How do you handle the "why are you texting me at 3am" texts?
Something I didn't expect after going full night owl: how often I get "why were you texting me at 3am?" Usually I feel like this genuinely comes from a place of concern or curiosity. But people forget (totally get, not their schedule), and I keep repeating myself: "I was just up. It's my schedule. No rush, all good."
Eventually I'd just pre-write texts and set alarms to send them at "regular" hours so I looked normal. DUMB. But honestly I felt a little judged at times :/ Or I'd even just feel bad about it. Like, what if they're sleeping but left their notifications on?
So I'm curious...how do you handle comms with the morning/day folk? Again I honestly thought calls would be more of an issue, lol.
EDIT: Thanks everyone for all the responses! I mostly just don't text much these days because I kind of hate texting anyways (would rather call), and things are rarely urgent enough for a 3am text. But sometimes a thought hits. Or I am just thinking of someone and wanna tell them, like a friend across the country. Love the ideas of scheduling - definitely want to be convenient for other folks. I also have just transitioned to a full night schedule, and didn't really "announce" to everyone, more have responded or informed as needed. I also think it's natural "texting" behavior these days to assume if someone is texting you and you catch it real-time, they're "available" to respond. Agree this should just be a call, but not everyone gets that all the time haha.
I think my biggest takeaways are:
- It's good to be conscious of others schedules, and I think it's a fair ask in return
- There are some tools via messaging to make this easier, like scheduling and "DND" mode
- To some degree, folks who care will adapt and understand so...sort of fuck it and do you
- And something I already follow...if you don't need it right away, wait for a call