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Making the most of a nocturnal lifestyle
I wrote this shortly before my computer issues arose last week.
It’s bright outside. Awfully bright. I’m not used to this.
For the past 3 or so months, I’ve enjoyed living as a creature of the night. While you arose at 6 am, punched in at 9, and crawled home at 5, I enjoyed my breakfast around that time. Then work began at about 7pm and straight through ’till sunrise.
There’s nothing like the peacefulness of having your music cranked to 11 with your headphones sitting comfortably around your neck — all while the rest of the household, and what seems to be the World, is silently asleep.
I’ve known for quite some time that I have a serious case of Attention Deficit Disorder. It began in early high school and has snowballed since then. Deficit is such an awful term. I’m not disadvantaged because of it, I’ve simply had to experiment with and make note of the environment, actions, and factors that allow me to perform at my peak.
It seems these factors will only coincide when the sky is dimly lit.
This is far from a monumental discovery. I’m certain many owls and midnight shift workers would attest to the benefits of a nocturnal lifestyle.
While simulating an Australian schedule, I’ve also come to appreciate how it and music are an inseparable couple. Much like a light switch, evening and tunes automatically enable tunnel-vision for me, in a good way. Objectives and tasks seem to present themselves in an orderly manner while I hum to Hotel California. From the music comes a rhythm that makes my keystrokes and mouse clicks sound harmonious.
Potential distractions such as prime-time are replaced by infomercials, which automatically cues my trigger finger for the power button. The telephone no longer rings. E-mail notifications are nowhere to be seen. All is well.
There are days, much like today, where I sit in my client’s office shortly after lunchtime, struggling with the weight of my eyelids. I can hear the fax machine, the crackly radio station playing mid-80s music you’d usually hear while on hold with tech support, and the sounds of a warehouse as products are picked, packed, and shipped. Thankfully, these days are few and far between each week, and I’ve become accustomed to quickly recover from the jetlag of a nine-to-five stopover.
As I collect my misaligned eight hours of rest, my mailbox usually collects several dozen messages. By the time I reply to each of them, most respondents are well on their way home for the evening and won’t process them ’till the next day. Will the world end because of this delay? Not a chance. You don’t always have to answer the phone when it rings.
There are times when I have to follow the rest of the herd for weeks on end and attempt to be diurnal. A project, event, or long design shift can discombobulate my habitual nocturnality, but things always seem to restore themselves to a comfortable state after a while.
Would I recommend such a lifestyle? If you’re over 25 and not self-employed, no. Mainly because the amount of responsibilities you’ve accumulated to that date, will demand an almost immediate response or action. Heck, even if you’re under 25, it takes quite an abnormal mindset to sprint through the night.
Thankfully, I’m as abnormal as you can get, and have done more all-nighters than I can confidently recount. So if you have the hutzpah, give it a try on a holiday break or extended weekend. What’s the worst that could happen? Hoot, hoot.
20 Comments
Andrew Peek said on November 5, 2007
Rock on batman… Gotham never needed rescuing by day anyway.
Noah "Like the Ark" said on November 5, 2007
Awesome…Cant wait to do it more often my self!
chris.pund said on November 5, 2007
Travis- have you had any problems with clients who needed an email response right away but couldn’t get it because you were sleeping at 2 PM? Just curious as to what problems the evening work schedule may have brought upon you.
Travis said on November 5, 2007
Chris,
I try to time my nocturnality with my projects. If a deadline or milestone is set, I’ll switch to 9 to 5 around that period so I can work on my client’s hours. Like today for instance, I have a couple jobs that need to go to press at the end of the week, so I have to work on their schedule.
But once that’s out the door next week, I’ll switch back to my 7pm to 6am schedule.
Naomi Dunford said on November 5, 2007
I’m going to forward this to the hubby. When the baby was born, we took shifts and he stayed up until 4 a.m. I got him up at noon. It was the happiest and most functional I’d ever seen him. Maybe we should go back to that.
brad said on November 5, 2007
i hear you travis. as a recent entry into the freelancing world i’ve realized that my most productive times are 8-11, am and pm. trying to figure out how to adjust my work schedule to those times. and, of course, music is a must.
Harry said on November 5, 2007
I am a teenager, and I get my business done at night, it works a lot of the time but I find that one or two days of the week I can barely keep my eyes open
Jonk : Bargains said on November 6, 2007
You’re Australian at heart, then ! Come visit and see what it’s like.
AS for working at night, so much easier, so many less distractions. Definitely better.
Dinu said on November 6, 2007
If I work form home I tend to do the same as well. At one point I moved all my computers to the office to force myself to sleep early. The biggest problem I get with this is when a client calls me up at 9AM, and I’ll answer in a half-awake voice. Not very professional at all.
chris.pund said on November 6, 2007
Good to hear Travis. I have always like this style better too (working into the night). Last spring semester, I found myself usually staying up until 2 or 3 AM doing work even though I had a class at 9 AM. It is hard to continuously pull off such a schedule as a college student though.
Ryan Paugh said on November 6, 2007
Hey Travis,
I often think about this method of working. Every night around 7 p.m. I get some sort of natural buzz about me that makes my productive potential rise. Do you think I have the nocturnal bug?
Maybe I should take a stab at it…
I’ll let you know how it goes.
-Paugh
Satish said on November 7, 2007
I’m an early bird and a night owl - that’s the nature of my life. I haven’t figured out which one I like better, but I really love the luxury that comes in between… sleep.
Cliff Aliperti said on November 8, 2007
This post made me chuckle since I’m sitting here at about 1:30 am with the music on and a cup of coffee by my side.
I tend to work until sometime between 4 and 6 am, so I can check my banking and a few other things before turning in. Instead of looking at my waking up later than everyone else as unprofessional, etc., I look at it as getting a jump on everyone else. For example, my e-mails are the ones waiting for people when they get up.
And, of course, if something important is pending I do adjust the hours somewhat, but most things can wait.
To me, the best part about “working the night shift” is the total lack of distraction. In fact, commenting on this post is the biggest distraction I’ve had since about 10 pm.
It’s definitely a lifestyle worth trying out if you can get away with it–you’ll be amazed by how much more you get done.
Webworking Hours « Web Worker Daily said on November 19, 2007
[…] ourselves to start early or work late, or even (like Travis of Young Go Getter) switch to a completely nocturnal lifestyle. Web work makes conventional notions of flex time look like just a pale imitation of the real […]
» Webworking Hours - Your Gadget Pro said on November 19, 2007
[…] ourselves to start early or work late, or even (like Travis of Young Go Getter) switch to a completely nocturnal lifestyle. Web work makes conventional notions of flex time look like just a pale imitation of the real […]
[…] ourselves to start early or work late, or even (like Travis of Young Go Getter) switch to a completely nocturnal lifestyle. Web work makes conventional notions of flex time look like just a pale imitation of the real […]
Loosely related:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/04/polyphasic-sleep-the-return-to-monophasic/
http://www.dbeat.com/28/
Worth a read, particularly the polyphasic sleep. He switched back due to, among other things, losing interaction during the daytime. Does that bother you?
After Launch, Work-Life Balance Remains | Employee Evolution said on March 4, 2008
[…] can’t imagine my life like that. In fact, after reading his post about it, I gave it a shot, but failed miserably. As Travis points out, you have to be pretty […]
After Launch, Work-Life Balance Remains | mesothelioma said on March 23, 2008
[…] can’t imagine my life like that. In fact, after reading his post about it, I gave it a shot, but failed miserably. As Travis points out, you have to be pretty […]
news computer » Blog Archive » After Launch, Work-Life Balance Remains said on May 4, 2008
[…] can’t imagine my life like that. In fact, after reading his post about it, I gave it a shot, but failed miserably. As Travis points out, you have to be pretty […]
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