I’ve been a night owl for as long as I can remember – no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to become a morning bird. The later it gets, the more awake I become. Of course, in the morning, I am completely exhausted. Morning classes are my worst nightmare. My energy thrives past 12 a.m., and every year I seem to sleep in even later than the previous year. After a day of classes I often take a nap. I wish I could keep my naps around an hour, but that never happens because I keep snoozing my alarms and telling myself I’ll get up just fifteen minutes later. When I finally get off my bed, it is usually already be quite late in the evening. After finding some food to eat, it is often already past 10 p.m.. After showering and perhaps looking at my phone for a while, it’s usually around midnight. Unfortunately, there goes my day… Now, I’d like to give a better breakdown of how I, a night owl, survive during the semesters. Perhaps my fellow night owls can relate or perhaps my morning bird friends can take a few tips for the next time they need to stay up late.
At this point, I’ve given up trying to fix my sleeping schedule. I sleep around 3 a.m. on average and wake up right before my classes. I’m not a coffee person so I usually have a few candies to munch on in my backpack. In my earliest class, I try not to fall asleep but alas, it is difficult and I sometimes will lose track of lectures.
After my earliest class, I usually run to a campus coffee shop to grab a small pastry. This will last me for another few hours before I finally have lunch. My days often go late into the afternoon. I nearly always take a nap after classes. In the end, I usually end up starting homework around midnight.
My best motivation is my Spotify playlist as I toil through my homework. Of course, my night owl friends are also always there to support me as well. Yet what really keeps me awake is the bin of snacks I keep under my bed.
After a week of stressful classes, the weekend is when I sleep late into the afternoon and it feels amazing to wake up and have a late, late brunch. I usually procrastinate, and by Sunday night, I am still up late trying to finish up my homework.
This cycle is definitely unhealthy as I keep collecting sleep debt, but somehow the night is just always a better time for me to work. There’s something so magical about night-time that I honestly don’t mind being a night owl.