The Owl in Me: Why Nighttime Always Wins

Daily writing prompt
Are you more of a night or morning person?

I’ve learned over the years that I am absolutely a night person. Not in the “out on the town” sense — more in the “there’s always one more thing I can do before bed” sense. That mindset keeps me up like an owl staring at a to-do list that keeps sprouting new branches. I’ll think, Let me just write this one paragraph… answer this one email… tweak this one thing… Next thing I know, midnight taps me on the shoulder and asks if I plan on going to bed or starting a second career.

The irony, of course, is that mornings demand my attention whether I’m ready or not. The alarm clock does not negotiate. School starts at the same time whether I was responsible and disciplined… or whether I convinced myself that “just ten more minutes” of work was a grand idea at 11:45 p.m.

I admire people who can hop out of bed full of energy, bright-eyed and grateful for sunrise. Meanwhile, I greet the morning like a man still buffering.

But at night? That’s when my brain wakes up. That’s when the ideas kick in. That’s when blogging suddenly feels like a brilliant use of time. And that’s when I convince myself — yet again — that I can squeeze in “just one more thing.”

I’ll let you guess how often that catches up with me the next day.

Copyright © 2025 Doug DeBolt.

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About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.
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