Sandwiched
Today is the last day of classes for students attending Noblesville Schools. And they’re not the only ones celebrating. I can guarantee you that I was gleefully deleting my 6:15 a.m. phone and iPad alarms long before you starting reading this column today.
You see, the world loves to celebrate “early birds” – those people who actually enjoy getting up before the crack of dawn. It’s the whole “early bird gets the worm” type of thing. If you Google “early risers” you’ll see dozens of articles about how getting up early helps you be successful, more productive, etc.
People also talk about “night owls” – individuals who like to stay up late at night. Again, this group gets quite a bit of attention, although sadly it’s mostly negative if you do another Google search.
For years I felt frustrated because I really didn’t fall into either one of those categories. I remember my parents actually having real conversations at 6:30 a.m. on weekdays with the TV on in the background. I would stumble into the kitchen as a teenager, peer at them both through bleary eyes, and fumble around to make my breakfast. All I wanted was complete silence. They were way too cheerful for me but out of respect I never complained. Out loud.
To this day, Mom still gets up faithfully, without an alarm, by 7 a.m. My brother, his wife, my sister, and her fiancé are all early birds. I love them all, but they baffle me.
Imagine my delight when I recently saw a term for my category – hummingbird. We’re not up at 5 a.m. ready to take on the world, nor are we “just getting started” at midnight. We tend to wake up naturally between 7 and 8:30 a.m. and are ready to go to bed between 10 and 11:30 p.m.
Hummingbirds feel most energetic between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Got a big project for us? We can rock it at 11 a.m. like nobody’s business! In fact, as I’m writing this, it’s 10:45 a.m.
And guess what? According to many studies, over 50 percent of us are in this category! The rest are early birds or night owls. So I’m not as weird as I thought … okay, at least in this area.
From what I’ve read, we shouldn’t fight our natural tendencies if we can help it. There’s no “right” or “wrong” sleep pattern, and thankfully, more and more workplaces are recognizing this fact by offering flexible schedules. I know I feel more alert, energetic, productive and happy during my sons’ school breaks thanks to waking up naturally around 7 to 7:30 a.m. on weekdays.
I think it’s great that people are so different in their sleep preferences, and it probably helps our world keep turning. And if you’re a hummingbird like me stop denying or fighting it! We can be successful and productive, too … starting at around 9 a.m., of course.