Welcome Guest Blogger Ann Christopher!
What Kind of Person Are You?
Back in the day, I was a morning person.
At least I think I was.
When I was in school, I’d often get up early on the weekends, plunk my behind down in the chair, and do homework and/or write papers for a good two hours or so before eating breakfast or doing anything else. There was something so incredibly satisfying about being done with my work before, say, 10 a.m. and having the rest of the day free.
In law school, I worked in the morning but also trained myself to get a second wind after dinner. Some of my best reading and studying was done between seven and eleven in the evening. Copious amounts of crunchy snacks were involved, but, hey, what did I care? My metabolism was still relatively young and fresh.
*SIGH*
These days … I’ve got no idea what kind of person I am. I wish I could figure it out, though, because I’ve got lots of writing to do.
I cling to the idea of the morning thing, but that never works. After I drive the kids to school, I come home. It still seems early, so I clean up the kitchen. Also make the beds, check e-mail several times and start laundry. By then it’s not so early—probably ten-thirty-ish. Time to get serious, I tell myself, because a book must be written and I need to make some progress before I go pick up the kids.
So I sit in front of the computer and do … nothing. My brain simply will not work. I can’t think of what to write, can’t think of what my characters want to say, CAN’T THINK.
I sit there.
Slowly, around eleven-ish, something happens. I truly think eleven is the witching hour for me. My brain slowly starts to work. I get warmed up. Between eleven and, say, one-thirty or two, I get a lot of writing done, but then I get hungry and the spell is broken once I eat. And writing after eight in the evening? Fuhgedabboudit.
What’s up with that? Why won’t my brain work earlier than eleven? This has nothing to do with caffeine—I’m a strictly no-caffeine person. Maybe I need the caffeine. Maybe that’s the problem.
What about you? Is there a certain time of day during which you’re more productive than others? My mother swears that she’s a genius at six in the morning, but no one is ever around to appreciate it. Are you an early-bird or a night owl? Do tell. I’m going to give away a copy of my latest romance, Tender Secrets, to a commenter today, but you must be a registered user to be eligible to win.
Welcome Ann!
Thanks for being here today!
I am SO not a morning person. Or, let me say, I am a morning person if I don't have to do anything but have coffee and watch TV for at least an hour and a half after getting up. Writing? Uh-uh.
I am an afternoon/evening writer. Afternoon is best, evening if I have to. Morning when I am really driven or on a deadline. I can force myself to do write anytime if I am under deadline or pushed, but I suppose the time writing seems easiest for me is about mid-afternoon until dinner time. I like mornings to ease into the day, check email, walk dogs, run errands, etc and after that, I'll have lunch and then sit down to write.
I'm not a late night person, either, though -- you won't catch me writing after 8pm, though I can be productive through dinner time and a little after. But there's a point in the evening where I also can't think. I call that "TV time." LOL
Sam
Definitely a Weekend Person
Ann, welcome to Cigars! I used to be an evening person...I would come home from work, do homework with the kids, fix dinner, clean up, and then shoo the family away and write until 11 pm, only taking a break to put the kids to bed. But now...I don't know what I am, either, LOL! Maybe a weekend person? Evenings just don't work for me anymore; I'm exhausted by 8 p.m., and in bed most nights before 9:30! I get up early for my day job, so really...the weekends are my writing time. I'll get up by 6, put on a pot of coffee and curl up in the sunroom with my laptop. I can usually get a good three hours of writing done before anyone else even rolls out of bed. By noon, my husband and kids are usually engaged in their own activities, so I'll write again under dinnertime. I'd love to have more writing time, but I think that would entail quitting my day job, which I just can't do right now (but someday...maybe...).
I've read the excerpt for Tender Secrets, and loved it! Andrew sounds like my kind of hero!
Not a morning person...
Hi, Ann! I'm not terribly good in the morning, although I always wanted to be. I think ideal time is probably late morning, then I get distracted by lunch... After I overcome post-meal-sleepies, I'm good for another hour or two, then I'm lured by an afternoon snack ;) Hmm... facing facts, I think there aren't too many times of day when I'm at my most productive!
Mornings!
Hi Ann,
I am definitely a morning person. And I am definitely NOT an afternoon person. I can be an evening or night person occasionally, if the circumstances are right. But I can always rely on being able to get things done between 5 and 10 in the morning. And I've learned that I should never try to be really productive between about 12:30 and 3pm. About all that is good for is nap time, LOL! I always tried to get my college classes in the morning. The ones that were in the early afternoon were always the hardest, no matter what the subject. And then when they'd have the final for an 8am class at 3 in the afternoon? Ack, WHY?
I find it fascinating that so many of us do have different times of day that we operate best. I wonder what causes that?
I am definitely a morning
I am definitely a morning person. I am awake at 3:45 every morning---even on weekends. I have everything done bt 10 am and have the rest of the day to read, sew, do gardening, etc. Of course by 9 pm I am ready for bed.
I've become
I've become a morning person. I used to be a real night owl but with kids and 9-to-5 jobs, etc, I find myself waking earlier and earlier even on weekends. Not as early as Estella though!
On weekends I force myself to stay in bed until 7 am.
On the flip side though, I'm an insomniac so I rarely even try to go to bed before 1 or 2 am. I used to read from 9 until whenever but that only kept me awake.
So now, I dust. I fold laundry. I do all those boring things that are supposed to send me scuttling to my bed but rarely do.
But even on only an hour or two of sleep, I find I have the most energy first thing in the morning.
ani
Night owl
I am not a morning person. I start getting things done about noon. I love to stay up late at night to read. I just can't get going in the morning. So I guess you will have to call me a night owl
Thanks for the Comments!
Sam, thanks again for letting me hang out today!
Karen, thanks for reading the excerpt and your kind words. Exhausted by 8, eh? At least I'm not the only one. :)
Hey, Fedora! I'm familiar with the post-meal sleepies, too, alas!
Cathy and Estella--did I read right? You get up at 5 a.m. and 3:45 a.m. respectively? YIKES!
Ani, how do you get by on so little sleep? Aren't you exhausted all the time???
Ann
P.S. Is this a biorhythm issue? Times of the day and all that? I'm not sure...
TENDER SECRETS--Harlequin/Kimani Press--now available!
www.annchristopher.com
Yes, 5am! I've always been
Yes, 5am! I've always been an early riser! (And yes, one of those horribly cheery morning people!) Then I had a paper route in HS which got me up early. I had a job after college for a while that started at 5am and I had a 40 minute commute to get there... And now we are on Alaska time and hubby works (remotely) with mostly people on the east coast. 4 hours difference, so he is up early to maximize business hours with them. If nothing else, it has definitely become habit! Don't tell anyone, though, but yesterday I stayed in bed until 7am. Not asleep, but I didn't get up! My friends' jaws would be hitting the floor if they knew! :-)
I am a Night Owl and just
I am a Night Owl and just started a job where I chose to work from 7 pm to 7 am at a Personal Care Home. If I was at home I'd be on the computer or watching TV till late into the night.
Yep--3:45 am. My husband
Yep--3:45 am.
My husband always worked the early shift as a sawfiler in a sawmill---had to be to work by 5:30 am. So after 40 years of rising early I cannot break the habit.