I Am a Night Owl! Always Have Been, Always Will Be!

I am a night owl, always have been, always will be. So, what are you “early bird catches the worm types” gonna do about it?

I always woke up early for school. In college, I had classes at 8 am! I raised four kids, waking up early every day! Now, those four kids have their own kids! I married an early bird, who still gets up at 7 am. He knows not to wake me, because I can be most unpleasant! But, now I don’t have to wake up early! I actually feel better at night. I am one of the few who loves when daylight savings is over, and it gets dark earlier. When someone questions me about my late hours, I simply tell them I am a Vampire. That shuts them up!

I write my blogs late at night. I do my research late at night when everyone else is sleeping! I love the nights when everyone else is asleep! I love to cook at night,when nobody is around to interrupt me. It is peaceful and quiet. The phone doesn’t ring! I even do laundry at night!

Growing up, many of us were taught that “the early bird catches the worm.” We were advised to “be up with the lark,” to go to bed early and wake up refreshed at 7 or 8 a.m., or even to be up with the sun. That’s fine for about a quarter of the population — the percentage of people believed to be early birds, according to research. But another quarter of the population are natural night owls, who , like me, like to stay up late.

Scientists have specific terminology to explain the two types of sleepers. They’re called chronotypes. In short, chronotypes describe when an individual’s circadian cycle prefers sleep. For example, Early Bird’s are called larks, whereas Night Owls are still called Night Owls. Most people have a general sense of what kind of chronotype they are, and there’s both genetic and lifestyle factors that contribute to why we fall into either the Early Bird or Night Owl category.

Let’s talk about key differences between each chronotype.

Early Birds tend to have persistent and perfecting personalities. They are more likely to be awake, alert, and ready for their work day. This means that larks generally set themselves up for success if they have a 9 to 5 type of work schedule, but don’t always have the ability to to stay alert for social events occurring later in the evening.

On the other side, Night Owl’s are notably spontaneous and extravagant. These personalities enjoy the rush that is life and tend to successfully think on the go. Night Owl’s are more prone to hitting that snooze button for obvious reasons, and tend to wake up groggy and grumpy in the morning.

Scientists say that being one or the other is somewhat rooted in genetics! Praised Be! My father could never get up before noon! It had to come from somewhere! And, I have two brothers who are NIght Owls!

Some people feel energized and inspired from the darker nighttime hours, myself included! , and relish the quiet moments when most people are asleep — even if that means waking later than normal or starting the day in a considerably drowsy fashion, which I did for most of my life. That first cup of coffee is a savior!

But, research proves that night owls need not be ashamed. Our circadian rhythms — when we choose to sleep and for how long — are part of our biology, and may well be inherited. Some studies suggest that it’s not healthy to fight the natural sleep instinct. In fact, research has even found a link between night owls and increased memory function, imagination, and creativity.

Successful figures both past and present have prided themselves on being early birds.We can all thank Benjamin Franklin For that ! But , the early birds should know that the nocturnal among us are in good company, too! Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, James Joyce, Marcel Proust, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Barack Obama, and Keith Richards are all well-known night-dwellers, to name just a few. There can be an upside to staying up late, but don’t have to take my word on it. The following quotes, from notable night owls, admirably and expertly corroborate.

There is a romance about all who are abroad in the black hours.
— Robert Louis Stevenson

What hath night to do with sleep? / Night hath better sweets to prove, / Venus now wakes, and wak’ns Love.
— John Milton

When I am… completely myself, entirely alone… or during the night when I cannot sleep, it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how these ideas come I know not nor can I force them.
— Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o’clock is a scoundrel.
— Samuel Johnson

I seldom went to bed before two or three o’clock in the morning, on the theory that if anything of interest were to happen to a young man it would almost certainly happen late at night.

— E.B. White

I’m a night owl, and luckily my profession supports that. The best ideas come to me in the dead of night.
— Josh Fox, film director and playwright

When the sun goes down, my whole body starts to come alive… I’m still naturally a night owl. If it were up to me, my favorite time to work would be between 3 to 4 a.m., which is what it used to be before my baby was born.
— Christina Aguilera

I do my best thinking at night when everyone else is sleeping. No interruptions. No noise. I like the feeling of being awake when no one else is.
― Jennifer Niven, author

Left to my own devices, with no family, I’d start writing at 7 p.m. and stop at 4 a.m. … Late nights are wonderfully tranquil. No phone calls, no interruptions. I like the feeling of knowing that nobody is trying to reach me.
— Michael Lewis, author and financial journalist

I do most of my writing in bed, late at night after everyone has gone to sleep. I need to be alone with my thoughts, and late at night is about the only time that can actually happen.
— Donald Driver, author and NFL wide receiver

If I have questions about the universe on my mind when I go to bed, I can’t turn off. I dream equations all night.
— Stephen Hawking

There’s something magical about that late-night silence that appeals to me. My mind becomes very quiet. I can enter the fictional world much more fully.
— Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author and poet