I am not a morning person.
But, I have learned to love the early morning.
I will never be the person who wakes up and jumps out of bed, ready to tackle the day.
But, I have learned that when I get up earlier, I get more done in my day.
I have said all my life, I am a night person. I do my best and most creative work in the late afternoon and evening. I love staying up late. I just love the night. I believe that my internal body clock wants to go to be at midnight and get up at 8am. It just feels like I am at my best when I am on that schedule.
Problem is, this type of schedule just does not work in the modern US world. In the US, the world just starts early. There are multitudes of self-help books that will tell you all the successful people start their day before 5am. They have done all kinds of things by 8am, and you just aren’t going to do well if you don’t get up early and do those things too. (Insert my sarcastic eye roll here) And I have fought against this thinking for my entire life. Seriously, there are plenty of successful people who sleep in. You don’t have to get up and work out and meditate and write a book before 8am to be successful. Night people can be successful too. Just not in the traditional way. And I am all about being non-traditional.
But. I discovered something about myself last weekend. I had taken a few days off of work to rest, get well, and really, I needed a break from the daily. So, I had six straight days of no work and nowhere to be in the morning. I easily slipped back into my night owl ways. Knowing I would have to push myself back to getting up early before I had to go back to work. After a few days of the late night, sleep-in cycle, I found myself missing my early mornings. (Insert very surprised face here)
I realized something very profound to me. There is a certain quiet and stillness in the early morning that is quite magical. I have come to cherish sitting and drinking my tea as the first light touches the horizon, and the sky lightens. That part of the day is unhurried, quiet and I can just feel at peace then.
I also realized that I might be doing my best creative work in the early evening, but I am at my most productive in the morning. You wouldn’t believe how much I can get done before noon if I try. (I also have to have had a good night’s sleep, but even without that, I can still get stuff done!) I found that when I sleep in, I am just not as motivated and I definitely don’t get as much done during the day.
So, this week, I am back to being the early morning riser. I am drinking my tea in the dark (damn you daylight saving time!), but I am still enjoying my early morning quiet.
Just don’t confuse my early morning enjoyment for being a morning person. I am still hitting my snooze button for at least a half hour and wanting to remain in bed for as long as possible. And I don’t know that will ever change. So, no “morning person” label for me yet. 🙂