When I hear the sounds of birds chirping and see the dawning day creeping around the edge of the blinds in my bedroom all I want to do is snuggle down in my bed and get a couple more hours of sleep. That early morning sleep is the best kind but the reality is I have an 8am – 5pm day job.
I have all kinds of alarm clock schemes to wake up early to go to the day job. I set the clock 1 hour ahead so when it does alarm at 6am I breathe a sigh of relief because I know it is really 5am when I hit the snooze button. Then I play tag with the snooze button every 10 minutes until the clock reads 7:30am which is an acceptable hour to wake for my mental state even though I know the clock is 1 hour ahead and it is really 6:30am. I play this game every week, Monday thru Friday. These are not the actions of a morning person.
Now, in the early evening, I arrive home from the day job and have my dinner. At this time, I enter into my “writing life” state of mind. During the weekday evenings, I am working on my novel project, composing a blog post, reading my latest Writers’ Digest or The Writer magazine or continuing with an online monthly writing class. Writing is my passion and the “work I love” so it gives me a burst of energy whenever I am engaged in it. Therefore, I am usually working on my writing projects until after midnight and on the weekends I can stay up until 2am – 3am. Since I don’t have to wake early on the weekends, I can sleep until my body is ready to wake up. There is no need to play the alarm clock game. So, I am a person who revels and produce in the nighttime hours – – – definitely the actions of a night owl.
I play games with the clocks in my house, too. My husband never knows which one is correct so he has two, one on his nightstand and one in his man cave, that he keeps at the “real” time!
Ok, I thought I was the only person with a weird relationship with alarms clocks!
Alarm Clock Game! I have 2 alarm clocks across the room. Thought it would force me out of bed to shut the damn things off. Nope. I’ve learned to ignore the detestable noise for up to 20 minutes. Now I must take that into account when setting my alarms!
OK. I’ve tried the “across the room” trick. I refuse to confess how many times I have walked across the room in one morning to hit the snooze button. Let’s just say I could skip my cardio workout that morning!
I feel your pain. I have always considered myself a night owl as well, though this fall is proving to be different. I am wide awake and alert every morning by 6, and ready to take on the day. Because I do not work out of the home I am free to perform a few horse-related chores, watch the news, take a couple of phone calls, followed by a short nap. By the latter part of the morning, I am ready to rock and roll. I feverishly dash about the house because I feel as though I am missing out at this point (should have started earlier, much earlier). I get back out to the barn, turn out the horses, muck stalls and dump the bucket on the tractor. Then I run back inside, shower, dress and hit the door. Oftentimes I wonder where on earth I’m going, so I just keep driving until I arrive……..someplace.
Unlike the past, by 9:30p or so, my battery is nearly spent and I’m in bed by 10 – 10:30. Falling alseep shortly thereafter is a snap. This from a woman who used to walk around until 2:30 am for no other reason than my body and mind were wide awake. So, I think I would describe my activity and sleep pattern as seasonal.