I am sooo not a morning person. I think. Most of my life, I have been a night owl. Given my way, I would prefer to roll out of bed about 10 am and work into the wee hours of the morning. Peak productivity time would be between 11 pm and 1 am. But heaven help us all if I did not get 8 hours of sleep – I tended to be so much less productive, not to mention excessively grouchy if I didn’t. But I’m wondering now if I am in fact becoming a morning person.
As I’m moving into being a solid 30-something, I find my patterns changing. I’m not sure if it’s the current schedule that I’m on (having to wake up at 6 to get the kids ready and go to work), or that I seem to be working ALL the time that I’ve reverted to a completely different schedule. Even on the weekends, I’m up by 8 at the latest, and by midnight you’re bound to find me snoring on the couch. (Yes, I’m terrible about sleeping on my couch – my boyfriend moves in in four days so I’m hoping that my back will get a much needed respite in an actual bed).
According to The Sleep Foundation, this transition may be less about the schedule I’m on and more about basic biology. According to their report, teenagers and young adults tend to have a circadian rhythms that are geared towards being up late at night. Which totally explains why my 11 year old was bright eyed and bushy tailed on New Year’s Eve, whereas her little sister and I were passed out by 10. It also explains why she’s a total monster before 10 am. As we age, we can expect the amount of sleep we need to go down, but according to the Sleep Foundation, every individual is different. The average amount of sleep needs for adults is betweeen 7-9 hours, as compared to my six year old, who needs 10-11 hours of sleep to be at peak performance. I would say this is about right for me – I feel like a rock star with 8 hours of sleep, but I can get by on 6. Getting only 5 hours of sleep puts me in a state where I should not really be around people and I should definitely not be practicing law. This is fairly well established in science – lack of sleep leads to a host of psychological and physical difficulties…so rest up everyone!
At what time of day do you feel the most energetic and productive? Are you becoming a morning person too?
I am an afternoon person:) Not good in the morning or the night!! Kind of crazy, but that is when I am most productive
I wasn’t a morning person until I had kids.
I am with you… I am not a morning person. I found out that gluten was playing a huge role in that. I went off gluten and got into a regular sleep pattern. I know it SOUNDS crazy but it is true. You may want to try it if you haven’t already gone off it…. (no I don’t sell a gluten-free product or program, I’m just a blogger & pro. organizer).