5 Ways to Feel Normal When You Start Work at Midnight
By NPR Morning Edition host, Renee Montagne
Renee Montagne lives and works in Los Angeles even though most of her Morning Edition colleagues work in Washington DC. The show starts early anyway, but when it’s on East Coast time, it’s so early in the morning that it’s late night. Here’s how she tries to live a normal life even though she starts work at midnight.
I live in a 1920’s courtyard here in Santa Monica, with five cottages encircling a communal garden. Over the years, our cottages have been home to actors, directors, screenwriters, and cinematographers, who know well what it means to work long hours, overnight.
We’ve chatted about the sense of permanent jet lag one feels during the day, when coming off the graveyard shift. The feeling that you’re not quite in the same time zone as everyone around you, and that sun, well, it’s just so bright.
Still, because I’ve worked these hours for going on six years now, when my neighbors see me pull out at 11 pm heading for NPR West in Culver City, or drive back into the courtyard at noon the next day — they often shake their heads and say, “how do you stay normal?!”
Below, five ways to at least feel normal.
Invite friends out to dinner, with a reservation at noon.
My favorite ‘open only in the day” eateries are Cora’s Coffee Shop and The Rose Café. And I always buy something to go – very nice when “lunch” is at 5 am.
Have a weekly movie night out, and go to the matinee at the Monica.
Matinees are cheap and you never have to come early to get a good seat
Keep up with friends overseas
Your lunch hour is on their time zone – take advantage of the opportunity to chat on the phone.
Stroll through the Farmer’s Market on Sunday, like normal people.
It’s your day off. You don’t have to go to bed until 3 pm!
Make a new friend
With a vampire
