How to become a night owl

Everyone and their mama always talk about becoming a morning person. You should wake up at 4 am to start your day. Mornings are the best to get work done yada yada yada well welcome to Kita’s world where we do the opposite. I am going to teach you how to become a night owl and get things done at night even though you have to get up in the mornings anyway lol.

How to become a night owl

So I have always been a night owl. I think it started in high school my senior year to be exact. I didn’t have morning classes because I was pretty much done so I didn’t have to go to school until like 10 am so I would be up all night and sleep til 9 and then rush to get to school around 10. I started going to bed around 2 am most nights and to this day I can’t shake that. I think my body is so used to staying up all night that it can’t revert back to the regular way even though I have tried my hardest to do it. I call the night time my 3rd shift. It’s when I get my best work done. I don’t know about anybody else but I drag in the mornings (I don’t drink coffee either) and I can’t stay awake to save my life. If I don’t nap in the mornings I am very very cranky by the time the evening rolls in.

So how do you become a night person and get all your things done? Great question let’s dive into my master plan. I will walk you through how I do things at night to prepare for the next day.

First, put them kids to bed. I mean they need a bedtime. I threaten mine with chores if they aren’t in bed with electronics in my room by 9:30. Most nights I get them down with my shower done by 10 so essentially 10 pm is when I start my 3rd shift. I make sure they help out with chores and doing things around the house before they go to bed which frees me up.

Second, I have a plan every night. I plan on what I will do and most nights it’s different things. For example on Monday night I went thru twitter and commented on things, joined in on conversations, and retweeted things, then I wrote a blog post, and then I edited some photos for my photography business. On Tuesday night I might clean up my Instagram, update my facebook page, and watch a youtube video on how to improve something within my business.

Let me stop and say I do set timers for everything and try not to go over 30 min for each task that I do at night. Sometimes I do go over and allow myself one hour for a blog post but for the most part, I spend 30 min on various tasks each night. Once those 30 minutes are up…I’m done whether the item is done or not.

Third, I make sure I have some quiet time at night because the hustle and bustle of mornings are a lot that by the time I stop and think about what transpired that day it’s already night time and I do my best thinking at night. I can think about what I did during the day, write down some key things that I saw or take a look at some bookmarks for future things at night.

Fourth, make sure you set a time to go to bed at night because you do have to get up in the morning. Stick to that time no matter what. I am in bed by midnight every night although I’m not sleeping. I make it a point to be in bed by 12 and computers off by 1:30 and then I fall off asleep around 2:30 ish because I’m up in deep thought until I dose off. They say that when you can’t sleep at night it’s because you aren’t at peace….and funny thing is I don’t fall off asleep until I make peace with the day. Each day comes with it’s own trials and tribulations so I gotta get that off of me before I go to bed because if not I will be mad going to bed and then whoooo mornings will be even rougher

Fifth, make sure you are able to get a nap in during the day. Even if you work outside of the home you can sleep during your lunch. I make sure I did that when I worked for corporate America. I would be up all night go to work, then at lunch, I would eat something really quick and go to my car and sleep or find a closet to sleep in. I had one in particular at work that I locked daily and someone found my spot. Make sure you are able to take a nap at some point during the day or you won’t be able to be a night owl like me.

I know that everyone preaches that you should get up in the mornings but some of us just work better at night.

Here are a few more tips to be a successful night owl

• Work in bed with no tv and no music. Or sit at a desk and work. Work, however, your energy feels
• Make it a rule to go to bed before the sun comes up or at least shut down by a certain time
• Wear comfy clothes at night. Nothing stuffy or tight be comfortable and grab some decaf tea while at it
• You can respond to emails at night without folks replying right back you can also take your time and read through things at night because there is no distraction…since everyone is asleep. My phone dings constantly in the day time because everyone is up and about.
• Choose to do something fun an exciting at night nothing boring or you will fall asleep. Do something that will get the juices flowing
• Sometimes the answer comes to you at night…keep a notebook by your bed. During the day you are sometimes rushed into making decisions. At night you have had time to think things through and can make a better decision after weighing your options

Are you a night owl?