persons.

E. This statement is likely to draw a great deal of ire. I do not intend it too - but like I said this is unscientific. It seem to me that individuals that struggle with morality issues generally tend more towards being night owls. This is not to say that being a night owl causes moral indiscretions - just that moral indiscretions seem to be better suited to late night rather than early morning activity.

F. This is another wild statement that may cause a little ire. But it seems to me that night owls have more financial problems than morning persons - that seem to be more successful with money.

I could continue - but I am concerned that some on the forum may take offense when none was intended. There are always exceptions - I posted this only because there seems to be certain trends. It may all be because I am a morning person and tend to see some value and reason in D&C 88:124.

The Traveler

I think I agree with nearly all of these, based also upon my own personal experiences. And being a night owl who suffers from many of these side effects, I'm not offended by the suggestions/implications.

[Jenamarie]

Morning person. I didn't even set my alarm last night and my body just naturally woke up at 5:30am. I get most of my work done during the morning: exercising, doing my hair and make-up, house cleaning, teaching my kids (we homeschool), etc. About the only thing I leave reserved for afternoons are errands, like grocery shopping, doctors appointments, etc. If there's anything around the house that needs to be done, it *has* to be done in the morning, or it just ain't going to get done, even if I have no errands to run that day. My brain just checks out on "housework" after lunch time.

[Guest]

I think I agree with nearly all of these, based also upon my own personal experiences. And being a night owl who suffers from many of these side effects, I'm not offended by the suggestions/implications.

Ack! Okay, I'm a night owl, so is my husband and many of my friends so I'll address this one from my perspective.

I'm a Filipino working in the USA (exactly 12 hours behind) for a firm in Germany (6 hours behind the Phils). I tend to learn who are morning people and who are night people in what time zone because I get to work with these people at all kinds of hours.

I'm a night owl even when I'm in the Philippines. There's something about sundown that just gets my brain firing more efficiently.

A. Morning persons are more on schedule. They have a time they go to bed and a time to wake up and it is very consistent - even on week ends. I am a morning person and back in my single days I often fell asleep on dates that went beyond 10:00 pm. 9:30 is my normal bed time. 5 to 5:30 is my normal wake up time. Every night owl I know has a messed up schedule and must use an alarm clock to be on time for any morning activities. (I had a saying - Early to bed and early to rise - makes your girl go out with other guys).

Not true based on my own anecdotal evidence.

My sister is a morning person. She's a nurse who works 12-hour shifts. When she's working 7am-7pm, she's completely fine with schedules the next day because the things she needs to do outside of work coincides with her need for sleep. So she sleeps and wakes up on a predictable pattern. When she's working 7pm-7am she's a mess the next day because everything she has to do outside of work occurs when she's supposed to be sleeping and she has a hard time adjusting. So her sleep gets to be worked into the best available time.

I am a night person. I have a flexible work schedule. I have no problems with schedules beyond the fact that I'm Filipino and Filipinos, in general, have a habit of being late to all and any parties or church meetings. I sleep when I need to sleep, I wake up when I need to wake up... Because my schedule allows it. But, if I get a project that is not flexible with time, I go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday with no problems.

My husband is a night person. He works 7am-4pm. But he's a manager so he can schedule meetings in the morning and reserves heavy-noggin work in the afternoon. He is on time and on schedule with military-precision. For anything. Including going to bed and waking up. So much so that before we got married, he told me that he only has one requirement for when we have kids - he will do anything as long as he can keep his sleep.

My friend is a night person. He works 8am-5pm. He is a mess because his work requires that he be alert with all cylinders firing at 8am. So he is always tired and has to have this alarm clock that he slams 5 times to snooze before he can drag himself out of bed and then he has to have 2 cups of coffee so he can function in the morning. I told him... you know, find a 2nd shift job and you'll feel much much better.

B. Because of A - I think the morning persons are generally seen as more boring to night owls and sometimes as well to other morning persons.

Uhm, no. It's not because of A. And no, we don't see morning people as boring. They're just annoying in the morning because a lot of them are so chirpy at 6AM when my eyes are still glued shut and they're annoying at night because they conk out on you in the middle of karaoke.

C. Morning persons are usually more healthy. I believe this is because morning people maintain a better biological clock schedule and thus have a natural desire for activity and exercise. Night owls seem to have schedule conflicts and exercise seems to be a burdensome chore for them.

Completely untrue. My husband, the night owl, goes to the gym or runs around the neighborhood 4x a week at 9PM. Since he started high school. Well, until he broke his back and went back for his masters. A lot of my friends who are night owls train in jiu-jitsu... the mats are full of them all the way to midnight. The mat is closed in the mornings.

My sister lives throwing distance from a 24-hour gym. That gym has more people after 7PM than it has in the morning. And it doesn't start to trickle down until about 3AM.

C. Night owls seem to have more weight problems. But I believe that is the results of A and C.

In all of my friends and acquaintances, I have met overweight morning people and overweight night people and top shape morning people and top shape night people. And all in between.

D. Morning persons seem to enjoy their missions more. I believe this is because missions require one to be on a very rigorous schedule. Night owls struggle with rigorous schedules and just do not seem as happy about getting up on time. Mission cultures seemed to me to favor morning persons.

I wouldn't know about missions but I will bet you my last dollar that the reason night people struggle with the rigorous schedule is because they have to wake up at 6AM and have to sleep by 9PM. Yes, it is designed for morning people just like most everything else in the modern era... like public schools.

But, that's changing now. To solve traffic congestions, firms started the flexible work hours that give you a window between 6 and 10AM to start work. Also, telecommuting has served a big boon to night people because, for example, people in the Philippines can work for Europe and the US at night.

E. This statement is likely to draw a great deal of ire. I do not intend it too - but like I said this is unscientific. It seem to me that individuals that struggle with morality issues generally tend more towards being night owls. This is not to say that being a night owl causes moral indiscretions - just that moral indiscretions seem to be better suited to late night rather than early morning activity.

Not true. It's more like... people who seek moral indiscretions do their "indiscretioning" at night. Just because they're doing things at night doesn't make them night people.

If I may put myself out on a limb and make a wild supposition... I would say that because night people are those whose brains function optimally after sundown, they are less likely to do something stupid at night. If they're moral people, they avoid the perils of the dark because they're thinking properly. Whereas, morning people who go out at night have their brains functioning in a non-optimal timezone and are therefore more susceptible to temptation. But then, that's just me blowing smoke because I have not observed this phenomena.

Basically, people who want to do bad will do bad regardless of whether they are morning people or night people. It's just that it is more convenient to do so at night so they are automatically labeled night owls.

F. This is another wild statement that may cause a little ire. But it seems to me that night owls have more financial problems than morning persons - that seem to be more successful with money.

Completely untrue. My husband and I are both night owls who are doing ok financially. My brother-in-law is a morning person (goes out fishing at 5AM type of morning person) and he's terrible with money.

My best friend who is an annoyingly chipper in the morning person is good with money. My other friend... the 2 coffee cups in the morning person I was talking about earlier... is terrible with money.

There's no relationship between morning or night person and their ability to manage finances.

I could continue - but I am concerned that some on the forum may take offense when none was intended. There are always exceptions - I posted this only because there seems to be certain trends. It may all be because I am a morning person and tend to see some value and reason in D&C 88:124.

The Traveler

No offense taken. I just don't see this trend in my experience and I know a lot of morning and night people.

Of course, there are night people who are forced by circumstance to becoming morning people and vice versa. I saw this interview with Regis' partner before Kelly and she mentioned that she had to be awake by 3AM to do the 5AM morning show. Every day. For years and years. And she used to be a night person but now she's become a morning person so that when she left her morning show job, she doesn't know anymore if she should continue to wake up early.

But yes, my mom has this motto she got from Benjamin Franklin (ironically a chronic insomniac): "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." But then, she grew up without Walmart.

Edited October 24, 2013 by anatess

[Lakumi]

night owl, wish church was like at 11:30 lol

[prisonchaplain]

From late fall to mid-spring, in Seattle it doesn't really matter much. 6AM and 6PM are equally dark. :-)

[Mahone]

Uhm, no. It's not because of A. And no, we don't see morning people as boring. They're just annoying in the morning because a lot of them are so chirpy at 6AM when my eyes are still glued shut and they're annoying at night because they conk out on you in the middle of karaoke.

Can I add to that those people that schedule important meetings that require being able to think quickly, first thing in the morning? Incredibly frustrating for night owls!

[Vort]

I desperately want to be a morning person. I think it's my nature. But I'm married to a night person, and we all have our marital sacrifices.

[drham3rd]

I'm a morning person! Like to teach my classes in the morning! When I was a junior faculty member, had to teach some evening classes..hated that time...my brain was not optimal then :) I'm fortunate to be a senior faculty member (26 yrs) and I actually make the class schedule..so guess who gets the morning class times..:)... Seniority has its privileges, I guess.

[Dravin]

I'm a night person, though I prefer taking classes and working in the morning. I think I'm just loathe to go to bed most of the time, it may be because I don't fall asleep quickly unless I'm particularly tired. It isn't unusual for it to take me upwards of an hour from settling into to bed to actually falling asleep. I think a lot of why it takes me so long is I have a hard time turning my mind off. It was particularly bad on my mission as decompression time at the end of the day is rather limited, I remember laying awake at 12:00 am, sometimes as late as 1:30 am. And this was throughout my mission so it wasn't a case of adjusting my schedule from 'civilian' life to fit the mission schedule.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Dravin

[Backroads]

Uhm, no. It's not because of A. And no, we don't see morning people as boring. They're just annoying in the morning because a lot of them are so chirpy at 6AM when my eyes are still glued shut and they're annoying at night because they conk out on you in the middle of karaoke.

[classylady]

Even though I am a night owl, I am able to adjust and work mornings. But, it's not optimal for me.

On my mission, I didn't have a hard time with mission rules. I was able to get up in the morning. Exercise

was the most difficult, because it was in the morning. But, I still tried. I loved my mission! It was the best experience of my life. In my experience, those who didn't like their missions were the ones that had problems with authority. It didn't matter if they were night owls or morning people. They just didn't like the rigidity of the mission rules. Or, they didn't know how to discipline themselves. Again, that didn't seem to matter whether night owl or early bird.

[classylady]

I desperately want to be a morning person. I think it's my nature. But I'm married to a night person, and we all have our marital sacrifices.

This goes for my husband too. When he sets up his schedule, it shows him up by 5 am, doing exercises, reading, and then off to work. It doesn't seem to actually happen. He seems to stay up with me, and there goes his schedule.

[mirkwood]

I have worked graveyards since January 1999...by choice.

[Guest]

Night owl for sure. I don't think I always was, but my husband is, and I've grown used to it. I wish we were morning people instead.

[aclaire11]

I've always been a night owl. It causes some interesting clashes with my fiance, who is a complete morning person.

[Zeitgeist]

Mornings for me. But the best advice I got for mornings was to (a) eat breakfast, (b) exercise, © make a list of goals for the day, and (d) achieve the hardest goals first and get them over with.

Obviously there are limits to these. If your hardest goal for the day is to cook a great supper, you probably would not want to start that while the rooster is crowing.

If you want your day to turn into a wasteland, simply negate all four items and start your day surfing the Web.