So, as I was getting to bed last night this morning at 2:30, I started wondering how many people are natural night owls (or morning people), and whether it is easy for those people to force themselves into a schedule counter to their nature, or if they find it as difficult as I do. It’s not even a matter of ‘liking’ to sleep in; it’s that my brain does its best thinking late in the evening. I grasp new concepts better late at night, my thinking and creativity is higher at night, etc.
As you can imagine, all of this made life difficult through my school age years, until I hit college. All it took was one semester of having an 8am class, and I made certain thereafter to not have any classes start before 10am at the earliest. Upon leaving college and entering the workforce, I struggled with my first few jobs which required early morning starts. I eventually found a job working nights, and I thrived. My job started at midnight and ran till 8am; I’d get home around 9:30am, had plenty of time to shop or run errands while lots of other people were at work. I’d go to bed around noon/1pm, sleep until 8pm, hang out and have dinner with my roommate, then head to work around 11pm. It was wonderful. Of course, it couldn’t last.
As well as the night job matched my natural wake/sleep cycles, it didn’t pay very well and was over an hour away from where I lived. So after almost a year, I moved on to a new job. Unfortunately, this new job was back to the 8am start, but luckily, after a couple of years and an internal transfer to a new team, I was able to change my hours. I went to a 9:30am start, then eventually a 10am start, and finally wound up where I am today — starting my work day at 10:30am. It works reasonably well now that we live nearby my office; my alarm goes off at 9:15am every morning, and while I still think that’s too early, at least it means I get 7 hours of sleep if when I go to bed at 2am.
I did try at one point to force myself to an earlier schedule, and I was miserable. I carpooled with someone who lived nearby, but because his hours were inflexible 8-5, we met at the carpool lot at 6:30am (this was before I moved and still had a long commute) to head into work, and didn’t get back to the lot until close to 7pm. Everyone told me “give it a while, you’ll adjust,” but no matter how hard I tried to get to bed by 11pm/12am, it never worked. So I was frequently running on 5 or less hours of sleep a night, and after 5 months, told my carpool guy that I was going back to my late shift hours and couldn’t carpool with him anymore. What a relief it was!
Miles Away — Savatage:
And a cool, cool rain comes down
On a world burned by the sun
And the moon arises like a child
And the moment is undone
And the stars never say what they see
As the moon flirts with shadows it makes
Through the fallen trees
Some would wait for the morning light
But I fall asleep 'til I'm safe
In the arms of night
Yeah
Let the darkness roll in
Let it wipe the light away
In the distance
Always calling
Morpheus he beckons play
Still the morning is preordained
But I believe light is the source of all our pain
It reveals the smallest sin
But dark covers all and will always take you
Armed and gunning
I'll be running
Always just before the day
In the distance
Day is dawning
But I'm already miles away, miles away
In the night there's wonder
Always there for you to see
In the light of morning
Visions fade
And dreams can flee
With the darkness the night forgives
Covers our scars and lets
The lost souls live
And the morning's a distant fear
But if we move fast they'll never find us
Armed and gunning
I'll be running
Through a world that's in decay
Let them thunder, stare and wonder
Cause I'm already miles away, miles away, yeah
Oooh miles away
I've been running
Armed and gunning
Always just before the day
In the distance
Day is dawning
But I'm already miles away
Miles away yeah yeah yeah yeah
Miles miles away
Miles away yeah
Miles miles away, oooh yeah
Away, away, away
And the rain comes down
So, what about you? Are you a natural morning person or night owl? Or are you one of the lucky ones who can easily adapt to different schedules? Has your natural rhythm changed over the years?
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by and tell us about your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper. Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
As always, this is an open thread and nothing is off topic. What do you want to kibitz about tonight?