Early Bird vs Night Owl

In January, I shared a bit about my early morning routine. I’m up at 4:15 a.m., out of the house by 4:30 a.m., and off and running! But guess what, if you challenged me to stay up until midnight I wouldn't be able to do it!

Since we value teamwork here at Children’s Specialized Hospital, it got me thinking how an early bird and a night owl can learn from each other!

My best friend is a night person, as were her mother and father. I lived with her folks after college for a short period of time when I was interning on Capitol Hill. Just like now, I would be out of the house by 5 a.m. so I could meet my friends to run on the National Mall in Washington DC  (see, I’ve always been a little OCD in keeping myself fit).

I would get home at night to end my day and rest, but at 8 p.m. they would be just starting to cook dinner. Sometimes they wouldn’t eat until 9 p.m., I was already sound asleep by that time! After dinner, they’d all hang out and carry on until the wee hours of the night.

As an early bird, I couldn't even begin to understand. 

What I like about the morning is the quiet. Usually there is little to no traffic, no one looking for you or trying to take away some of your time (although I have done 4 a.m. conference calls, although they are rare).

The morning time is really your own time, whereas the rest of the day tends to be about working as a team with other people or with those who may need your help.

For me, the morning is all about keeping a schedule—early to bed, early to rise—and keeping a consistent pattern. Having a schedule doesn't lend itself to spontaneity (remember, I’m a creature of routine).

So my tip for those who want to be an early bird: make a plan and keep it. Get to bed early, and stay away from caffeine after 3 p.m. Turn your bedroom into a peaceful space— no TV, no games, etc.

If you want to become a night owl, well… I’ve got nothing!

What are your tips and tricks for the morning? Or if you are a night person - how do you get it all done when you are up so late? Seriously, I’m curious.

I’m a creature of routine – just ask my hairdresser

My mother has a love-hate relationship with her hairdressers. She loves to get her hair done, but sooner or later – usually within 2 years – she is unhappy with the work they do and then she is off to find another salon and another hairstylist.

                               

It’s not like she looks through the phonebook and goes through the list of salons in her area. She gets recommendations from everywhere she goes. While at church this past summer she saw someone in the congregation whose haircut she liked. So, she actually went up to the woman to ask her the name of the salon and hairstylist she went to.

I started going to my hairstylist, Lori at Salon Cusato in Hamilton, in 1990. I was married then, she was fresh out of cosmetology school, and we just really hit it off. I have followed her to four different salons since she started her career, and we sure have been through a lot together!

We have shared perms (which she told me not to do, but I insisted), long hair, short hair, my divorce, the loss of her Dad, her marriage, and birth of her son. You can see a few of my hair styles over the years in my “Celebrating My Anniversary” post from back in September. Lori is certainly someone I can rely on and has come to be a part of my rituals.

Rituals. That’s a funny term isn't it? A ritual is defined by Merriam Webster as “always done in a particular situation and in the same way each time.”

When I think about going to the same hairdresser for 25 years as a ritual, I wonder if I am so OCD that I have the same rituals for other things and can’t break out of them.

None of my friends would ever call me spontaneous – I definitely am a planner and like routine. When I was married to a police officer it used to make him crazy that I would do the same things each and every day at the same time. For example, during the week I would run the same route every morning. I think he thought it was boring.

Similarly, I go to the gym at the same time every day, use the same dry cleaner, I visit Bennie the shoe guy almost weekly, I bring in bagels for our Senior Leadership meeting every Wednesday from the same bagel shop, and my parents and I sit in the same seats every week at the same church service we have been attending for over 45 years.

There is so much of my work day and life in general that I have no control over. These routines that I have help me keep structure, and my sanity, in my busy world. They are the few things that I can actually control.

Do you have a routine that you follow consistently? Or do you like to experiment and try spice it up? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!