First Things First: Research!

Well, it's late. Luckily my current schedule dictates that I need to be up at this hour, so I don't feel so guilty.

Night owl.

That's what they like to call us. It seems so negative. People always frown upon the late nighters. I could never understand that.

Years before I would understand that a majority of my "brothers" were night owls, I was still up late at night, reviewing thousands of lines of code. Searching for something I missed. It had been a few days, and still no progress. I was working in between classes in the quad. Sometimes at night, into the wee hours of the morning. I was often late to class.

After a while my schedule became so exhausting that it was near impossible for me to stay awake past 7pm. I was never a "heavy sleeper" (years later I found sleep apnea to be the culprit) but during this time I'd stay asleep til my alarm woke me.

I found myself jealous of my past self. Waking a few times a night, panicking that I was late, only to find I had a few hours of sleep left.

"Hooray!", I'd think, roll over, and drift back to sleep.

It was always very hard for me to wake in the morning. Groggy and clumsy until I found some coffee. Then it was go time! For a short while at least, it never lasted. My school work was crumbling apart, and I didn't have much ground to stand on. I hated it.

I hated any job that forced me to wake early. It just wasn't me. Not only was I sleepy, but I could get absolutely no work done. Coincidence? For a while, I thought so. I was young and stupid, and didn't know any better. More importantly, I was too tired to care.

It took me a few years before I realized I did better work between the hours of 4pm and 6am. Not only that, but I was more motivated. (like I am right now, at the time of this writing, its 3:30am)

I got shit DONE. In the morning, exhausted from all the work I had just put in, I'd take a "nap".
I would awake 5-6 hours later, more refreshed than if I'd slept for 12 hours on a "normal" sleep cycle. Yes, yes, I know the more you sleep the worse you feel but often I could barely get out of bed.

If I'm more productive on this cycle, why not stick to it? Not only do I feel better, but if I have meetings or appointments, scheduling them at noon or so puts them at the end of my day. It makes me feel better.

Hopefully as the years go on, I'll be able to indulge myself and keep a schedule that fits me.