I think I might have some kind of mild narcolepsy because direct sunlight has always triggered a very strong and rapid sleep response for me. When I was younger I would sometimes randomly fall asleep in class and offices can be difficult if I'm sat facing a window. It's not that uncommon for me to fall asleep randomly at my desk which can be embarrassing and almost every moment in an office is a battle to stay awake.
I'm always wide awake at night though... Which is annoying because everything is closed and everyone is sleeping.
> If you are a night owl can you unlock your full potential when the sun is up or does your brain only start to fully function when it's dark outside?
I have an interesting personal story to share about this.
I'm fully remote, and my main interfaces are in vastly different timezones (PST/EST). I'm in Singapore (UTC+8), so I'm always 12-15 hours ahead of most of my team.
Which means that:
- Most of my meetings/syncs etc. are in PST (early morning for them, late night for me; sometimes 3am for me, and sometimes early morning for me, evening/night for them)
- I typically follow a graveyard schedule so I'm available in their timezones
- I am usually most productive during night hours
- (see my username)
I have been doing this for 5+ years, and yes, anecdotally - I feel like I'm "myself" when there is no sunlight.
However, I've come to realize that this is unhealthy for me. I barely have any energy to run daytime errands and appointments: literally nobody in my social circle is awake after 10pm, no doctor's clinic is open in the middle of the night, I can't head out and buy a pair of shoes, etc., but at least I have my basic amenities available (10-15mins walk away from two 24/7 supermarket, 7-11's, etc.)
The bit about social circle affects me the most: I've given up a lot in terms of networking opportunities and/or dinner & drinks with buddies just so I could attend meetings at 10pm, 1am, ...
So as much of a night owl as I am - I feel that being a night owl is great for my brain juices to flow, with the side effect of neglecting pretty much everything else in my life.
Not sure where I'm going with this; it may not make any sense, but your question just struck a chord with me :-)
Once, when in school, I went to the principal to get some papers signed. It was the first time I was entering his office. I knocked at the door, and pat came a reply to enter. He was sitting behind a desk that had nothing on it, no papers, files or books. Nothing! He was sitting there with his hands on the desk. I got my papers signed immediately and came out of the office thinking, does this person even work? :) I went to him at 9:30am, and there he was sitting idle!
Few years after that incident, I read an article by a prominent Indian atomic research scientist. He was describing an incident that was similar to the one I had experienced at the school principal's office. He once went to the head of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center(BARC) in India at 9:00am, and the desk of the head of BARC was clear, no paper work, files or anything. And the scientist quickly got his work done at the office of the head of BARC. The scientist narrated this experience to his boss, who was a friend of the head. The boss said that the head of BARC wakes up at 4:00am, his work starts at 5, by 9:00am he is available to anyone in the company. His own work he completes between 5-9am, and most of the rest of the day he makes himself available to others at the company. The clear desk that the scientist saw was not because the head has less work, but because he had already completed his own work before 9:00am. The clear the desk of the head of an institution, the more efficient s/he is.
Tim Cook of Apple has similar schedule. Leaders of any organisation have to wake up early, otherwise they get little done.
There are health benefits of this as well.
I use to be a night owl. One day an email arrived in my official inbox. It was from one of the VPs of the company. He had just returned back from a long stay at a hospital due to illness. He urged all young engineers to not treat being night owl as some sign of hard work, badge of honour or habit. It seriously damages the health in the long run, like his own.
I had heard this advise from so many elders in the industry that I changed my schedule. I use to drink a lot of coffee and tea as well, even that changed.
Few years ago, when my father was seriously ill and in the ICU, one day I saw a new patient on the bed next to my father's. The new patient was very young, ~30 years old guy. I asked the nurse, did he meet with an accident? And the nurse said, "No, he had an heart attack. He is a software professional. We get many software professionals in the hospital with similar problem. Their life-style is bad."
Remember this old proverb: "Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise."
I think the act of writing code might actually be most efficient when you're fatigued and not too creative.