Are you an Early Bird or a Night Owl? I’ve been both in my lifetime.
As an Early Bird:
- I wake up pre-dawn and tend to be more organized with a detail oriented, day-to-day approach to life.
- My brain is conditioned to shut down for sleep and fire back up once I’ve made coffee and started the day.
- I drink copious amounts of coffee.
- I often have a light breakfast, a full lunch and a light dinner and I like them at set times in the day.
- I’m now a Plotter and I love to make outlines and pre-write before I begin a story.
As a Night Owl:
- I would go to bed well after midnight and tended to be more scattered with a big-picture overview of life.
- My brain would not turn off until I got thoughts out of it and onto paper and sometimes that still wouldn’t work.
- I should have owned stock in soda since I drank so much.
- I would nibble on different foods throughout the day and night, I didn’t like set times for eating.
- I was a Pantser and would never dream of making outlines or character sheets or restricting my freedom of writing.
When I was younger I was definitely a night owl. I couldn’t wait for everyone to be asleep so I could have peace and quiet to read or write. I was always wide awake from 9pm to about 2am. Then I never wanted to wake up for school and was a constant attendance problem. My mom tried her best to change my sleeping patterns, but nothing seemed to work. My sleeping patterns after high school were pretty much the same and I continued to be a night owl through my twenties.
Then in my thirties, I began to be a full-time opener at the coffee shop I worked at and that lasted for about 7 years, then the same at the next shop I worked at for about 6 years. I started going to bed by 8pm and being awake by 4am. So through sheer force and change of sleeping habits, I became an Early Bird and left the Night Owl behind.
Since I’ve been both an Early Bird and a Night Owl, I feel safe in opinionating that neither lifestyle is better than the other, or more creative than the other, just different approaches with different results but both amazing and fulfilling. I’m glad I’ve been both in my lifetime and have experienced different lifestyles for the creative mind.
Which one are you… or have you been both as well?