People who love staying up late tend to share these 7 surprising traits

I’m one of those people who romanticizes early bedtimes. I have a toddler, a busy workday, and a kitchen that somehow produces endless dishes.

Most nights in São Paulo, I’m in my robe by 9:30, making tomorrow’s chia puddings and trying not to start a new show.

Still, some of my favorite people come alive after dark. Two of my closest girlfriends do their best thinking when the city quiets, and during Emilia’s newborn months, I got a taste of that midnight world too.

Lately I finished Rudá Iandê’s new book, Laughing in the Face of Chaos: A Politically Incorrect Shamanic Guide for Modern Life, and it nudged me to look at these “night owl” rhythms with more compassion.

I’ve mentioned this book before, and after actually reading it this month, his insights helped me see how much of our sleep guilt comes from borrowed beliefs about how “productive people” should live.

The book inspired me to question those rules and design around my real energy, whether it peaks at dawn or just before midnight.

Here’s what I’ve noticed about people who love staying up late, mixed with what science says about chronotypes and a few lessons from my own life.

If you identify as a night owl, you might see yourself here. If you’re more of a lark like me, you’ll understand your evening-powered friends a little better.

1. They’re pattern spotters when the world goes quiet

Have you ever noticed how ideas feel louder late at night? The inbox stops pinging, the street softens, and the brain pulls on threads it ignored all day. Many late sleepers use that calm to connect dots others miss.

They write, sketch, code, or journal while the city sleeps, and small insights turn into plans.

When I was cluster-feeding a tiny Emilia at 2 a.m., I kept a notes app open. Recipe ideas, story outlines, even a simple fix for our hallway clutter showed up in those hours.

It wasn’t magic. It was space. One good metaphor for it is a blank page at the library after closing time.

2. They build their own rhythms, then defend them fiercely

Late sleepers who thrive don’t wing it. They create repeatable evening rituals and morning buffers.

One friend starts work at 11 a.m. but begins her day with a quick stretch, a high-protein breakfast, and a 15-minute planning session. She protects those steps because they stabilize a schedule that looks “odd” to most people.

At home, I see the flip side. We wake up at 7 a.m., do family breakfast at our kitchen island, walk Matias to work, and shop for ingredients for the day. That rhythm keeps our household steady.

Night owls do the same thing, just shifted. They batch errands in late afternoon, schedule complex tasks for after dinner, and keep early commitments to a minimum.

There’s a lesson here for everyone. When your body’s clock points one way and the world points another, systems are survival.

3. They’re surprisingly social, just on a different timetable

Not all late-night people are introverts hunched over a screen. Many are the connective tissue of their communities.

They host dinner at 9 p.m., keep the group chat alive, or show up for friends across time zones. A lot of global life happens after dark. My girlfriends in Europe and Central Asia catch me then, and those conversations are rich because neither of us is rushing to school drop-off or a 9 a.m. meeting.

When we fly to Santiago and the grandparents take over for a few days, my husband and I sometimes lean into a later rhythm. We’ll have a long dinner, walk home through Vitacura, and talk about next year’s plans.

Late-night connection feels intimate, like the city gave you a private table and dimmed the lights just for you.

4. They dive deep into rabbit holes and bring back useful gems

Curiosity doesn’t check the clock. The night gives curious people permission to wander.

They might spend an hour learning how to repair a vintage lamp, researching the history of a neighborhood, or comparing the ethics of different coffee supply chains. The trick is that they come back with something practical. A workflow. A purchase they’ll actually use. A better way to store kids’ toys in a small apartment.

I saw this with a friend who redesigned her freelance process during midnight bursts. She created templates, swapped out low-value clients, and doubled her income in four months.

No hustle speech here. Just focused time without interruptions and a willingness to follow a question until it turns into action.

5. They protect autonomy like a scarce resource

Many late sleepers are allergic to being told when to be “on.” They’ll happily work hard, but they want a say in the terms.

That’s not stubbornness. It’s how they stay aligned with their biology.

When you’re forced out of sync, it creates social jet lag, which is the mismatch between your internal clock and social schedules. The result is foggy mornings, wasted energy, and a sense of pushing a cart with a stuck wheel.

I think about my own non-negotiables. I prefer an early family dinner, bath and story time, then sofa time with my husband. A night owl might do the same routine, just shifted, then settle into deep work at 10.

The core value is the same. Personal agency.

Reading Laughing in the Face of Chaos reminded me that meaning comes from within and our bodies carry more intelligence than our calendars do. His insights helped me loosen my grip on “shoulds” and trust what actually restores me.

6. They tolerate ambiguity and use it to create

When the house is dark and the rest of the world has logged off, there’s room to sit with unfinished ideas.

Late sleepers often tolerate that space without rushing to close every loop. They’ll test a draft, let a melody simmer, or sketch three versions before choosing. It’s a soft skill that shows up in leadership too. If you can hold uncertainty without spiraling, you make better choices.

This is where Rudá Iandê’s take on perfectionism hit home for me: “When we stop resisting ourselves, we become whole. And in that wholeness, we discover a reservoir of strength, creativity, and resilience we never knew we had.”

That line lands especially well at 11 p.m., when you can hear your own voice again. The book inspired me to give my rough ideas more breathing room and to treat first drafts like seedlings, not verdicts.

7. They treat energy like a budget and spend it wisely

The most successful night owls I know are good at energy accounting. They know that a 1 a.m. bedtime means a slower start, so they stack the morning with low-friction tasks and push high-focus work into their peak zone.

They keep lights warm at night, avoid caffeine late, and store morning obligations on fewer days so they can recover on others.

One of my favorite practical lines from my notes is this: emotions are messengers, not enemies. If your Sunday scaries spike, that’s not weakness, it’s data. Maybe your schedule crowds out sunlight and movement. Maybe you need fewer morning meetings.

Taking those signals seriously is part of spending your energy wisely.

A quick note if you love staying up late (or love someone who does)

If this resonates, I genuinely recommend Laughing in the Face of Chaos by Rudá Iandê.

I’ve mentioned this book before, but reading it recently gave me fresh language for what I was already sensing. Most of our “truths” about how a day should look are inherited, and we’re allowed to re-author them.

His insights are earthy and practical, less guru talk, more “trust your body, listen to your emotions, and build a life that fits.”

How to thrive if you love staying up late

If you’re reading this and nodding, here are a few practical tweaks that help:

• Block evening focus time like a meeting. If the work is deep, schedule it and tell people you’re offline.
• Keep a short wind-down sequence. Even if you sleep later, protect the last 30 minutes with quiet.
• Use morning buffers. Start with body movement, sunshine, and a protein-rich breakfast to spin up slowly.
• Batch early commitments. If you must take 8 a.m. calls, try to stack them on one or two days so your sleep shifts are predictable.
• Test a chronotype questionnaire. Map your preferred sleep window, then adjust your calendar where you can.
• Try a body-first reset. The book inspired me to add a 10-minute body scan before bed, no apps, just noticing sensations. It calms my nervous system and makes later nights feel restorative instead of depleting.
• Make peace with “good enough.” Perfection is a stamina drain. Remember the line above. Real progress prefers movement over polish.

A final note for the larks in the room

If you love dawn like I do, you probably have a night owl in your life. Respect their window the way you want yours respected. Plan dinners a bit later once a week. Don’t label them lazy for sleeping at 9 a.m. on a Saturday. And if you work together, judge output, not clock time.

Sleep isn’t one-size-fits-all. Some seasons will stretch us later, especially when we travel or when our families grow.

What matters is that each of us is honest about what we need and brave enough to design for it.