Comments on: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

By: ed

ed — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:36:43 +0000

i think consistency is the name of the game. the problem most ‘night owls’ face, (and many fail to realize) is that they are trading their productivity the next day for their productivity in the moment–and it can get them in trouble.

this is like a runner that feels good and keeps running, which can cause him/her to peak sooner.

i am sympathetic, as it’s really hard to go to sleep having great ideas, especially when ideas start pouring out because you can finally relax (btw, this was circumstance archimedes had the eureka moment).

instead of dealing with the tradeoff, many just bolster they’re a night owl, like people that say they’re “hands on learners.” don’t limit yourself! the only real constraint of the day are the interruptions.

in any case, i think gtd helps with both interruptions and getting to sleep.

By: Chadwyck

Chadwyck — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:38:56 +0000

I think a problem that many night owls (like myself) face is that being constrained to the normal office schedule is hard because we must sleep during our hours of peek efficiency. I can stay up past 4am every night and be relatively productive, but because I have to be up by 7:30am to make it to work, I cannot afford to stay up.

Weekends are great (and terrible) because they give me the freedom of staying up during my peak hours, but also disrupt the sleep cycle.

By: Ben Casnocha

Ben Casnocha — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:41:15 +0000

Agreed on the “getting work done when no one else is working front” – like getting fewer emails. But for me this is at night, not morning. Since I’m on pacific time, even if it’s 6am here it’s 9am east coast and east coast folks might be emailing. When it’s 11pm here, most west coasters are asleep and ALL east coast / midwest are asleep too.

By: Vid Luther

Vid Luther — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:10:58 +0000

I agree with you as well, just one addition/clarification. What time you wake up, and it’s consistency is more important than what time you go to sleep.

I wake up at 6am every day, whether I go to sleep at 10, or 3am.

I always wake up and start my day at the same exact time, it’s hard to explain why, but I’ve found that it’s easier for me to control what time I wake up, not when I go to sleep.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:22:51 +0000

My husband and I are opposites, I get a lot of work done in the mornings and he is a night owl. 6am-8am is a great time to batch a lot of work.

By: Samir

Samir — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:15:44 +0000

I totally agree with you on this. I am pretty much the same way except I get up around 6:30am. My body is used to naturally waking up at this time, thus I often wake up before the alarm even goes off. By waking up earlier it seems I can get a lot more done throughout the day, which is what you mentioned. Plus it seems as a better way to actually make use of your time.

I used to sleep in on weekends and wake up around noon, but by the time you are actually ready to do anything half your day has already passed by, thus you are cutting down the time you have to take care of essential tasks and you are now rushing to complete these tasks.