Nightowls

The sayings are legion – “The early bird gets the worm”, “Early to bed, early to rise…yada, yada, yada…”.

Somewhere in our pioneer past, some Puritan spirit was always reminding everybody else that the secret to success was to get up and get at it earlier than the next guy.

And that works –- if you’re a morning person.

Take my dog… in the Summertime those three words are followed by “Please”!

She’s a herder and like all herders her instinct is to head to the fields as soon as there’s a glimmer of light in the sky. And that’s okay for most of three seasons.

But getting a cold nose in the middle of your back at 4:30 am the rest of the year isn’t that pleasant for the guy who has to go out with her.

If you’re a writer, the other belief that’s beaten into you is that you need to find the hours when you are most productive and strictly apply the butt to chair/fingers to keyboard lockdown during that time.

And oh so many writers will let you know that the secret to their success was getting so much done before the sun came up that they were having lunch while everybody else was still brewing their first cup of coffee.

For the most part, writers who are night owls are looked down upon. Oh, sure, you can burn the midnight oil waiting on your muse if you’re holding down a day job until the first break arrives.

But otherwise -- you’re just another guy watching Sportsnight repeats who’d be hanging around an Edward Hopper Diner if there was only a trendy enough one open and nearby.

And yes, I know the title of the painting is really “Nighthawks”.

The point is, all kinds of research into time management, creativity and Circadian rhythms tells us that we each operate on a different clock. But the world and its cheerleaders of getting-things-done insist that putting your nose to the grindstone before your toasted bagel goes cold is how goals are achieved.

Where is the Champion of the Night Owls, the sack-clothed seeker with a lamp searching for honest to God proof that working in the dark is actually something of which you can be proud?

Well, he’s here.

In the form of Productivityist Mike Vardy.

Mike has already mapped out a workbook and an action plan to help night owls into the light –- the light from the idea bulb which tells Nightowls how to use the wee hours to be more creative, more productive and more successful.

During my writing career, I’ve been both a night owl and an early bird. I’ve had to shift my writing time to suit production schedules, unexpected crises and faraway time zones.

And I had to learn how to do that and maximize my output on my own. But you don’t have to. Mike can help.

Find him here. I am certain you will find what he has to offer worthwhile.