Thursday 8 May 2014

Late To Rise

I am not a fan of mornings; they've never been the best part of my day. In fact in my younger years it was not at all uncommon for me to work much of the night, getting to bed as the sun rose, sleeping until well past noon. Even when I was in school I worked better at night than I did during the day. Now that I have no framework for getting up early, no reason to rise in the mornings, I once again find myself drifting further and further into late bedtimes and midday risings.

When we first got married, Carla struggled with this, insisting that, as husband and wife, we should go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time. When my working schedule demanded early risings and late nights in those early years, she pushed me to change these patterns so they matched what she felt was "normal". Since I wanted to have a marriage that made her happy, I worked and found ways to change things, although not without effect on both my income and my career.

As the years moved on and I began private practice consulting in training and skills development, I was often working on a project at home with a client on the east coast or in Toronto. It was not at all unusual for them to want meetings early in the day, not just for them but for me too. In order to work well with my clients, I once again adjusted my natural rhythms, often arising very early for an important phone call. Fortunately most of my work was on my own schedule, so I once again drifted towards pulling "all nighters" and working afternoons instead of mornings.

Over the last few years I have worked on an "office schedule" here in Calgary, a nine-to-five pattern with variations based on the needs of a particular project. Once again my life was regulated by the needs of others, by the demands of work and business. I awoke as late as I could in order to make it to work on time, often skipping breakfast or showering at night just so I could laze about for those last few minutes before tumbling into my day.

Now this has all changed. Now I get up when I want to. I am finding less and less reason to get up in the mornings, especially given the amount of sleep I now need. I am finding it easier and easier to stay up later, watching TV or reading a good book. My rhythm is mine once again, and it looks like one that would make Benjamin Franklin unhappy. But what the hell did he know anyway?

2 comments:

  1. You must take after me, sounds okay as far as I am concerned.
    Haha on the last paragraph.

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  2. Welcome back to the "up at the crack of noon" lifestyle I enjoy so very much

    ReplyDelete