It’s often said that the early bird gets the work. And I am sure an early bird often gets a worm.
But for the sake of argument I have to ask, if the early bird gets the worm…what does the late rising bird get? Becuase there are a lot of birds out there, and they can’t ALL be the early bird.
For me, I am not often the early bird. I’m what you might call a “night owl”. I wake up later and tend to go to bed later. It’s just my natural sleep cycle.
So far it seems to work well in my home. My wife gets up early, does her work out, gets ready for work and heads out, all without my competition for shower, sink, kitchen, or morning TV channels.
At the same time I go to sleep well after her having time to work on this blog, do prospect research, and prepare for the next day.
Which Is Better, Which Is Worse?
To be honest, I don’t think it’s a matter of better or worse. Either can work really well for any person.
I think it depends on your own personal preference.
I prefer the night time, my wife prefers the morning.
The thing you have to consider whenever someone says “the early bird gets the worm” is that each bird gets exactly the same amount of time in any given day.
24 hours (approximately) is all we get. No more, no less.
Personally, although I wake later than some, I am quite sure I am awake as much, if not more than others. So it’s not a matter of when I get up, but that I am productive during those hours.
If an early riser gets up only to waste time in the early hours, are they more likely to get the worm? Absolutely not.
But at the same time, if a night owl spends their twilight hours simply watching TV and “wasting time” then I would not think they are being very productive with their time.
It can go both ways. That’s for sure.
What Do You Prefer?
So what is it? Are you a morning person, or do you prefer the twilight?
Are you a early bird or the night owl? Let me know in the comments below what you think and what you are.
~ Johnny Bravo
Image courtesy of Anusorn P nachol / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
oh, i am definitely a night owl as well. During recent years i shifted my schedule a bit so that i get up earlier than usual (e.g. around 9 am) but that’s only because i want to be done with all my work until 1-2 pm and then to have the rest of the day and the whole evening to do stuff i want (not that i have to - as ‘work’ implies duties, right?). i totally agree with your observation that who get’s the worm doesn’t much depend on the time you wake up but what you do with your time and how wise you spend it. It’s limited resource we have - and the sooner we learn how to appreciate it and manage it wisely, the better 😀
I am a night owl, too! In fact, sometimes I stay up so late that I am also the early bird!
I’m a night owl, but I often do really good work first thing in the morning, so apparently I just don’t like to sleep.
I think there is a rule that if you blog, you must like late hours. Should be interesting to see the stats your questions generates.
You are what you are. The worst would be if you fought your true nature, like when lefties use their right hands too much.
I’m definitely the early bird! I go to sleep before everyone else in my family. Unless I get a good nap …
I use to always assume I was a night-owl because I absolutely adore nighttime and I can not begin to be productive until the sun begins to settle down towards the horizon. This would always cause me to sleep in. On the other hand, however, I would like to think I am a morning person. I don’t mean this as in it is easy for me to wake up and I am automatically perky and ready to go in the morning. I am a rock when I sleep and have slept through more alarms and loud storms then I can count. But I appreciate the peace and quiet of the morning and the amount of time I have to be productive before my day really begins. I don’t, however, like the waking up part. I would like to be both one day. You know, one of those people who just doesn’t sleep. That would be much better for me.
You so right. It isn’t the time you do the work it time you take to do the work. I would say “effort in effort out” then success or results will happen.
I am a night person. I don’t sleep well so getting up early would do nothing but make me drag throughout the day. It is quiet at night so I am able to get more things done. My husband likes to get early but his hobby is astronomy and he can’t stay up. I think the expression of the early bird gets the warm must have come from having farmer hours. They simply do not work for me. Loved your post
This post is perfect for my family. My husband is a definite night owl. There is many times that he is going to bed in the wee hours of the morning. He enjoys the quiet of the night and the alone time that he can work undisturbed.
Well I’m all over the place. Sometimes I’m up at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. if I’m working on a project. Then the next night I might not go to bed until Midnight or 3:00 a.m. I have been known to for 24 hrs straight recently. Not because I like to, but as you say, we only have 24hrs in a day….