Early Bird Or Night Owl?

Not all internal clocks click the same. I am not a morning person. I wished for years that I could wake at the crack of dawn like so many of my writer friends, hop on my tredmill, get my exercises and shower done before six a.m. and then head to my office with a mug of hot, fresh coffee in hand by seven. Then write three chapters of the next novel, and a quick edit ... all before lunchtime.

Ain't happenin' folks.

I have not been a morning person since my conception. I'm sure of it. I used to get in so much trouble for it. Catching a 7 a.m. school bus was next to impossible for me. Getting to work by 8 a.m. ... I still hate the sound of a time clock. I was seldom late, however, but it nearly killed me as my car often broke the speed of sound to get there on time.

People tell me that you become a morning person as you grow older. I wish that were true. My mother-in-law is awake by four or five a.m., she eats lunch at 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. and then is off to bed by 8:30 p.m. We are totally on different schedules. I'm usually eating breakfast when she eats lunch.

Night Owls are often looked down on as lazy, indifferent, and unproductive. "Why can't you get your ass out of bed in the morning?" I've heard that all my life. As I grow older, I'm starting to take offense. I used to hide the fact that I was a night owl. But no longer. As you grow older, you care less about stuff like this. You begin to wear your faults as badges of honor on your lapel. As if you've "earned" the right to have a few. Thing is, I work at home. Working from home is perfect for night owls.

Not being an early bird doesn't mean that if I have a speech to give at 7 a.m. I arrive half asleep. No, not at all. I've learned how to drag myself from the bed to the shower just to wake up. I can get to where I need to be on time. My husband, is not only an early bird, he's a happy early bird, and has learned how to guide me up and out the door. But that is just NOT my routine. And being a night owl doesn't mean I sleep until noon. Not at all. In fact, I can't remember the last time I slept until 9. It just means my body runs on a different schedule than most writers I know.

Being a night owl, for me, means sleep doesn't hit me until sometime after midnight. Morning doesn't come until at least the sun is UP. That means at 8 a.m., I hop out of bed. Nine times out of ten, I'm drinking coffee by 8. But when I'm awake ... it's non-stop work until I drop into bed. My most productive hours are from 6 p.m. until after midnight.

I wish I were a normal early-bird.

But this ole' night owl don't feel like changing her feathers at this point.

Or making excuses for it anymore either.

Yawn ... it's 9:30 a.m. Time for my second cup of coffee.

Blessings to you and yours.