Day or Night Person Poll

[Tabetha]

Are You More of a Day Person or a Nightowl?

The time this poll was posted is a hint as to my own answer.

[happy2bchildfree]

I'm definitely a night person. My preferred hours are to go to sleep around 2 to 2:30 AM and wake up around 10 to 10:30 AM.

I wish I was more of a morning person, but I am not and never have been.

[preraph]

I was out clubbing a lot until I was at least 40, and I was very much a night owl, but I still had to get up for work the next day, but in my business, not THAT early. Because they knew it would be impossible. Now that I'm not staying out late and drinking, etc., I find I get up earlier and enjoy the daylight. But I used to be one who wore dark glasses during the day a lot because I just couldn't handle it.

[kentuckykimmie]

I am a natural born night timer and have found out over time that it's best to lie about it to daytimers. They do NOT understand and if they think you are a night timer you will get a bingo card full of comments. Also, if they think you are a daytimer it cuts down on their calling early in the morning ON PURPOSE to wake you up, catch you off guard, and ask a bunch of questions or tell you about something for which you will have no memory. My motto on that is "Take away the thrill and you take away the kill". When daytimers do that sh*t on purpose it is nothing short of a power play, plain and simple.

It's best not to marry a daytimer either as you will NEVER be living on the same page because you are living in different time zones, EVEN IF you are forced to temporarily live a daytimer life due to a job. In your heart, and every chance you get , you will revert back to night timer hours and this is not a good thing when on vacation with a daytimer, as i can attest. The absolute WORST vacation of my life was a week long cruise with a daytimer husband. He scheduled our meal times and activities, which i was unaware at the time there were MANY different time options. We had the SIX AM breakfast, the EIGHT AM cab ride into the island area to "explore", and the only thing i wanted to explore was the back of my eyelids. If ( i mean when) i balked at having to get up, he laid the guilt trip on me of ..."we have PAID for this or that...", it was horrible. Then he was in bed at 11pm, when i was just waking up and wanting to check out the disco, or the night air.

My most hated stereotypical comments made to night timers by daytimers are as follows.

1) It's not healthy to sleep during the day
2) It's not "normal" to want to stay up all night
3) You are sleeping your life away
4) You will feel better if you go to bed early and get up early
5) If you would just go to bed at a "normal" time, and make yourself get up early, your body will reset it's inner clock
6) See, you CAN wake and sleep "normally" ( when you work a day job), Don't you FEEL better?
7) You are lazy if you sleep during the day
8) You will never get a "good" job by sleeping during the day
9) You can "train" yourself to sleep and wake normally, if you would just set the alarm clock and make yourself get up. same with going to bed at a certain and early time. You WILL go to sleep if you will just go to bed.
10) You could get so much more done if you would just get up earlier, it would be like having extra hours in the day


Those are he first ones that came to my mind, but there are many more. You have a headache? It's your sleep patterns. You have a stomach ache, it's the sleep patterns. Ingrown toenail? Proper sleep will clear it right up. These are but a few of the reasons i keep my sleep habits a secret. If you work a daytimer job, NEVER let them know you are a night timer. If you are late for work, it's because you didn't go to bed like a "normal" person, not because you had car trouble. If they ask you to work a night shift, you can get paid MORE MONEY if they think you are a daytimer. Also, people tend to think you have a drug or alcohol problem if they find out you are a night timer. Night timers always get a bad rap, and have for as long as i can remember. If you want to impress the boss, COME IN AN HOUR EARLY, because staying 2 hours late is meaningless and shows them ( if they know you are a night timer) that IF you got up at a "normal" time and came in early, you wouldn't be forced to work these extra late hours when you could be home eating dinner with your "normal" daytimer fambuhlee.

[Karlita]

I like sleeping my life away - that means I'm actually sleeping! ;D Afternoons and evenings are my favorite times of the day. The mornings are nice, but I usually didn't sleep the night before if I'm up to enjoy the sunrise.

[happy2bchildfree]

I think I have heard all those comments and others from "morning" people. The three that annoy me the most are :
1. "If you went to bed earlier, you wouldn't be so tired in the morning." (Yes, it's going to do me a lot of good to go to bed early and then toss and turn for hours. It's very restful to do that.)

2. "You can "reset" your internal clock by going to bed early and getting up early." (If this is the case, why did YEARS of working an early shift and going to bed/getting up early not change my natural rhythms? If I could "reset" my internal clock, I would have done so a long time ago. Being a night person is inconvenient.)

3. "All you do is sleep." (I sleep 7-8 hours each night just like most people. I just do it at different hours.)

I don't go out of my way to tell anyone that I'm a night person, but if the subject comes up, I don't lie about it. I have a comeback for whatever they might hassle me with.

My dh is very much a morning person. It took some adjusting to, and in the beginning I heard some the stereotypical comments from him. He now realizes that I can no more become a morning person than he can become a night person. We keep different hours, and it works out well. He has his alone time in the morning before I wake up, and I have my alone time at night after he goes to sleep. (We're home together all the time.)

Things are a little more difficult when we're away but still doable. I couldn't imagine being on a vacation where things were scheduled. That just wouldn't work out.

[preraph]

I guess everyone just knew it was hopeless to try to change me. I really never got any of that crap except from my mother. I was up late HAVING A LIFE!! I do have to say that I fervently wish all club gigs didn't start at midnight though. Even big concerts often start the main band really late. When I went to UK, they actually started the act at a decent hour and on time. SO refreshing.

[cnu5000]

I guess I am the token day person here. However, I am not judgemental about night owls. I just think people's biology differs.

When the days get short at winter I get more tired. When I see it is night(even if it is 4:00 in the afternoon) part of me gets tired and wants to sleep.

[pyrosgal]

If I had my way, I'd go to bed about midnight and get up about eight. Unfortunately, no such luck. I'm in my office by eight each morning.

[whalehugger]

I'm a day person. I like being awake when the sun's out. In fact, I prefer driving in the daytime versus the night.

[dartigen]

I'm a total night owl. My sleep schedule naturally reverts to it, no matter what I do. I'm sleepiest around 3-6pm, and I'm at my most alert between 10pm-8am.
Plus, my city is so pretty in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes, on a weekend, I go for walks at 2-3am just to enjoy the ambience. It's even more fun at around 5-6am, right before dawn. - it really gets my inner haiku/tanka poet into action.

[gamerpheonix888]

I'm a night owl, though strangely I'm writing this at 7:43 am! But I stayed up past 1 am last night lol.

[malagata]

My husband works 2nd shift and I stay on that schedule as well. We go to bed around 4 or 5 am and get up at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. It is amazing how many people just do not get it. They will expect us to be places at 9 am and don't realize that it is the equivilant of asking them to be somewhere at 2 or 3 in the morning. They then get mad when you say you won't be there until the afternoon.

Some 2nd shifters wake in the morning before work and go to bed as soon as they get home...I can't imagine doing that! Who can go to bed right when they get home from work?

I do miss the sun in the winter time though...I hardly get to see it. But then again neither to first shifters!

When left to my own devices entirely I will sleep 10 hours and stay up for 16. However there are only 24 hours in a day so my schedule can get pretty wacked. It is interesting.

[Tabetha]

Malagata, your schedule is very similar to mine, since my husband manages a bar and we usually are synchronized schedule-wise. On his days off, we switch to a slightly earlier schedule (going to bed between 1-3AM) which is hard unless I take melatonin.

I find these hours are the most natural ones for me. They give me enough hours of the day to conduct regular business/run errands while giving me enough hours of night to be creative (nights are better for me in that department).

[cfioan]

I'm definitely a night person.

[mar]

Mark me a day person ~ reason b/c as kids we were made to go to bed early and get up early. (learned behavior - IMO).

[Miss Night Owl]

Hi everyone,

My user name says it all! lol What a perfect way to start my explorations of this forum. I had no idea that I'd find this thread when I chose my user name!

I'm relieved to read the comments by fellow night owls, and the advice to avoid explaining anything to zealous early birds. So true.

I feel best at night, and always have. I do my best work at night/early in the morning. I live in such a way that I can sleep in the day time as needed. I work online.

My bedtime is usually around 3 am at the earliest. 5 am is more likely.

I would imagine that throughout history there were people who fared better at night, just as we do now. Someone had to guard the tribe, right?