Yeah, I'm a Night Owl... That just means I'm more intelligent?

So I'm very much a night person. I have been my whole life. I used to "go to bed" at my appointed bed time then lay awake reading a book or staring at all the posters I had plastered to my walls. It wasn't uncommon for me to stay awake till 10 or 11 - and at 10 years old that was a big deal. On the weekends, vacations, and summer breaks my sisters and I would have a "contest" to see who could stay awake. Which brings up some great memories.... Watching Buns of Steel at 4 o'clock in the morning on 3x speed and laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants! Acting like we were asleep when Dad got ready for work at 6 and then turning the TV back on after he left... We had some great times! Even now - when I lost my job a few years ago I quickly sucumbed to my night owl ways. It didn't take long for me to get into the habit of staying awake until 5 or 6 and sleeping till 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I can get up and be productive when the need arises, but for my lifestyle right now I have a little luxury in the sleep/wake time cycle. And I choose to embrace my night owl side.

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Do I feel as though I'm missing out on anything? Not really. I actually feel as if I'm catching a lot more. My house is usually quiet around 12 so that gives me quite a few hours to read, do homework, catch up on movies, work on my blog, etc. Things that I would get distracted from if I were doing them while everyone in the house was awake. It's just how I prefer it.

I came across an article today that says that night owls might actually be more intelligent than their early bird counterparts. Why Night Owls are More Intelligent than Morning Larks. I tried to find more on the actual study that was conducted, but as of yet haven't been able to find anything. But the bit of information provided at the end of the article does seem to support their hypothesis.

It makes me wonder why this is. The night activities mentioned focus around creativity. Is there a link between when the mind becomes creative and the hours a person has been awake? I know for me that seems to be true. Most of my blog ideas "hit" me at night. I also tend to do a lot of soul searching at night. So for me I think my brain needs time to "kick in" for me to reach my peak in creativity.

No matter what the link I think there may be something to this theory. I'm going to keep researching it and if I find some more information I'll pass it along. But in the mean time I want to know are you a night owl or a morning person, and when do you feel your brain is at it's best on a normal day?

-Jennifer