Time has convinced me that people belong in two basic groups. A person is either an owl or  a lark. Their life style determines their group. Owls do the their best work beginning at twilight and into the night while larks rise in the morning and fade as owls emerge. In my lifetime I have actually been both. Let me explain.

 During my early life My best work was done after the sun went down. This did not mean I did not accomplish much during the daylight; I did. However I often put off studying or cleaning until twilight  and continue  until the early hours of the morning. If  there were no studying there was always a book to be read. Yes, getting up in the morning was difficult but I did it  though I stumbled through it a bit foggy until noon or later.

My owl years saw me though college and graduate school audit determined most of my friends. Owls do not form groups as such but when they socialize it is with other owls. In graduate school, we owls would teach and go to class during the day, eat a quick supper and study.Most nights that was the only thing but often ( maybe too often) we would meet up and go to a club to dance and talk until it closed at 1AM.

My lark years began after graduate school when the work a day world became part of my daily life. As a teacher I could not be foggy in the morning so gradually I began to shift my habits. house work was done on the weekends not at 3 or 4AM. I retired to my bed by 11 and rose around 7AM. However weekends and summers saw a quick return to my owl personality.

The real shift came after my marriage and children. Raised by a mother who instilled in me unwritten wifely duties a cooked breakfast for the family was a necessity. I admit the first few years I often brewed coffee and fried eggs with half closed eyes and little mental awareness. Still I muddled through  and eventually the morning became the main portion of my mental alertness. This made my work as a teacher and mother a bit more focused.

My lark time lasted well beyond the marriage and has only now begun to shift. I find myself in a mid phase.(Owark?). During the school year the owl is strong but in the summer  the lark is the dominant
setoff habits. If I cease to work entirely I predict the owl will be the only set of habits in my life.

So readers which are you? Owl or Lark?