Its 12:50 London time on Wednesday, I am sitting down to write my column. I am in my unicorn onsie, my hair is wet from shower and I am sipping on my turmeric latte.
Usually, when back in Doha, I would never be in such a relaxed state at this time.
Since childhood, I have been a morning person, on the occasion when I sleep in past 7am, I literally feel guilty about it.
For centuries, our society has been founded on the principle that mornings are when important things get done. Office hours are designated in Qatar to start at 7am and London 9am. I can only imagine how that makes a non-morning person feel; a frantic post alarm rush to get ready and start the commute or drive to work, yawning as they go.
Since quitting the corporate world in 2018, I work for myself and pretty much set my own daily schedule, but never the less I still stick to a 7am start.
Lockdown has enabled many people to experience working from home, it makes me wonder if it really matters what time people start their day, as long as their deadlines are met.
I feel like there is a judgment on non- morning people, some people dismiss them as lazy, or that they simply can’t be bothered to get out of bed. When infact that may not be the case at all, maybe they simply produce more effective work later on in the day.
Scientific research has shown that we all have different circadian rhythms and that our unique internal clocks determine whether we are morning or night people. Most of the time, you are an averagely functioning adult; laziness is not a factor at all.
The usual categorisation between morning or night person, doesn’t apply to some people. They are neither, they don’t particularly like early morning starts but neither do they love 2am bedtimes, they are in-between the two, they might be afternoon or evening people.
If you were Prime Minister and it was up to you, what time would you start the working day?
* The author is a consultant and coach. Instagram handle: @miss_shefa, Website: missshefa.com
Shefa Ali
