For all my career, I've worked late. When running my own business or consulting, I tended to have a 3 or 4 am bedtime.
This fall my daughter started school. I have to be up at 6:00 AM in order to get the day started and drop her off for classes.
This has completely changed my sleep patterns, and thus my work patterns. Feels like it takes a lot longer to get anything done. So I definitely agree that you should take advantage of late nights while you can.
I spent several years in an industry where we'd have call time at 6 or 6:30am, which meant a 5am wakeup. I am a night owl so needless to say it sucked. By the weekend all I'd want to do was sleep. The thing is, between shows my body clock would revert right back to the old 3am bedtime schedule.
Isn't it amazing how you can get the same number of hours of sleep but if it isn't on the schedule you naturally prefer it can feel less refreshing?
It's been the other way round for me. Having a kid has made me work harder and I now work mostly through the night. I initially stayed up all night so Mom could maintain her full night's sleep but even though Baby is now sleeping well, I'm still working all night and "handing over" at about 6-7am :-) So I get more work time and having another mouth to feed focuses the mind just a little more..
This fall my daughter started school. I have to be up at 6:00 AM in order to get the day started and drop her off for classes.
This has completely changed my sleep patterns, and thus my work patterns. Feels like it takes a lot longer to get anything done. So I definitely agree that you should take advantage of late nights while you can.