Being an early riser has its benefits, but it isn’t for everyone. Some of humanity’s greatest minds (Voltaire for example) were renowned for sleeping in. Depending on personality, environment, and work schedule, being an early riser may not be practical.
A few months ago I gave early rising a try. I was able to wake up 1-1.5 hours earlier, but I couldn’t adjust to the early bed time. Each night around 10:00, no matter how tired I’d felt that day, my mind became active and I was unable to shut down until after 12:00. After a few weeks, sleep deprivation set in and I went back to my normal sleep pattern.
For those of us who experience a late night surge of mentally activity, waking before 6 a.m. can lead to exhaustion. Sleep schedule depends on many factors and is subject to change, but it’s important to find what works for you. Fortunately, those of us who aren’t suited to early rising can be just as productive by utilizing those quiet evening hours.
Late rising isn’t automatically beneficial. It has a negative connotation because, if poorly managed, sleeping late leads to perpetual grogginess and wasted days. Here are few strategies I’ve developed for effective late rising.
Don’t Over Sleep
The biggest temptation with late rising is to over sleep. Too much sleep is a bad thing. Rather than feeling more rested, it makes you lethargic. Having a regular wake up time is just as important for night owls as it is for early risers. If you don’t set a schedule, you’ll have a hard time being productive.
Don’t Sleep Too Late
Along the same lines, I’ve found that late rising is best in moderation. Sleeping until mid-afternoon can ruin an entire day. It throws off your biological clock, leaving you mentally dull, and makes it harder to get to sleep at a reasonable hour the following night. For me, the ideal wake up time is between 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. This gives me a chance to get the 6-8 hours of sleep that I need without oversleeping or losing too much of the day.
Set a Cut Off Time
The challenge with being productive at night is that it’s hard to wind down. This can lead to late nights that throw off your schedule. The way to manage this is setting a cut off time. I set my cut off time for an hour before bed time, usually around 11:00-11:30. After the cut off time I stop working and wind down. I switch to mentally relaxing activities like minor household chores and light reading. I’d also recommend avoiding television and the computer completely. The brightness of the screen can trick your brain into thinking it’s day. Although there will always be those nights when I ride a rush of creativity until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., it’s better to make that the exception.
Schedule Around Your Energy Cycle
To maximize productivity it’s important to leverage the natural peaks of your energy cycle. Late rising works best for people who peak in the evening. If this is the case, you should create a schedule that lets you work at night. I’ve found mid-mornings to be productive, so I’ve built my schedule around a morning and evening shift.
After getting up around 8:00 or 9:00, I eat breakfast and work for 3-4 hours. By early afternoon my energy fades and I switch from creative work to less demanding tasks like responding to email, reading feeds, and running errands. Around 8:00 p.m. I have another energy peak and work the night shift until my cut off time at 11:00. Although it can be tough to schedule around a 9-5 job, you can probably figure out a way to take advantage of your evening energy peak by working from home or on side projects.
Take Advantage of Distraction Free Evenings
Early risers rave about the productivity of the wee morning hours before the rest of us wake up. Late risers have a similar advantage on the other end. By working in the evening we can avoid the distractions of meetings, email, and other demands. For me, the evening is when I’m able to break free from the outside world and immerse myself in mentally challenging work. Some people can’t concentrate at night, but I’ve found it’s the easiest time get into creative work flow without interruption.
It’s all about finding what works best for you. As a night person in his early 20’s with roommates who tend to keep late hours, I found early rising problematic. As I get older and my living situation evolves, it’s entirely possible I’ll join the 5 a.m. club. Until then I’ll continue to take pride in being a highly productive night owl.
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[…] Original post by John Wesley […]
Great article. Thanks.
John,
I just wanted to endorse what you said about setting a cut off time. I have a similar schedule to yours, and I’m usually trying to cram in a last-minute task online right before I go to bed, and then it takes me 30 minutes to fall asleep, no matter how late it is.
Reading, on the other hand, always makes me sleepy, so recently I have started cutting off work time about 30 minutes before I actually want to be asleep, and then getting in bed with a good book.
Other people may have different habits that help them to mentally wind down, but I did want to endorse your advice on taking the time to do that before bed. It’s a great productivity tip.
- Aaron
@henkbovekerk.nl - Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Aaron,
I’m glad to hear that point works for you too. I’ve found it next to impossible to go directly from work to sleep so having a cut off time is important for getting to sleep on time. It helps avoid the negatives of working at night.
Really good article!
Hey John,
You must have enjoyed the discussion about early birds vs. night owls on a S.P. forum. I was definitely a night owl. Actually I can be what I need to be but prefer the night.
Did you know that Descartes never got up before noon? Then when he accepted a position to tutor the Queen of Sweden he had to rise at 4:00 am upon which he caught a cold chill which turned into pneumonia. Sadly he died three weeks later.
Disrupting his normal sleep routine must have really jolted his system. Let that be a lesson for all!
ZHereford,
I did see the discussion on the SP forum. I’d been thinking about this post for a while, so that really showed me people are interested in the subject.
That’s a great anecdote about Descartes, thanks for sharing!
I find I get a lot of work done in the late evening and I enjoy working at that time. The problem I have is that I keep going to bed later and later and now I rarely sleep before 3am. This makes early morning appointments very difficult!
I’m trying to get up earlier so I can get into a more ‘normal’routine but I’m struggling to get up in the morning. Maybe I’m just meant to be a night owl.
That might be the case, Andrea. The only downside to that, as you mentioned, is having a hard time making early appointments. I try to compromise by being a semi-night owl and getting up around 8.
It’s really hard for your body to get sleepy if you’re on your computer or watching TV late at night, because the screens are so bright which causes your brain to not produce enough melatonin. I’ve created a script on my laptop which slowly dims the computer screen and eventually puts it to sleep. It’s like a forced cut-off time…. but hey, it works
That sounds like a useful script, Ahmad.
thanks for this article.
i’m constantly trying to figure out what the heck i am- night owl/early bird. but i think i’m neither- i tend to get up around 8:30 go to sleep a little after midnight. i’m always wishing i was more productive in the evenings. or just wishing i knew how to figure out the best time to do different things-
so i love reading what others have to say about the topic.
thanks-
This is a great article. I’ll often pull out the laptop if I can’t sleep, but maybe a book would be a better solution.
Yeah, I’m always tempted to get back on the computer too, but I’ve found that often leads to staying up even later. Sometimes when I get an idea for an article I can’t resist though.
I liked the article, John. It’s refreshing to see someone who doesn’t beat the get up early drum. Like others, I find some wind down time before going to sleep useful. For me, crawling in bed with a book is just the ticket.
Our natural clocks do shift over time. I used to be a night owl. I preferred sleeping in two segments during the day, and working a night shift. But then I had children and all that entails, including a more typical sleep schedule. Now I go to bed around 11 - 12PM and get up around 6 - 7AM no problem. It’s no special benefit to get up early. It’s just the way it is. Most important is to just keep a schedule.
You are not a night owl. You aren’t even a pale imitation of one. Three nights out of four, I’m up until dawn.
I was wonder when someone like that would comment. How do you live a normal life?
Hehe… I was thinking the same thing. Delayed sleep phase syndrom can be a pain to deal with. Almost every night for the past seven years I have gone to bed between 5-7am and slept until 12-3pm. I would say I’ve only been on a ‘normal’ schedule maybe a 4-6 weeks total over the past seven years, and that was usually a result of just staying up the next day.
As for living a ‘normal’ life, well, it’s normal within my definition. It’s safe to say I don’t have much of a social life. I do IT work, sometimes at the office, sometime from home, so it’s pretty flexible. Also, it actually helps when I’m working on a network or servers as I can avoid interruptions during any day hours. As long as your clients don’t ask why they can never reach you before noon, it can help to surprise them because their stuff just gets done while they’re sleeping.
Excellent article. The morale of the story is if you can’t beat the night owls, join ‘em. You’re site rocks!
Nice article. You really made a difference in pointing out what we don’t have to do. Most people strive to do their best during their work. But why force ourself if we have the choice?
[…] night people out there, I just wrote an article with some tips for being more productive at night. How to Become a Highly Productive Night Owl __________________ Pick the Brain An Analytical Approach to Self Improvement […]
You are right about oversleeping. As much as possible, I avoid staying up late at night because even if I have an 8 hours sleep, I still feel sleepy. This means that it’s a decrease in productivity.
It depends on what you mean by a “normal life”, John. I’m part owner of an English cram school in Taiwan. I usually get up between noon and 2pm, head into the school around 2:45pm and work there until 10:30pm or so. After that, I go out and eat. Sometimes, I’ll hit the bars or dance clubs after that. I do curriculum work and CD recording in the wee hours of the morning, and then crash between 4am and 6am.
All in all, I spend quite a bit of time working. Due to the constraints of when most of our customers or potential customers can come, I pretty much have to be going at full-speed late at night. I can record a CD right before bed, but doing sales an hour before sleeping just doesn’t work for me… especially not when I have to do them in Chinese.
[…] How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl - [PickTheBrain] digg_url = ‘http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/late-night-productivity.html’; ( function() { var ds=typeof digg_skin==’string’?digg_skin:”; var h=80; var w=52; if(ds==’compact’) { h=18; w=120; } var u=typeof digg_url==’string’?digg_url:(typeof DIGG_URL==’string’?DIGG_URL:window.location.href); document.write(”"); } )() Author: Craig Childs Posted: Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 8:09 am Tags: productivity Bookmark or Share this with a friend! […]
Hi John:
As a work at home mom, I also find myself working a “night owl” shift. In fact, my schedule is similar to yours: I wake at 8 a.m. with my daughter, feed and entertain her until her morning nap around 10 a.m., when I then get 2 hours of uninterrupted work. I get back to work after she goes to bed for the night, around 8 p.m. I try to shut down around midnight, so I get a total of 6 working hours a day which isn’t so bad. The after-8 p.m. shift is when I get my best and most creative work done.
Great article!
[…] Wesley presents How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl posted at Pick the […]
Please could you explain the details of this to my two year-old son ? He’s been waking at 5AM since pretty much the day he was born, and it kind of makes it difficult for me to do anything except go to bed around 9PM in order to make sure I can cope with his waking.
Anyone want to trade ?
Frazer,
Having a young child definitely makes working at night more difficult. I have no idea what my schedule will become as I get older, but having a kid that wakes up at 5 a.m. would put a stop to my night owl activities.
[…] How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl - PickTheBrain […]
[…] 1) Pick the Brain - John Wesley brings us some great advice, especially during an era when a lot of people are trying to cram in as much work as possible, even at the end of the day. Keep getting things done with his post How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl. […]
[…] Wesley presents How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl posted at Pick the Brain. Being an early riser has its benefits, but it isn’t for everyone. Some […]
[…] How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl (tags: productivity) […]
[…] How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl Being an early riser has its benefits, but it isn’t for everyone. (tags: lifehacks tips productivity) […]
An Exception to the Rule
In the virtual work world you can work when you’re most productive - or when your collaborators need you. For about 18 months I was managing a team of people from a home office in the San Francisco Bay Area who are located in India, 12.5 hours (depending upon daylight savings) ahead of me. To avoid being a bottleneck, I adjusted my schedule so that I had a handoff at the beginning or end of their shift. This was difficult to maintain so when I couldn’t handle it or was traveling I adjusted the schedule. But I generally did it Sunday through Thursday nights. And ultimately it was fine - it just required flexibilty on my part. I could eat dinner and then return to talk to them the team around 9 or 10 p.m. My natural time clock is a swing shift from about 3 or 4p until midnight.
I found this to be a very interesting article, especially becuase I am an early bird by nature. I like to wake up early and find that if I wake up later in the day, even at 8 am, (which most people would probably consider early), my whole day is wrecked. On the other hand, if I wake up earlier, like 5 30 or 6 am, I feel on track. Strange!
Hey, I’m doing an interactive experiment at “Adversity University” and would like to invite you to participate. We’ve all encountered adversity and I bet you’d write up a really interesting post about how you’ve dealt with it. The link to that is http://adversityuniversity.blogspot.com/2007/06/secrets-of-dealing-with-adversity.html
Cheers!
[…] How to be a Highly Productive Night Owl @ Pick the Brain […]
This is a great article. I had kind of a tough time last quarter but I only took 4 classes. Where as the quarter before I had taken 5 somewhat busier classes and found that it was alot easier. After reading this I realized that the problem last quarter probably came from my sleeping habits. I think I will print this off and post it on my wall for my roommates.
Thanks
One thing that has worked for me — I haven’t yet tried to make it a steady habit — is to get up at 4am or so, work for a few hours, then go back to sleep till noon and continue working till “normal” people’s quitting time of 5 or 6. The upside is that I’m fresh and alert during both work periods, whereas I get sluggish in the afternoon when I work a more conventional schedule. Of course the technique is only practical because I work from home.
Arsenal Of Goals & Plans Carnival…
I'm glad you're here for this, the latest edition of the Arsenal Of Goals & Plans Carnival. Read on. No doubt you'll be pleasantly surprised at the variety of wisdom so generously shared….
[…] most of my life I considered myself a low energy person. By nature I’m a night person. I’ve always been groggy in the mornings and I assumed there was nothing to be done about it. […]
[…] about how to be a productive night owl I thought I should share with all you other late risers. http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-be-a-highly-productive-night-owl/ Although, I still have to get up at 6 for my day-job. Oh well, hopefully that’ll change […]
Very useful tips!
Currently… 2:32am..
[…] How To Become a Highly Productive Night Owl - przestaliśmy już marnować nasz czas. Spróbujmy zatem stać się bardziej produktywnymi. To pozwoli nam zachować jeszcze troszkę chwil dla siebie. Większość artykułów na temat produktywności zaczyna się od rady, aby wstawać o 4 lub 5 rano. A co jeśli nie jesteśmy rannymi ptaszkami? […]
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Although a great article with good tips..the not sleeping over…I wouldn’t say getting up at 8am is being a night owl…NO way. 8am is EARLY! I can’t think of a day when I have seen 8am since school is out for my children.
I come from a whole family of night people, with a few early birds mixed in. Those of us that are night owls rarely get up before noon..and when we do it’s not pretty. I have always tried to fight my natural sleep rhythm by trying to force the 9-5…yet I cannot go to sleep early, therefore it catches up to me and I am exhausted..or I am chronically grumpy.
It is extremely hard to be a night person in an early bird world, especially after becoming a parent…kids do not care what your sleep cycle is!
Thank you though for not telling a night owl to just get up early..or you’ll get used to it..I’d love to switch shoes with those people so they could see it’s just not that easy.