Night owl, early bird

Why are both night people and morning people referred to as types of birds?

Anyway, many of my regular readers and long-time friends know that I'm quite the night owl. The wee hours of the morning tend to be my most productive, and as a result I often find myself in a schedule that involves staying up — and getting up — quite late.

Europe seems to have changed all that, at least for the time being. While in Europe, I frequently found myself waking up around 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning, and being fully awake right away — very unlike my usual snooze-button-pushing (or sleeping-through-the-alarm) habits. I was also getting tired very early in the evening — a few nights I actually went to bed around 7:00 or 8:00!

I figured it was because of the time change and that I'd be back to my old schedule in no time once I got home. I still think it happened because of the time change, but I am decidedly not back to normal — though it remains to be seen whether that is a bad thing.

For one thing, I am still getting tired earlier than my norm — around 10:00 or so (which is quite early for my tastes). But the truly surprising thing is that I am getting up earlier, too. I even got up with Michael at 6:30 the past two mornings to walk the dogs!

The advantage is, of course, a longer, uninterrupted workday — which allowed me to procrastinate a little yesterday and still get some work done at the end of the day. The disadvantage is losing my "witching hour," when I get my best and most productive work done.

It remains to be seen whether I'll be able to keep up this schedule, or whether I will slide back into my old habits. I have to admit, the morning walks are nice, but I also rather miss my witching hour!