Typically, when someone speaks of balancing the books, the meaning evokes a statement about finances, or economics. It’s an accounting term.
The other day, a friend used this phrase in a completely different context.
He referred to it as a sort of decompressing, wind-down, end of day activity. A way of balancing the brain before sleep: did everything that was set out to be accomplished today get done? What didn’t?
I pondered this statement all day.
People have different methods of processing the day’s events. My time is mornings rather than evenings…I’m an early riser and cherish the complete silence and solitude that those wee hours bring. I have my whole set-up: water, coffee, phone/laptop, TV set to a morning show or the Weather Network usually on mute…
It’s a little luxurious when there’s no kid rolling on the pillows on the couch, when there’s noone’s clutter to move so I can sit, when noone is talking or demanding attention from me.
In warmer weather, I sit outside and watch the sun come up while simultaneously catching up on my phone. But that won’t happen till at least June…
Those early morning hours are the time when I think about yesterday’s unfinished business and today’s upcoming business. This is the time when I connect with friends in different time zones. This is the time when I can, in peace, research things I don’t have time to do during the day. I write or blog, I read, I scan social media (Twitter, mostly, and Instragram).
If, for whatever reason, I sleep longer on a morning however, my state of mind ends up being just a bit off. A little bit less balanced. I feel more discombobulated when I’m in a rush to get stuff done or the family out of the house and it impacts the rest of my day.
Those days, I end up going to bed earlier than usual. To decompress there, by myself, with a book or TV.
But my daily aim is always to achieve balance. I am, after all, a Libra.
Sadly, complete equilibrium doesn’t happen often. Even though I try. Because…
Kids. 😂😂😂
Tell me, are you an early riser, a night owl or completely normal? Does completely normal exist? If yes, provide clear instructions so we can learn. 😜
Writer of Words, etc 
I am a night person but I do like my coffee hour (or two) in the morning before littlest one is awake. Same type thing.. sofa…. front door open and watching the sunrise through the storm door..phone nearby… quiet…just taking my time waking up.
night time is I like my comfort stuff, I like to listen to dickens audio books in bed in the dark.
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Reblogged this on The Spinsta Life.
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You did? Thank you 🙂
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I’m the same way about my mornings. I need that time or I feel completely out of sorts for the rest of the day
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I grinned all the way through this post – and the comments. So many of us lead such similar lives, and have such similar struggles. It’s nice to know we’re not alone, even if it is because our mayhem is apparently so common.
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😕I’m a ‘night owl’ who’d prefer to be an ‘early morning riser’, you definitely achieve more in a day!
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I am definitely a morning person. I get up when the husband gets up for work, which can vary. I have my usual morning routine, which focuses mostly on writing for my personal blog and also for the Warner Press blog. I’m at my best productivity in the morning.
My life has changed vastly since the kids left home.
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I’m both looking forward to it and dreading it. 🙂
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I’m definitely a night owl. It’s not until the kids are in bed that I can start to finish off the urgent tasks, postpone the others and start to unwind for the day.
I would stay up a lot later if I didn’t have to get up for work and, at the weekend I do stay up a lot longer and then enjoy a long lie in — sometimes until 8:00 in the morning!
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Ack!! 😉 I know a few men who are like this.
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Early bird!! I’m one of those obnoxious people who can leap up out of bed the second their eyes open.
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Me too!
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Night owl .. now that I have no school routine. But found that the last few days needing to be up really early I’ve i found myself ready for some sleep at 9 and 9:30 which I’m going to do in a min . But lately I don’t know what normal is anymore with adult kids everything is so different…
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I like to joke that my “sweet spot” is between 10am and 2pm. Is that what you mean by totally normal?
I wake up early but I like to stay in bed now that I don’t have a 5:30 alarm. I am happy to stay up late but I live with someone who falls asleep after dinner so it’s less enjoyable than when I lived alone.
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I tend to be an early bird….I definitely get more done early in the day and that’s when I’m most creative
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Me too! My creativity peaks in the morning!
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I’m toast by 2 pm…..
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This is a great discussion. I was just going to write in my blog about my inability to sleep soundly through the night. I am both an early riser and a night owl. That’s a recipe for exhaustion. I’m working on my night time routine. Read, journal, a little TV and lights out at the same time each night. I do love the early mornings. My kids are grown, but I still like to get up before my husband on the weekends and get an early start on the newspaper and coffee. It is a balancing act, for sure. Good luck!
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I used to be a night owl but can’t seem to keep my eyes open these days & I’m definitely not a morning person… Where does that leave me? I think I take it one day at a time and balance my brain whenever I get a chance… & I also blame the kids for this! 😂 ❤
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Well, kids have special talents! My second didn’t sleep through the night until age 4 and a half and this destroyed my sleep habits for several years after. Took forever to recuperate from that little night terror! 🙃 It’s easier now with them older….they can put themselves to bed.
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2 of my boys sleep walk! I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a good night’s sleep myself😴😣
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I’m a night owl, always have been… Always will be, but because of work and my partner/family who are morning people, I have to wake up much earlier than I’d like to. This leads to me having less sleep,but oh well! I’ve never heard of that term used in that context either, but I quite like it!.
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