You have an excellent point about a non-morning person vs. a night owl. I do consider myself more of a night person but that may be b/c I have been able to make some adjustments just not able to do the morning thing or standard workday with ease.
There are definitely disadvantages to being a night person and even more as you describe as being a night owl. I love the way you coped by putting in place automatic systems; I have learned to adapt in this way for certain tasks.
Still, it's frustrating to be seen as not as big of a contributor or somehow odd b/c your internal clock differs from others or the standard clock. I think I internalized the idea that not being up and working (or getting a workout in) at dawn meant I was less motivated or driven to perform.
We do have to adapt to circumstances but if possible (including the idea of running a business that has an advantage of crossing multiple time zones), we can use circumstances to benefit ourselves, our work relationships, families, and community.
I've been a member of ING Direct since 2006. I've used the Orange Savings accounts to do some directional saving (such as a Vacation Fund, Christmas Fund, Home Savings Fund, etc.). Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of Capital One so I was disappointed to see them take over ING Direct. Lately, ING Direct's interest rates have fallen below the top and I've finally switched my 4 savings accounts to Ally Bank. Ally is currently offering a higher interest rate than ING Direct/Capital One 360 and it allows you to have multiple savings accounts as ING Direct does. The switch was painless and took around 2 days to move the money to Ally.
I take everything out of my paycheck and have it direct deposited into separate accounts--401 (k), emergency savings, and short-term savings. I love Smarty Pig because it allows me to create multiple goals for no fee. For instance, I currently have a wedding, honeymoon AND wardrobe fund.
Could you weigh in on supplement additions for dogs fed a homemade diet? I've heard that the addition of a supplement to fill gaps in calcium, omegas and other minerals is key. It may also be another scam to get people buying more unnecessary things. Advice is appreciated.
I think starting a own business even if you are doing a job is the best way to generate not only passive income but also building a sort of backbone for your financial health as one should not ever depend on single source of income. Another point is that one should start investing if he or she wants to get the advantages of compounding in future.
I feel as this doesn't really pertain to true night owls but just non-morning people. When I think night owls, I think people who function best between 12am-8am. Unlike your story says, it was an inhibition on my social life since there weren't many people who were up when I was.
I did work a 9-5 office job but I felt like a zombie moving throughout the day, pumping myself full of caffeine to make it through. After that, I was sleeping on the train ride home, moving throughout a daily evening routine sluggishly, only to be amped by midnight.
Mornings were miserable and the lack of sleep would just compound itself until the weekends where I could sleep until 8 or 9 pm. TBH there were no advantages at all, I was lethargic during all operating hours of the day. Fortunately, I had systems to work on cruise control where I would make sure to jot down all the info only to come back to the work at midnight when I could focus clearly and grind an all nighter...daily.
I found it interesting you said you didn't get to bed until the earliest being 10pm, but for some we don't fully feel awake until 10pm. And who do you hang out with then? Well, all my friends would want to meet up past 1am. Which is great, until you realize you have to be awake in 6 hours. So by the time everyone meets up, by like, 1:30, you hang out for 3 hours, and it takes you half an hour to get home, you're pushing 5 am. Boom 2 hours of sleep!
And this is not isolated to the young. The age range is quite large for this kind of lifestyle. But the circle is quite small. There is no networking involved seeing as how you can walk empty streets and find all the people to hang out with. No one considers you a hard worker if you're cranking out emails at 3 am, you look more just like a stalker in the night.
So maybe your article is correct that people who are more alert at night have an advantage, but to call them night owls is far from the truth. The real truth is that night owls have a hard time adjusting. Night owls cannot function fully in the real world since the world stops running at a certain point, unless of course you have a profession dealing with Chinese businessmen all night and sleep all day.
I always felt like my head was clearer at night, especially in college when I could trudge down to the computer lab (back in the day when having a pc or laptop was a LUXURY) and work on my papers. I usually could get more reading done as well. I think the lack of noise around me made me think clearly. I don't know how else to explain it, but I feel more productive in the evening when I get my second wind.
I think the headline says it all regarding reasons why not to apply for a loan modification.
The numbers are insane. 700,000 people are in a trial, while only 30,000 people have gotten permanent mods. These people would probably be better off playing poker.
A loan modification is almost like a debt settlement program. The difference is that with a reputable debt settlement company, the negotiators will settle 90 out of 100 collection accounts. 9 out of 10 loan modifications don't go through, so that's the difference in debt settlement and loan modification.
So consumers can say. "Do I get my home modified or credit cards settled in order to stay current on my home. I need more cash-flow from somewhere or I will fall behind on my home."
Homeowners that are contemplating bk or doing a loan modification would be better off utilizing a debt settlement program, where they can have their monthly unsecured debt payments lowered, allowing them to actually stay current on their mortgage.
Think about it. If someone is paying on 50k in credit card debt and current, they are probably paying out around $1,250 monthly. On a debt settlement program we could set them up with a payment at $900 per month and getting them out of debt in around 3 years. This consumer could have an extra $350 per month in their pocket, to put towards their mortgage. Now they will not need to file for bankruptcy or do a loan modification.
I figured it was time to tout some of the benefits of being more awake at night. Glad you liked the idea!
A year ago, I was recruiting someone for a volunteer position that required night meetings -- she mentioned that being awake at night was difficult for her, something that had never occurred to me as a possible reason to forgo such an opportunity. (Fortunately, the meetings that she is required to attend don't run much past 8 p.m. so she is able to do well in this role).
My patterns have changed over the years also. I get up a tad earlier than I used to but still have many mornings when I can't do much until I have had coffee and eased into the day.
Glad you enjoyed the article. With more and more people able to work from home and/or required to interact with people in multiple time zones, I thought it would be nice to consider the benefits of being a night person.
Also, as much as I think I should be able to get up early and get things ready for the day, I have finally realized that I need to pack at night so that I am ready to go the next morning.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I've tried getting up early also (before 6 a.m.) but can mainly do just simple things in the first couple of hours.
Higher Education Institutions. They tend to offer you a discout on your tuition after a certain time period of employment. Some may only allow this discount is you are full-time. Extra bonus to you if the school/college also extends this discount to your immediate family members (spouse and children) which could save you tons in college education for your kids.
Great article! It will really help focus me on what needs to happen throughout the year. It's tough, we all get so excited for the new year and the initiatives that we would like to be a part of, but once we get into the trenches of the year, we start dwelling on what's urgent and long term goals fade away. Planning the year, in addition to setting goals, is the key.
This is an interesting subject for me, as I have tried to keep myself in check to avoid *needing* this kind of detox. I can't stay away from the computer entirely - my dayjob is in IT and my freelance business is as a digital illustrator and graphics guy - but I have freed up my brain and my time recently with the following steps:
- No clock slavery unless I have an appointment or meeting at a given time. I switched the display in my car from the clock to an MPG meter. I use an alarm clock to wake up, of course, and try to leave the house at roughly the same time each day, but once I leave my house for work, I know roughly what time it is by what's on the news station (like the reports 'on the 8s') and just leave it at that.
- I backed off my personal Twitter account entirely. I told all my friends that I was taking a hiatus and they could follow the new Twitter I'd made for news from my freelancing business if they liked. I haven't followed anyone back, but I am thinking of mutually-following other freelancers and content producers I know personally.
- I turned off email notification noises on my phone. When I am on my work or home PC, I can see the little number on my gmail tab, so I know if I have a new message. And if I look at my phone I can see the mail icon. But I don't get the audio ping anymore, and I don't feel a compulsion at all to "see if i have new email".
- I don't have a Facebook account. Never did, don't plan to.
Honestly one of the biggest issues I can still run across is that I still mindlessly surf the web when I'm bored. And I quickly get bored of THAT, too. I'd turn to my other hobbies in those times, but it always seems to be at times that would make it impossible to do those things.
Sorry for the ramble, but hopefully people can relate!
I immediately gravitated to this article because people rarely celebrate the night owl. I hadn't thought about it before but there are definitely some advantages to it, especially when it comes to social activities and planning. I'm kinda in the middle, I can get up early easily but I don't typically get sleepy until 11 pm. Though it does change a little as you get older.
I plan what I need for each goal and contribute to all of them (retirement, daughters' college, vacations, car, etc.) automatically each month before I ever see the money in my checking account.
Nice post, and really important for our age. My sister is like your daughter--a total connectivity addict. I take her out to lunch, she sits and plays on her smartphone. I try to have a conversation with her at home, she's on her laptop. Constant connection, totally hooked on the phone and computer. Even when I get her to actually put it down, she leaves it on the table and constantly checks it without picking it up. It's really sad.
I'm totally in favor of a digital detox and I think it's a great idea. I make my living on a computer, but at home it's a different story. I don't have the Internet and I don't have a smart phone. I haven't even turned my laptop on in three months, because there's nothing I "need" it for. I also don't have cable. Forcing my home to be a "non-digital" zone has opened up so much clarity and free time. I read, I do home projects, and I spend a ton of time volunteering. It's so much more rewarding than looking at cat photos all day or inanely updating your Facebook status every ten minutes.
Everyone should do it. It changes you--for the better!
You have an excellent point about a non-morning person vs. a night owl. I do consider myself more of a night person but that may be b/c I have been able to make some adjustments just not able to do the morning thing or standard workday with ease.
There are definitely disadvantages to being a night person and even more as you describe as being a night owl. I love the way you coped by putting in place automatic systems; I have learned to adapt in this way for certain tasks.
Still, it's frustrating to be seen as not as big of a contributor or somehow odd b/c your internal clock differs from others or the standard clock. I think I internalized the idea that not being up and working (or getting a workout in) at dawn meant I was less motivated or driven to perform.
We do have to adapt to circumstances but if possible (including the idea of running a business that has an advantage of crossing multiple time zones), we can use circumstances to benefit ourselves, our work relationships, families, and community.
I've been a member of ING Direct since 2006. I've used the Orange Savings accounts to do some directional saving (such as a Vacation Fund, Christmas Fund, Home Savings Fund, etc.). Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of Capital One so I was disappointed to see them take over ING Direct. Lately, ING Direct's interest rates have fallen below the top and I've finally switched my 4 savings accounts to Ally Bank. Ally is currently offering a higher interest rate than ING Direct/Capital One 360 and it allows you to have multiple savings accounts as ING Direct does. The switch was painless and took around 2 days to move the money to Ally.
I take everything out of my paycheck and have it direct deposited into separate accounts--401 (k), emergency savings, and short-term savings. I love Smarty Pig because it allows me to create multiple goals for no fee. For instance, I currently have a wedding, honeymoon AND wardrobe fund.
budget
Could you weigh in on supplement additions for dogs fed a homemade diet? I've heard that the addition of a supplement to fill gaps in calcium, omegas and other minerals is key. It may also be another scam to get people buying more unnecessary things. Advice is appreciated.
I think starting a own business even if you are doing a job is the best way to generate not only passive income but also building a sort of backbone for your financial health as one should not ever depend on single source of income. Another point is that one should start investing if he or she wants to get the advantages of compounding in future.
Is it ok to ask the interviewer if the applicant has a chance to be hire by the company?
We have an account for specific things and another for misc things that we want or that come up.
I feel as this doesn't really pertain to true night owls but just non-morning people. When I think night owls, I think people who function best between 12am-8am. Unlike your story says, it was an inhibition on my social life since there weren't many people who were up when I was.
I did work a 9-5 office job but I felt like a zombie moving throughout the day, pumping myself full of caffeine to make it through. After that, I was sleeping on the train ride home, moving throughout a daily evening routine sluggishly, only to be amped by midnight.
Mornings were miserable and the lack of sleep would just compound itself until the weekends where I could sleep until 8 or 9 pm. TBH there were no advantages at all, I was lethargic during all operating hours of the day. Fortunately, I had systems to work on cruise control where I would make sure to jot down all the info only to come back to the work at midnight when I could focus clearly and grind an all nighter...daily.
I found it interesting you said you didn't get to bed until the earliest being 10pm, but for some we don't fully feel awake until 10pm. And who do you hang out with then? Well, all my friends would want to meet up past 1am. Which is great, until you realize you have to be awake in 6 hours. So by the time everyone meets up, by like, 1:30, you hang out for 3 hours, and it takes you half an hour to get home, you're pushing 5 am. Boom 2 hours of sleep!
And this is not isolated to the young. The age range is quite large for this kind of lifestyle. But the circle is quite small. There is no networking involved seeing as how you can walk empty streets and find all the people to hang out with. No one considers you a hard worker if you're cranking out emails at 3 am, you look more just like a stalker in the night.
So maybe your article is correct that people who are more alert at night have an advantage, but to call them night owls is far from the truth. The real truth is that night owls have a hard time adjusting. Night owls cannot function fully in the real world since the world stops running at a certain point, unless of course you have a profession dealing with Chinese businessmen all night and sleep all day.
Stay out late, have beer, sleep late, go to work late. Number 14.
Thanks! We've updated the piece accordingly.
How about keeping the day or location of the event hidden, and then sending an invite to only those that fund? Just joking ... maybe ...
Thanks for including our house research article!
I always felt like my head was clearer at night, especially in college when I could trudge down to the computer lab (back in the day when having a pc or laptop was a LUXURY) and work on my papers. I usually could get more reading done as well. I think the lack of noise around me made me think clearly. I don't know how else to explain it, but I feel more productive in the evening when I get my second wind.
I think the headline says it all regarding reasons why not to apply for a loan modification.
The numbers are insane. 700,000 people are in a trial, while only 30,000 people have gotten permanent mods. These people would probably be better off playing poker.
A loan modification is almost like a debt settlement program. The difference is that with a reputable debt settlement company, the negotiators will settle 90 out of 100 collection accounts. 9 out of 10 loan modifications don't go through, so that's the difference in debt settlement and loan modification.
So consumers can say. "Do I get my home modified or credit cards settled in order to stay current on my home. I need more cash-flow from somewhere or I will fall behind on my home."
Homeowners that are contemplating bk or doing a loan modification would be better off utilizing a debt settlement program, where they can have their monthly unsecured debt payments lowered, allowing them to actually stay current on their mortgage.
Think about it. If someone is paying on 50k in credit card debt and current, they are probably paying out around $1,250 monthly. On a debt settlement program we could set them up with a payment at $900 per month and getting them out of debt in around 3 years. This consumer could have an extra $350 per month in their pocket, to put towards their mortgage. Now they will not need to file for bankruptcy or do a loan modification.
I figured it was time to tout some of the benefits of being more awake at night. Glad you liked the idea!
A year ago, I was recruiting someone for a volunteer position that required night meetings -- she mentioned that being awake at night was difficult for her, something that had never occurred to me as a possible reason to forgo such an opportunity. (Fortunately, the meetings that she is required to attend don't run much past 8 p.m. so she is able to do well in this role).
My patterns have changed over the years also. I get up a tad earlier than I used to but still have many mornings when I can't do much until I have had coffee and eased into the day.
Glad you enjoyed the article. With more and more people able to work from home and/or required to interact with people in multiple time zones, I thought it would be nice to consider the benefits of being a night person.
Also, as much as I think I should be able to get up early and get things ready for the day, I have finally realized that I need to pack at night so that I am ready to go the next morning.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I've tried getting up early also (before 6 a.m.) but can mainly do just simple things in the first couple of hours.
A small correction: King Soopers is owned by Kroger
Higher Education Institutions. They tend to offer you a discout on your tuition after a certain time period of employment. Some may only allow this discount is you are full-time. Extra bonus to you if the school/college also extends this discount to your immediate family members (spouse and children) which could save you tons in college education for your kids.
Great article! It will really help focus me on what needs to happen throughout the year. It's tough, we all get so excited for the new year and the initiatives that we would like to be a part of, but once we get into the trenches of the year, we start dwelling on what's urgent and long term goals fade away. Planning the year, in addition to setting goals, is the key.
This is an interesting subject for me, as I have tried to keep myself in check to avoid *needing* this kind of detox. I can't stay away from the computer entirely - my dayjob is in IT and my freelance business is as a digital illustrator and graphics guy - but I have freed up my brain and my time recently with the following steps:
- No clock slavery unless I have an appointment or meeting at a given time. I switched the display in my car from the clock to an MPG meter. I use an alarm clock to wake up, of course, and try to leave the house at roughly the same time each day, but once I leave my house for work, I know roughly what time it is by what's on the news station (like the reports 'on the 8s') and just leave it at that.
- I backed off my personal Twitter account entirely. I told all my friends that I was taking a hiatus and they could follow the new Twitter I'd made for news from my freelancing business if they liked. I haven't followed anyone back, but I am thinking of mutually-following other freelancers and content producers I know personally.
- I turned off email notification noises on my phone. When I am on my work or home PC, I can see the little number on my gmail tab, so I know if I have a new message. And if I look at my phone I can see the mail icon. But I don't get the audio ping anymore, and I don't feel a compulsion at all to "see if i have new email".
- I don't have a Facebook account. Never did, don't plan to.
Honestly one of the biggest issues I can still run across is that I still mindlessly surf the web when I'm bored. And I quickly get bored of THAT, too. I'd turn to my other hobbies in those times, but it always seems to be at times that would make it impossible to do those things.
Sorry for the ramble, but hopefully people can relate!
I immediately gravitated to this article because people rarely celebrate the night owl. I hadn't thought about it before but there are definitely some advantages to it, especially when it comes to social activities and planning. I'm kinda in the middle, I can get up early easily but I don't typically get sleepy until 11 pm. Though it does change a little as you get older.
I plan what I need for each goal and contribute to all of them (retirement, daughters' college, vacations, car, etc.) automatically each month before I ever see the money in my checking account.
Nice post, and really important for our age. My sister is like your daughter--a total connectivity addict. I take her out to lunch, she sits and plays on her smartphone. I try to have a conversation with her at home, she's on her laptop. Constant connection, totally hooked on the phone and computer. Even when I get her to actually put it down, she leaves it on the table and constantly checks it without picking it up. It's really sad.
I'm totally in favor of a digital detox and I think it's a great idea. I make my living on a computer, but at home it's a different story. I don't have the Internet and I don't have a smart phone. I haven't even turned my laptop on in three months, because there's nothing I "need" it for. I also don't have cable. Forcing my home to be a "non-digital" zone has opened up so much clarity and free time. I read, I do home projects, and I spend a ton of time volunteering. It's so much more rewarding than looking at cat photos all day or inanely updating your Facebook status every ten minutes.
Everyone should do it. It changes you--for the better!