This morning as I was getting ready for work I thought about the term “morning person”. Or the question, “Are you a morning person or a night person”? I’ve always had such a hard time answering that question. As I was getting ready this morning I felt motivated. Granted, I just rolled out of bed at 7am. I thought back to the days when I’d have to rush to get in my car, drive 30 minutes in traffic, to sit in my office. Stress for eight hours. Then drive home, except this time the commutes usually at least an hour long. And by the drive home, I would be exhausted. I’d come home, barely enough energy to fulfill my nighttime duties. Cook, clean, workout if I was lucky. Whatever the kid needed. Then off to bed to do it the next day. “I’m a morning person, I guess”, I’d think.
Now that I’ve been home for over two years, working with zero commute, I guess I really don’t know what I am. And even more so now that I’ve taken a much less stressful role. One where I’m not responsible for the productivity of other humans. I guess I have more time to contemplate ideas such as this. I suppose sometimes I wake up for no reason at 5am, although when I do usually it’s not productive. I feel my most creative typically in the morning, when the day hasn’t drained me. But sometimes I’ll have an idea pop up at night, or lines to a poem I can’t get out of my head when I’m trying to fall asleep that I have to jot down so I can finally relax into REM. There are days like yesterday when I more or less want to do nothing, I’m just exhausted for no reason. I of course do things, go for a walk, clean the kitchen. But it isn’t above and beyond. And then there are days when I clean and organize the entire house, go for a 3 mile run, write 10 poems, make a new set of jewelry. The point is it all depends. On what? I don’t know. I just now am so thankful to be able to listen to my body. I know when I have days like yesterday, rest is needed. When the mood strikes me to be productive, I’ll also ride that wave. It’s really not that serious.
We are so pressured in society to constantly produce outside of our jobs. To make the most of our time, to ensure everything is done, in it’s place. To recognize when we have the most energy and capitalize on that for ourselves. What I’m trying to say is I don’t want to put myself in that box. I taught a fitness class at 5:30am for 5 years and ended up HATING waking up and working out. Now I go at night. It makes no sense to be so rigid with yourself. Just do things when they feel right. You have the time until you don’t.
The Girl Without A Face 
2 responses to “Are You A Morning Person?”
They once did an experiment where they put a group of people in a place without time cues (no knowledge of sunrise or sunset or news reports). They had everything they wanted except anything with time indications. They were told to go to sleep or wake up whenever they wanted, and do their work also whenever they felt like it. They could write down what time or day they thought it was and make a calendar if they wanted. What happened was that they established for themselves a 25 hour day. But they thought they were doing a 24 hour day with “normal” sleep and wake cycles. The experimenters had a theory that the Earth once rotated slower and as it got faster our body clocks had to be reset to correspond to the new light and dark cycle. Because of predators and lack of good artificial light, it was too dangerous for our ancestors to do anything at night… and then when agriculture came, they had to attend to a daylight schedule more carefully…
But as the song says, “Night and Day/ You are the one…”
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How interesting!! Thank you so much for sharing – I had no idea. Love this!
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