Instead of thinking about when I am most prepared to interact with others, I focused on when I felt at my personal best. Once I realized that my introversion impacts this, however, I revised my understanding of what it means to be a morning or night person. The same thing happened if I bowed out of events early in the evening. People I lived with often commented on how quiet I was in the mornings, and they assumed I must be tired or in need of additional caffeine. They focus on whether or not we jump out of bed or whether we’re inclined to linger under the covers, even though the latter might be a welcome morning respite from social demands - rather than a commentary on how tired we are. The questions of many quizzes ask about the time of day when we are most likely to do things like work out at the gym, begin work, or do other similar activities that require some measure of socializing or stimulation. After all, many outlines of what it means to be a morning or night person also fall along these lines. In hindsight, this isn’t a terribly surprising mistake.

An Introverted Morning Person Looks Different I failed to think about how being an introvert interacted with my morning or night preference. In other words, rather than considering when my brain was most alert, I was considering when I most wanted to be around people. In all my questioning, I had assumed that being a morning person meant being talkative and outgoing immediately upon waking, and that being a night person meant loving social occasions that continued well into the wee hours.

All were inconclusive.įinally, it dawned on me that the definitions I was using for morning or night people were fundamentally flawed.

I even took quizzes online to determine if I was more of a morning or night person. I worked on getting more sleep in case sleep deprivation was interfering with my observations. I tried adjusting my sleeping schedule, staying out late or planning early mornings to see if one or the other felt more natural. The question of morning or night person fascinated me. What I found surprised me - and had more to do with my introversion than I initially thought. So I set out to determine my morning or night person status. On the other hand, if I were a night person, why does the siren song of my couch and Netflix call so strongly, even at 7 p.m.? Why does the idea of staying home all by myself sound better than a concert, bar hopping downtown, or any of the other “fun” things my friends do on the weekends? If I were a morning person, shouldn’t I be bright and cheerful as soon as the sun was up? Shouldn’t I be able to respond to people talking to me first thing in the morning? Surely the nonverbal groans that are my primary form of communication pre-coffee can’t be the language of a morning person. It’s fun occasionally, or as a way to catch up with old friends, but like many introverts, I often find myself ready to head home and change into pajamas well before everyone else.įor years, this was perplexing to me. Neither do I typically like to stay out late at bars or go to parties.

I prefer to have a cup (or pot) of coffee, read the news, make breakfast, and only then interact with people and start the day. I’m not an early bird or a night owl, I’m some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.* I don’t jump into things right away in the morning. When I considered my own answer, however, I found myself agreeing with that student who always felt tired. Occasionally, one student would claim they were neither - they were tired all the time - eliciting laughter from their peers. If you’re an introvert, you may not look like the typical “morning” or “night” person.Īs a teacher, I would start each of my classes with a get-to-know you question, and one of my favorites was, “Are you a morning person or a night person?” Most people had clearly defined answers: They were a night person and wrote all their papers after midnight, or they were a morning person and actually made it to their 8 a.m.

Not a night owl meme