Some women get up at the crack up dawn, do all the housework-and dash off to the office.
The surge of energy continues as they attack their jobs, clearing away mountains of work.
The only problem with these morning people is that by noon they often are half-asleep at their desks, the rest of the afternoon and the night yet to go.
Other woman wake reluctantly and roam around the house in a semi-stupor before leaving for work. They make sincere efforts to tackle professional duties but are not quite with it.
Just before noon, a magical transformation occurs: They`re alert, coherent, capable of solving problems. They can go on for hours.
The only problem with these night people is that they have lost half the work day.
These are extreme examples, but there is a rhythm to most work days, often determined not only by hours but also by what`s going on at the office. Savvy women try to determine the time span during which they can best accomplish things-and go for it.
KATHRYN M. TREBONSKY
Age 25, certified public accountant, Hockfelder, Birkenstein & Lipinski Ltd., Chicago
Trebonsky says she`s ”definitely a morning person,” but she tries to pace herself.
In discussing tax matters with clients, she says, ”I could be going at top speed every minute, but it`s important to set your own pace or you could burn yourself out. Or, if you take things too slowly, you won`t get anything done.”
Trebonsky stresses that her office is not a frantic place, ”but there`s a lot going on, and in the two years I`ve been here we`ve never had a slow period yet.”
Trebonsky, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign, has regular hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but ”I usually work from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.”
She goes to work a little early ”so I can get myself going.”
Trebonsky goes over papers for about 15 minutes and ”then it starts getting a little bit hectic,” but she`s already into her work by then.
She goes to lunch at 1 p.m., because ”I`m usually in the middle of something by 11 a.m. and want to get it out before I go to lunch. And I`m ready to go again after lunch.”
The afternoon flies by, she says, ”and 5 p.m. is here and I still have a lot to get done.”
She doesn`t get home until about 7 p.m. Her husband, James Trebonsky, who works for an automobile dealership, works late.
And that`s when her true morning personality manifests itself. ”Once I sit down at night, I`m done,” she says.
Trebonsky thinks it`s important to ”go at a comfortable pace, set daily goals and manage your time.”
However, her intelligent use of her peak hours are shelved during income tax season.
”It all goes out the window,” she says. ”I just work all the time.”
ELENIE K. HUSZAGH
Age 51, attorney, Boorstein, Cohn & Zelechowski, Chicago
A practicing attorney for 25 years, Huszagh is ”basically a night person and I always have been.” Her husband, Richard Huszagh, also an attorney, is a morning person, ”so we have all bases covered.”
Huszagh, who specializes in commercial law, says her profession fits in well with her biological clock.
”I go to work at 9 a.m. and sort out the day ahead,” she says. ”Things tend to be slower in the mornings, unless I have to be in court and then I prepare the night before and move right into it. I`ve found I don`t do well preparing in the morning.”
Huszagh tries to make afternoon appointments with clients and other attorneys. ”I`m always going at full steam, but the afternoon is better, because by then everyone knows where they are on a particular project.
”The result is that I do a good deal of drafting and analysis of strategy late at night. Fortunately, our son, Peter, is a night person, so I have someone to talk to.”
Her night personality ”came very early. When I was little and everyone was in bed, I was wide awake. It must be genetic; that`s the only explanation for it.”
Day and night, Huszagh is an important leader in her community. She`s active in the Greek Orthodox church and is the legal counsel for its local archbishop. Formerly president of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Glenview, she served on the governing board of the National Council of Churches.
”Try whenever possible to arrange what you have to do when you`re literally at your best,” advises Huszagh, although she acknowledges that at times adrenaline jacks up the internal machinery.
”The truth is when there`s something serious to be done, whether it`s at 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., you`ll be in full regalia mentally.”
ANITA L. BEARD
Age 50, executive vice president, Trains, Boats & Planes Inc., Chicago
”I`m definitely a morning person, and it works out fine,” says Beard, a travel agent for 12 years. She supervises the agency`s two offices and staff of 23.
”I come in at 7:30 a.m., and we don`t open till 9 p.m., so I get four hours of work in in two hours-without phones ringing and without problems to solve.”
At 9 a.m., when she`s operating at full speed, Beard says the work becomes ”pressurized.”
Beard often works till 7 p.m., though since her marriage in September to Mark Jones, a retired judge, she tries to leave the office at 5 p.m.
”I still have energy left over to keep going,” says Beard, mother of two grown children, ”but I conk out at 9 p.m.”
Knowing she`s a morning person helps her allocate time wisely, Beard says. ”I do my best work in the morning, so I work on all my hard vacations, such as European tours and extended vacations, in the mornings. By the afternoon, if someone calls with something that really needs in-depth work and it`s 3 p.m., I`ll work on it, but won`t get back to them till the next morning.”
Her fondness for morning hours goes back to when she was a full-time homemaker. ”I had the whole house totally clean by noon,” Beard says. ”I long ago noticed how much work I can get done in the morning as compared to what I can do from 3 to 5:30 p.m.-almost twice as much.
Beard thinks businesses should offer flex time to employees, not only to those who have family responsibilities, but also to those with different biological clocks.
”We have a terrific agent who just is not a morning person, so we allow her to come in at 9:45 a.m. and stay till 5 p.m.,” Beard says. ”And it works.”
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Send comments and ideas for future questions to Carol Kleiman, The Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611.
