Times of Day, Ruts and Change

Some people say, “I’m a night person.” Other people say, “I’m a morning person.” I have also heard folks say, “I am not a morning person.” Interestingly, I do not believe I have ever heard an individual claim they were a middle of the day person. It seems many of us are drawn to the extremes of the 24 hour cycle.

Some of this might have to do with age, occupation and circumstance. Those in college, for example, might tend to be more drawn to the night. Nighttime is often when people socialize, go to restaurants and go out dancing or if they work and go to school, when they have unimpeded time to study.

Farmers, by the nature of their work, have to get up early, so they become accustomed to the early morning. Certain individuals may perform shift work. If they are on the midnight shift for a long enough time, they might get used to that time of day.

There are other issues that could potentially affect what parts of the day we like the best. These include, but are not limited to, when we feel most energetic, when we are more or less hungry, fluctuations in our blood sugar, habit, etc.

We are all, to a greater or lesser degree, creatures of habit. We tend to get up at a certain time. We tend to go to sleep at a certain time. We tend to favor certain meals, etc. We have our tendencies. However, we are not robots. We can work to gradually alter our tendencies.

When it comes to favoring certain times of day, we might want to consider altering our tendencies, specifically if we feel we are not getting the most out of our time. For example, a person who dreads the morning might be missing out on the wonderful feeling that comes from being up early and getting to work while most folks are still rising.

Getting up and out early often has us missing traffic and getting in some quality work while things are quiet. It is during this time of day when we are less likely to be interrupted. You could argue that working in the middle of the night generally gives us time to perform tasks without being interrupted. However, there could be health considerations if we tend to do things in the middle of the night and, consequently, do not get a good night’s sleep.

The bottom line is simple. If you feel you are in a rut and not getting the most out of your day, consider changing to a more productive and hopefully a more healthful schedule. Yes, we are creatures of habit. Yet, we can change our habits and in so doing positively impact our life.

Image courtesy of Rob D at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
