Ok y’all—today’s post is admittedly a little bit random and probably will be more stream of consciousness more than anything, but it’s been on my mind all week, so I wanted to write about it.
Last week, I was at happy hour with my old coworkers, Gabby and Olivia, and we were talking about our daily routines. It’s funny because I used to work with both of them, and when you spend upwards of 40 hours a week with people, you learn a lot about their lives. Now that we no longer work together, we were all curious how we structure our days, what our workout routines are now, and the hottest lunch places near our respective offices. During this conversation, we started talking about what time we get up every morning, if we hit snooze, what our morning routines look like, and if we make our beds.
It was such an interesting conversation because we started talking a lot about how our culture celebrates the early bird. I mean, have you ever seen an article or blog post that is titled ‘How to Become a Night Owl’? Yet, conversely, I can think of at least a dozen off the top of my head providing advice on how to become a morning person. And it turns out, we had all read The Atlantic article from December entitled The False Promise of Morning Routines, which reads:
“Morning-routine stories are a relatively new trend in the undying genre of self-help. In voyeuristic glimpses into a typically private time of day, the rich and the famous reveal how they are almost invariably superhumanly energetic. They meditate, run several miles, make matcha tea, do some yoga—all before 8 o’clock. Some dive into their email right away. Others ban phones at breakfast. But the through line is the same: A carefully choreographed morning routine is the key to a productive day. These people have it together, the stories seem to imply, and so can you, if you just wake up at 5:30 a.m.”
If you’ve read my blog for any period of time, you’ll know with certainty that I am not a morning person. At all! In my dream world, I could stay up until 2am everyday, sleep until 10am, and then go about my day. (Sadly that lifestyle doesn’t jive with my corporate job!) And I’ve also never desired to be a morning person because I know I am truly wired as a night owl.
A lot of my friends are naturally early risers—they love to get up with the sun, start their day, and, on weekends, probably have lived half their day before I wake up. And that is great for them! But I’ve always found I am way more awake, productive, energized, and creative as the day goes on, and the only thing I really ever got in trouble for in high school was staying up past my bed time.
On a typical weekday, I go to bed between 11:30pm-midnight and get up between 7:30-8am. Some of my early bird friends go to bed between 9-10pm and then get up between 5-6am. What you’ll notice here is that both early birds and night owls are getting the same amount of hours in the day, which is why I have never felt like I need to change my ways.
Since I am not a morning person, I don’t leave much time to get ready before work in the morning. I usually snooze my alarm twice—a terrible habit I picked up in my grad school days—and then hop out of bed, brush my teeth, put on my makeup, get dressed, and run out the door. (I don’t really eat breakfast most days—I’m never hungry right when I wake up.) I used to make my bed every day, then stopped during a stressful period, but lately, I’ve been taking the two minutes to do it since it makes me feel so much more put together. I’d rather sleep as long as possible than enjoy a nice leisurely morning, whereas at night, I have a lot of leisurely routines.
ANYWAY—like I said at the start of this post, I mostly just wanted to chat about this topic since I had such a great conversation with my former work wives in person, I thought it’d make for great blog fodder. And the main point I want to make is if you’re a morning person, that’s great! And if you’re a night owl, that’s great! But you don’t have to force yourself to become a morning person if you’re not—everyone has the same number of hours in the day.
So, I’d love to know—are you a morning person? Do you wish you were? What’s your morning routine like? Drop me a note in the comments below or email me at katie@atouchoteal.com—I’d love to chat.
I love reading how other people structure their days! You know I’m a morning person. 🙂 But it’s pretty much for the same reasons you’re a night owl. I’m most productive in the mornings. I love the quiet time between 5AM and 8AM where it’s still dark out, no incoming emails, no cars buzzing outside my window, no text messages coming in etc. But then I get in bed around 9:30 every night.
– Ashlee
Yes! And I get some quiet time at night once everyone else goes to bed. Consistency is key, regardless of what time it is!
This so speaks to me! I have never been a morning person either, despite my mother’s best efforts to change that when I was younger. Like you, I always get enough sleep, I just don’t wake up at 5am to get a ton done before work. I would much rather sleep until I have to get up, get ready, & get out of the door for work, then do my chores, errands, etc. after work. It’s frustrating sometimes because people seem to glamorize the early bird, when I’m getting the same amount of tasks accomplished, just at a different time of day! Obviously this is a great conversation starter!
I completely agree about how people celebrate the early bird when we are doing just as much! I am glad you thought it was a great convo starter—we certainly enjoyed chatting about it at happy hour a few weeks ago!
Not a morning person and don’t want to be. BUT. Now I am. Pre-kids: bed at midnight, up by 8:30 for work (10a on weekends). Post kids: bed at 10:30, up at 7a every day of the week. I don’t get any more or less done.
Once my little boys start sleeping late (10 more years?), hopefully I’ll go back 🙂
I feel like kids change everything when it comes to routine! But that’s a great point you got the same amount done in both scenarios.
GIRL, I FEEL YOU! I am such a night owl, I’d love a 2AM-10AM day, haha! I’m also such an alarm snoozer—I usually set one for 30 minutes before I actually need to get up, scroll through Instagram, check emails, etc., but sometimes just end up sleeping. What I really wish is that I had an easier time getting out of bed in the morning, and that I didn’t need quite so much sleep. I honestly would ideally love nine hours every night, which does cut into my day a bit. And I always find it so hard to leave the warm cocoon of my bed!! My favorite thing on the weekends is spending an hour or so lounging in bed on my phone or Kindle. It’s just soooo cozy, lol. Loved this post and hearing about your routine!!
x Diana // Pearl Girl
OK I LOOOOOVE LOUNGING IN BED READING ON WEEKENDS! It is one of my favorite treats to myself, and I so look forward to it. I wish I had an easier time getting out of bed, even when I know I got enough sleep!
Yes! I am, but I wasn’t always. It took time, and mainly going to bed earlier that made me a morning person. I LOVE getting up before everyone else in the world and getting a lot done right away.
I love staying up late and getting a lot done then—love that you found what works for you! x