Personally? I like to get up, get moving, and get things accomplished fairly early in the morning. If you ever have a mid-morning meeting with me, there’s a decent chance I’ve already gone rollerblading, answered some calls and emails, recorded a video, perhaps done a little writing, and more. That’s just how I’m wired; I happen to be pretty productive in the morning. But I know that not everyone is wired the same way. A lot of business owners I’ve run into have the enviable skill of keeping productive late in the day and on into the evening.
Being a night owl like that has some advantages, but it can also make the 9-to-5 life a little bit difficult. You may not be at your best first thing in the morning, but you’re still expected to be up, showered and shaved and ready for the day just like everyone else.
The question is, what can the late-night bloomer do to stay competitive in 9-to-5 life? I’ve got just a few tips I can offer here:
Use your evening hours to prepare for the next day. Afraid you’ll show up for your crack-of-dawn conference call feeling a little scatterbrained? Spend some time getting your affairs in order the night before, when you’re really sharp. Make your next day’s to-do list, cheat sheets for your morning meetings and calls, etc.
Do your morning routine at night. Again, make use of those evening hours, when you really feel on. Lay out your clothes, pack your lunch, shower, shave—do that stuff the night before, and maybe buy yourself an extra half hour of sleep in the morning… or at the very least, make those rough mornings a little less hectic.
Spend your early hours on the more menial or mindless tasks. Do you have parts of your day that require considerably less brainpower than others? Make those the tasks you complete earliest in the morning, and save the more demanding stuff for when you’re firing on all cylinders.
Take a work-from-home-day whenever you can. Having more flexibility in your home office can make it a lot easier to cope with the 9-to-5 day. If you can work remotely, do!
None of these tips will transform you from a night person into a day person—and that’s okay. Maybe they will help you use those mornings more effectively, though.