Here is why night-owls are the better entrepreneurs

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin

This iconic phrase our parents tried to drill into us from the minute we started pre-school may not be as valid as you think. Studies have proven that, contrary to popular belief, those who burn the midnight oil are more professionally successful than those who wake up at the crack of dawn. But before you get too excited, let us back up our claim.

Today, people almost run each other over on the roads to enter their offices at 9 am sharp, in fear of paycuts simply because they walked in 20 minutes late. They impatiently watch the clock till it strikes five, following which they shut their laptops, pack up their bags and go home. But when it comes to startups and new businesses, it’s a whole different ball-game.

The millennial generation has seen the rise of many independent businesses and personalities. Each of these who have made it to the limelight have had one thing to say – work to your advantage. If you have your creativity kick in post-lunch time and keep you going till dawn, then try to fix your schedule around this period. This is when you can work to your optimum capacity and maybe even come up with game-changing ideas.

Here are five reasons why some of the best entrepreneurs are night-owls.

The world is asleep

And with that, comes quiet. Ask any entrepreneur and they’ll tell you that being constantly interrupted, by colleagues, clients, family members and other individuals, was one of the hardest challenges they faced. Everyone’s always looking towards them for important decisions. So, they barely have time to work on their own projects or deals during the day, because they’re busy fixing everyone else’s. For an entrepreneur, the night-time, when the world is either asleep or too polite to make work calls, works like magic. Thus, they can enjoy an uninterrupted work flow and with a clear, level head.

They can use their time wisely

For entrepreneurs, the business world is a whirlpool of constant activity. During the day, it is almost impossible to keep up with changes in the market and financial news or to reply to the dozens of unopened emails. This is where the silence of the night helps. After some good relaxation, they can catch up on updates in the global markets, at the local stock exchange and government policies. They can even use this time to create drafts for the pending mails, ready to be sent out the next day.

The virtual world is at its most active

Times are changing, and the good old ‘lights out at 10.30’ has largely been forgone. Today, the social media world wakes up post-dinner and is most active till the wee hours of the morning. This when most networking can be done, this is when you hear back from the guys you’ve been tracking on LinkedIn, and this is when most ideas are created and shared. So if you sleep by 10.30, you’re missing out on some real action!

They get quick access across borders and oceans

If you’re an entrepreneur and a night-owl, you have an advantage over the larks, because your waking hours will grant you access to some of the most powerful global markets. For instance, while your fellow countrymen snooze, your counter-parts in the United States or Canada will be releasing their inputs and news on different sources across the world. And, you’ll be able to see this live. So when you walk into your office the next day, you know exactly where to start from.

They can accommodate more work into their hours

This is possibly one of the most favourable traits of night-owls – they get their work done. For the larks, the day begins as the sun rises and ends as the sun sets, and they have to pool in a 24-hour day workload into those few hours. But for night owls, the day is endless, and no matter the hour, they won’t hit the sack until their work is done.

In full disclosure, we don’t expect you to change your sleeping cycles to suit these points. Like we all know, human beings function differently, and so do their body-clocks. However, this article is for all those who have been asked to change their natural routines time and time again, being made to believe that doing so will make their work more effective. Well, here’s hoping we proved them wrong!