In Defense of Night Owls
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I’ve done a lot at 1AM. I have finalized documentation and wrote emails that are scheduled to send seven hours in the future. I have meal planned and cleaned my kitchen. I have read theory to better guide my therapy practice. I have tweaked my web site and balanced my books. I am writing this very article at 12:52 AM, PST. None of these things could be qualified as “lazy.” The only difference between me and someone who operates on a typical schedule is the amount of daylight present and the numbers on the clock.
Moralizing labor
Have you noticed how people don’t typically criticize those who wake up at 4AM or 5AM? They don’t get called workaholics in a negative manner (especially if they are men), or told that they are “married to their careers,” or that they are living to work rather than working to live. It seems that as long as you are up by a particular hour (I’m unsure as to what exactly that
time is — 7AM? 9AM? 6AM?), you won’t catch any shit for that. I worked hard for several years to be fortunate enough to be self-employed, so I’m not about to let anyone convince me that I’m lazy.
Not everyone has the same opportunities as me, and I recognize how fortunate I am. I also realize that there are people who, had they chosen differently, could be in a similar position as myself, and they aren’t.
I definitely benefit from white privilege, so I don’t discount the obstacles to access that BIPOC people have. However, there are people who have had similar privileges that still haven’t achieved the same things I have. But, don’t worry — I won’t shame them for not being exactly like me. I understand that people should have as much autonomy as possible to determine the ways they live, and that it’s nonsensical to expect anyone to maintain an arbitrary standard, lest I deem myself superior to them.
Working is required for most people to survive in a capitalist system, especially in the United States where healthcare is not seen as a universal right. Viewing people as “lazy” or unproductive for not having enough output is moralizing labor. Working does not make one more virtuous or deserving of being alive than someone who is unemployed. While I personally value working, employment status should not determine what makes someone a “good” or worthy person.
Holding these views only reinforces the goals of corporations; if people feel worthless without working a certain amount of hours per week, it will be incredibly easy to make them feel beholden to the standards of people much more powerful than themselves. If working a certain amount during particular times of the day makes one “lazy,” why not spin the narrative in a way that maximized profits off of the hard work for people at the bottom of the ladder — the ones who keep businesses running.
Not trusting our bodies
We are in a cultural moment where concepts like intuitive eating and health at every size are beginning to gain traction. This is happening much more slowly and reluctantly than would be ideal, but the conversations are happening. Asking people to trust and listen to their bodies is pretty central to disavowing obsession with weight loss and calorie counting. Many of us with these values can agree that telling people what to eat, assuming they want to lose weight, stereotyping fat people’s personalities based on what their bodies look like, and making unsolicited comments about other people’s bodies are all harmful and unnecessary.
Why is it that we are not striving to have a similar approach to sleep-wake phases and circadian rhythms? If we were to pretend for a moment that having a later sleep cycle is inherently unhealthy (it isn’t), who cares? Why do you feel the need to micromanage my health? If my body says that it’s tired, or says that it’s not tired, who am I to argue? And who are YOU to challenge it?The main concern that arises from being a night owl is not being able to keep up with a typical schedule. For someone like me, that doesn’t apply because I set my own schedule — and yet, there will always be some who claim that I’m inherently lazy. If I get to wake up at a time that my body prefers and still be sending emails and coordinating schedules at 11PM, couldn’t I presumably deem a morning person to be “lazy” for not working as late as I do?
Early birds need night owls
It’s simple to see the symbiotic relationship between early birds and night owls. For establishments that are open 24/7, there will be those who would rather work 8PM-4AM schedule and sleep until the early afternoon. This makes it more possible for people who want to work during the day to get the hours that work best for them. I’m a therapist, and most of my clients work or attend school at the same range of hours during the week (typically a range between 8AM and 6PM). Thanks to my preference to work in the afternoon, I am more available for those who need to have therapy during a lunch break or after they get home from work.
There are very important jobs that require staying up all night. The medical field is a great example of this. The ER doesn’t close at 8PM, and patients in psychiatric units need the constant presence of nurses and other staff to make sure that they are safe. Midwives can be called at any time of the night if a patient enters labor. Caretakers of infants and toddlers who frequently wake up need to be available to attend to their needs. In reality, society would not operate as effectively if there were no people who were able to stay awake until 2AM, 3AM, 4AM or later.
There are many theories as to how night owls have developed, ranging from leftover instincts from hunter-gatherer times when it was safer to have someone to be awake to protect the group, to genetic distribution that is similar to hair or eye color. Per The Guardian:
There’s a growing body of evidence that suggests it’s society, not night owls…that is wrong. The field of chronobiology seeks to understand how individuals are driven by an internal clock — their “chronotype” — one that is set by genetics, not willpower. The term night owl is shorthand for the chronotype that drives people to go to bed later and rise later. This contrasts with morning larks, who naturally want to go to bed early and wake up early. Most people fall somewhere between the two, with an average sleep cycle running from around 11.30pm until 7.30am.
I am an “extreme night owl,” meaning that I typically fall asleep between 2AM and 3AM and sleep until about 10AM or 10:30AM. I love the night because it is quiet, peaceful, and serene. I have been this way since I was a teenager when I stayed up all night learning CSS to customize my Xanga and Myspace. Now, I will write on Medium, listen to my favorite podcasts, do some light cleaning and snuggle with my sweet cat. When everyone else in my apartment complex is out for the day, I can find parking so easily when coming back from the grocery store. I can schedule doctor’s appointments almost any day of the week, and I can visit popular spots at the beach without having to fight the weekend crowd.
None of this would be possible if it weren’t for setting my own schedule and working later in the day. I am fortunate to be me and to set up my life in a way that allows me to be exactly who I am — a trans, queer extreme night owl living his best life. Before you pressure a night owl to try harder to stop being a night owl, try forcing yourself to wake up more than two hours than you normally, comfortably would — or perhaps, even better, go to bed three or four hours after you normally do. It wouldn’t be your fault if that were difficult for you…and it’s not on me that my circadian rhythm is set up the way it is.
What chronotype are you? What would it take to be more accepting of someone who is a chronotype that diverges from your own?
