A different kind of time clock


I’m a morning person. My most productive time of day falls between six and ten o’clock AM. I hate to even bother getting dressed, because good writing time wanes quickly and I want to use every minute. Except…oh, man, would you look at that sunrise? And if I hang the towels outside before the dew disperses, they’ll be softer, smell better. And it is—oh happy day—going to get hot, so I need to get my walk in early. And—

Well, crap. Before I know it, morning is gone. I’ve done most of the above, but I am disgruntled at that because…well, because it’s after ten and I’m tired and sleepy.

So I do what I have never wanted to do in my entire life: I take a nap. This isn’t quite a habit yet, nor do I really want it to be. It’s something I’ve fought because I deemed it a waste of time. Not to mention the fact that I wake up feeling vaguely hung over. However, I’m discovering that after I’m awake for a while, have drunk a cup or a glass of something and checked my email, something nearly miraculous happens.

I have a second morning. Like most second winds, it’s not as long-lasting or as powerful as the first one, but it’s pretty good. It beats the heck out of sitting on the couch watching television and being cranky. Well, I don’t really watch TV, but I’m good at cranky.

So, after my morning productivity time, I get to have another one in the afternoon. And, yeah, “miraculous” is by way of being a bit of a stretch—just call it literary license—but it’s fun anyway. A good part of the learning curve of not having a day job. I was wondering, as I wrote this, why I had to discover it so late—I could have used the knowledge while I was working. But the truth is, after working a full day, there wasn’t enough of me left for a second wind.

Have great writing days, everybody, whatever your hours may be. It’s 6:05 AM—I have to get busy!

Comments

  1. You're definitely talking my language. Wish I could count on a second wind, but if I have all the AM hours, I'm good. Thanks for sharing your thoughts...great to know I'm not the only weirdo writer out here. :-) JRP

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    1. Yeah, and I can't always "count on" it, either, more's the pity. But when I get it, it's so cool!

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  2. I am a morning person too. I try to start the morning before my family wakes up...even the dog is demanding. Unfortunately, I often get sidetracked too. I appreciate your blog too.

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    1. LOL, Morgan, I had a friend who was up at 4:00 yesterday so she could take care of the cats before the dog woke up!

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  3. I agree on the morning being prime time. I have in the past got a second wind in the evening 6pm or so. I love when that happens, but not often enough.

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    1. I agree, Suzanne. Same thing with sewing, too. I have occasionally sewed (sewn?) until past midnight and loved every stitch--just can't count on it happening.

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  4. I'm always up and at 'em by 6:00 am, but I'm not a morning person when it comes to writing--I do my best thinking and writing late at night. Some music and a quiet household and I'm in the zone. I do my editing gigs in the daytime, but I do confess to a 20-minute power nap around 2 pm. Otherwise, I'm smacking my face into my monitor when I fall asleep at my worktable...ouch!!

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    1. Yeah, that monitor is hard! I do blog posts and even some plotting in the afternoon--maybe this explains why my plotting so sucks!

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  5. I'm relearning my time issue; it used to be I was finished with chores and errands by 11am and settled down to write until 2:30. Now I get up at 7, do my online stuff until 10, THEN get dressed and do the errands, feeling a bit panicky at times because 'the day's half over!'

    But after taking last week to decompress and 'chill out' about my desire to have a 'productive' day (be 'finished' with the majority of my work and relaxing by 2:30), I've discovered my friends will still be around if I email/fb/tweet later in the day and don't feel so 'left behind'. Just going through a paradigm shift....and being pulled through it kicking and screaming, lol:)

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  6. I know what you mean, Molly, although I like that little feeling of wickedness when I do things off-schedule. (I'm really boring--it doesn't take much to excite me. :))

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  7. OMG too funny - your description is my habit exactly. I have no guilt about the nap- I come from a long line of nappers :-)

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    1. Hi, Kylie. My big problem with the nap is that I'm afraid I'll miss something!

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  8. I think we have opposite time clocks, Liz!! I'm such a night owl my DH and I rarely go to sleep at the same time..usually we're separated by hours!! BUT I'll agree with you on the nap, it is verra under-rated!!

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    1. My DH and me, too, Kristi, and it's a good thing, because I need quiet to work and the quiet ends when he gets up!

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  9. Hi, Liz~
    I'm a night owl. Love to work late in the night, after midnight is best. I've napped all my adult life. I have to, and I don't consider it a waste of time at all.

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    1. I've just never been much of a sleeper, and if I could figure out a way to avoid it altogether, I would. Like I said, I might miss something!

      My FIL was a power-napper. He could sit down, fall deep asleep for 10 minutes, and wake on his own fully refreshed--if I could nap that way, I'd really like it.

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  10. I'm one of those "I'll get to it" people who suffer pangs of guilt when I have written for a day. Promos take a good bit of time, but retirement meant a complete revamp of time to write. I'm finding afternoons are great. Lunch is finished, DH is napping, housework (How I hate that word) is complete and I can write. Supper is just a snack or two, so I can write from two to six. Napping is bad for me. Then I can't sleep at night. I watch the clock spin past 4 am and groan. Takes days to recover. No naps for me!

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    1. I love any uninterrupted time! Promo is way too time-consuming, isn't it? Also increasingly necessary. Thanks for coming by, Allison!

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  11. To have a second morning sounds very Hobbit-like Liz. I may need to take up your habit this summer when school lets out since I have my best creative thoughts when I wake up.

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  12. I'm a night owl. I get up early on weekdays because I have to go the day job, and mumble the whole morning. Something about the night hours soothe me,esp in the summer time when it's not cold after dark.

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    1. I LIKE the night, the warmth of summer nights and the coziness of winter ones--I'm just completely non-productive during them. I'm like you are in the morning, Shawn: there but mumbling. :-)

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  13. I'm also most productive in the morning. That's why if it weren't for my family, I'd choose to close most of the time, because I can write in the morning before I go to work. When I work days, I'm usually too tired--emotionally and physically--to muster the energy to write.

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