How I’m Quitting My Night Owl Habits Cold Turkey

My face feels as if anvils are dragging it slowly to the ground. The redness in my eyes and the distant heaviness in my stare makes me look like a cracked out psychopath. My clock reads 11:05 am, but my mind is set at about 3:00 am. Today is the first day I join the rest of the world. It’s official. After two years, I’m no longer a “night owl.”

My daily routine was as follows: Sleep from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Wake up with a cup of coffee and an oversized, inappropriate lunch-dinner combo for breakfast. Join friends and family as they unwind for the day. Witness my productivity drain to nothingness as I watch tv and have long conversations about their days. Promise myself I’ll get my writing started when everyone has fallen asleep. What a perfect opportunity to be completely alone in a clear-headed atmosphere! Realise my relaxed mood is too stubborn to switch into work time. Become frustrated as time goes by with little to nothing completed. With two hours left in my day, give in and escape to the beautiful hell that is social media. Struggle to sleep with a head full of regrets.

Maybe this was a bit melodramatic, but I can tell you that this kind of day wasn’t rare in my world. Which is why I’ve decided to quit cold turkey.

My transition into living during the day is taking an exhausting toll on my body. Let me tell you something, changing your sleeping schedule is a chore, and it’s far more soul-sucking than I’m comfortable with. Day one, it’s barely noon, and I’m already on coffee number three. A work day with no sleep might as well be a day off because nothing is getting done. However, when this sleep battle is won, I’m sure the positives that will result from a proper sleeping schedule is worth the exhaustion. Tonight, I sleep at 9:00 pm and, hopefully, I’m up between 5:00 and 6:00 am.

Look, I tried the night owl thing and I can’t lie, there were many upsides to living on moon time, but the sun is a beautiful thing. Sure, all the annoying people are awake to distract you in any way possible, and the calm of the night is replaced with chirping birds and kids playing too loudly, but it’s totally worth it. My mood is instantly lifted and my productivity already has a much brighter future on day one.