I am a night owl. Being a night owl always served me well when I was in college and as I became a mom. I could easily stay up late to study and still have a productive next day. There was no staying up for 2am feedings since I was already up. Giving kids medicine at midnight or staying up with little ones never bothered me. I was up anyway. My night owl was very content. Often I planned my children’s school during the late night hours. I would sometimes just watch TV or read a book. I enjoyed my time since it was quiet and free of distraction. So, it was only natural for me to put my night owl to work when I decided to work from home. Good idea, right? Well, not the best idea.
Let me explain; my night owl is not as young as it once was back in the ole college days or early days of motherhood. My night owl started to do something odd as the years passed. It started to disturb my early bird. My early bird was quite cross with night owl for putting in long hours. Soon, my night owl was less and less productive burning the midnight oil and staying up until morning. All that free time I had at night was for sleeping not for working. At least the arrangement was not the best idea for a homeschooling mom with one teenager, two crazy kids, and one little hyper blessing. I still did not require more than six to seven hours of sleep a night. However, I was getting more like four or five hours of sleep. A person can only do that for so long before burning out. The solution was to put my night owl to bed before morning. Morning was the domain of the early bird. I am getting better…slowly. Getting to bed before midnight is still out of reach but getting to bed before 2am is starting to happen. Everyone is grateful.
Don’t save your work for burning the midnight hour. At least don’t save a full day’s worth of work for the time when you are the most tired. Transition to becoming a very early bird and do your work then. I promise you that if your night owl is asking for a bedtime you will be better off if you give in and grab a pillow.