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Is it possible to become a "morning person?"

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A

Ace Harding

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Or do you think you are just born that way?

I would like to convert from a night owl into a morning person. I usually fall asleep at around 1:30, sometimes later. I get up around 8:30. Any earlier than that and I am miserable for about 10 painful minutes before I really wake up. I hate waking up and getting out of bed in the morning.

I think the obvious problem is that I go to sleep too late, which makes getting up in the morning painful. It actually feels physically painful. But on occasion (usually when I have an early flight, train, or meeting) I do get up at a more reasonable hour (6:30) and find that once I wake up and give myself some time in the morning I actually feel better. I can read the news, browse GAF, or watch TV while I eat breakfast. I could get moving earlier and be more productive. I could go to the gym in the morning instead of at night (which kills my evenings).

There are a lot of benefits I getting up early, I just hate doing it.

Anybody ever successfully converted from someone who hates getting up in the morning to a real "morning person?" How did you do it?

Or do you disagree with the premise that getting up earlier is better?
 
first off your not a night owl. night owls laugh at going to bed at 1:30 and waking up at 8:00 am.

second off, yeah just go to sleep earlier. get some more exercise in the day to make you tired earlier or something.

proof: i constantly switch sides from night owl to morning person
 
I do not know, man. When I needed to wake up early, I always could, but when it is not absolutely necessary, then I definitely do not.

All I know is that it is worth it. Even if it means drinking a coffee first and stretch yourself (I do yoga), the timeframe between 6am and 9am can be the most productive time of your day, or the most relaxing, or clarity-filled one.

One can definitely convert to it, but it cant start with anything else BUT waking up at the desired time. If it means by setting up multiple alarm, then do that.
 
All through High School and about 3 years of college I wasnt a morning person. But past 2 years, senior year of college and now one year out I have been, cant sleep past 7:30 on the weekend. In fact I hate sleeping late now, as sleep is just a thing that gets in the way of me doing shit.
 
i have always been a morning person. But my sister very much isnt and its a job and a half to get her up. lol actually i find that making my hands really cold then grabbing her when she hides under her covers wakings her instantly :D
 
Happened automatically for me when I started working a regular 8-5 schedule. Had to start waking up at 6 and sometimes 5 to get ready for work / gym before work. Now, my body auto wakes up between 6:30 or 7 with no alarm, even on weekends, and I feel refreshed.
 
Go to sleep earlier. Force yourself until you get used to it.

The older I am getting the earlier I wake up. My favorite time during the week is Saturday morning (7-10). Everyone is asleep in the house and I get to just chill.
 
____ said:
Happened automatically for me when I started working a regular 8-5 schedule. Had to start waking up at 6 and sometimes 5 to get ready for work / gym before work. Now, my body auto wakes up between 6:30 or 7 with no alarm, even on weekends, and I feel refreshed.
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This. Just change your schedule/habits
 
impossible for me to change. i used to ALWAYS stay up late and wake up late. ever since i got a real job i have to wake up at 5:30 every damn week Mon-Fri. i am still not used to it and don't think i ever will be. it is painfully hard to wake up and get out of bed at that hour. i would much rather sleep in until 8-9.
 
One reason I stay up late is because that's when gaming time is. Wife is in bed by 11:00, I stay up another hour or two to play games before winding down for bed. The time between turning off the TV and actually falling asleep is at least an hour. I know this is pretty common among gaming husbands/dads.

Thinking about this though, gaming at night makes it harder to fall asleep because you are staring at a backlit screen and possibly getting a bit of adrenaline going. So if I got up at 6:00 I could use that time to play (which might help wake me up) until she gets up at 7:00, then hit the gym until 8:00 and get to work by 9:00 (30 minutes earlier than now).

I'm also anticipating having a baby in the not too distant future, which tosses any sleep/wake up plans out the window.
 
Morning person life isn't all that great. You're already tired by 10pm which sucks on weekends when everyone is just starting to party by that time.
 
I've been doing the 7am - 3pm work schedule for about 6 years now and I'm adjusted but it's hard getting up when the sun isn't out. Especially difficult because of my wife who is much more of a night person than me and our relatively recent puppy acquisition.
 
I only really get hungry late at night. I also have a weak stomach. So I dread mornings because they inevitably mean a bad case of the mud butt.
 
Fong Ghoul said:
One reason I stay up late is because that's when gaming time is. Wife is in bed by 11:00, I stay up another hour or two to play games before winding down for bed. The time between turning off the TV and actually falling asleep is at least an hour. I know this is pretty common among gaming husbands/dads.

Thinking about this though, gaming at night makes it harder to fall asleep because you are staring at a backlit screen and possibly getting a bit of adrenaline going. So if I got up at 6:00 I could use that time to play (which might help wake me up) until she gets up at 7:00, then hit the gym until 8:00 and get to work by 9:00 (30 minutes earlier than now).

I'm also anticipating having a baby in the not too distant future, which tosses any sleep/wake up plans out the window.
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f.lux
 
getting an early-starting job helps!

i'd wake up at 2 if i could, but now i wake up at 7.59 and start work at 8 every day. you get used to it. making coffee a hobby is also a good idea.
 
I have a three year old and an 8 month old. I wake whenever they make me for whatever reason.

I probably stay up too late though, but at night is the only down time I get.
 
cuz of my sleep paralisis condition
my sleep schedule is always changing
on this week im being waking up at 8:00pm till 12:00pm
 
Yeah, you just need to change up your routine.

I used to wake up 10am-12pm when I was in college.

Now I'm at work between 7 and 730. A little different than forcing yourself to do it without any external reasons/motivation however...
 
Sub_Level said:
Morning person life isn't all that great. You're already tired by 10pm which sucks on weekends when everyone is just starting to party by that time.
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True but people in your age group are likely in the same boat so it's not that big a deal. If you're in your 30s you are likely working full time, as are the rest of your friends and everybody gets tired around the same time lol
 
Fong Ghoul said:
Or do you think you are just born that way?
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No, it is conditioning.
I would like to convert from a night owl into a morning person. I usually fall asleep at around 1:30, sometimes later. I get up around 8:30. Any earlier than that and I am miserable for about 10 painful minutes before I really wake up. I hate waking up and getting out of bed in the morning.
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Perhaps starting the practice of getting out of bed and exercising/stretching/jogging would help. Also, you need to start deluding yourself and at least try to frame the gettign-up early thing as good, if you keep with the "getting up early sucks," I find it hard to imagine your spontaneously reversing this.
I think the obvious problem is that I go to sleep too late, which makes getting up in the morning painful. It actually feels physically painful. But on occasion (usually when I have an early flight, train, or meeting) I do get up at a more reasonable hour (6:30) and find that once I wake up and give myself some time in the morning I actually feel better. I can read the news, browse GAF, or watch TV while I eat breakfast. I could get moving earlier and be more productive. I could go to the gym in the morning instead of at night (which kills my evenings).
Click to expand...
This might be the way to frame getting-up early so that it doesn't have absolutely negative connotations, focus on the positive aspects.
There are a lot of benefits I getting up early, I just hate doing it.

Anybody ever successfully converted from someone who hates getting up in the morning to a real "morning person?" How did you do it?

Or do you disagree with the premise that getting up earlier is better?
Click to expand...

When I was younger, I would stay up all night and sleep during the late afternoon. Something about late nights / early mornings being the quietest time of the day, less distractions. Same applies now but I'll get up between 4:30 and 6:00 depending on how late I was up the previous night and what I have to do that day. I am firmly in the camp that getting up early is better (for me and my productivity).

I think Parent-GAF has made it clear that not everyone will be free to decide their sleeping schedule. You seem to have the power to decide.
 
Once I got out of college and started working, I forced myself to become a morning person.

I usually get up between 5:30 and 5:45 to do a morning workout before going to work. (Though I slept in until 7 this morning.)

So yeah, it's totally possible. Cut down big time on your caffeine consumption. That's a huge step.
 
I go to bed by 9:30 to be up at 5:30 for work. Every day i am tired and foggy, my eyes are sore, and in general i spend the day feeling like i have just woken up. If i wake up at 8:30 or later, even if i don't go to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning, i feel great.

So i feel your pain, OP.

I always have more energy at night than in the morning... I think better, move faster, and am more sociable. Caffeine has nothing to do with it, unless i am hypersensitive to a single 6am cup of coffee.

Been like this for as long as i can remember. I'm a very light sleeper too, so every damn thing wakes me up.
 
Took me about 4 years of getting up at 6am for work everyday, but now my body wants to go to bed and wakes up early whether I want to or not. I still do not consider myself a morning person though as I'm still grouchy as fuck in the mornings.
 
Partial Gamification said:
No, it is conditioning.

Perhaps starting the practice of getting out of bed and exercising/stretching/jogging would help. Also, you need to start deluding yourself and at least try to frame the gettign-up early thing as good, if you keep with the "getting up early sucks," I find it hard to imagine your spontaneously reversing this.

This might be the way to frame getting-up early so that it doesn't have absolutely negative connotations, focus on the positive aspects.


When I was younger, I would stay up all night and sleep during the late afternoon. Something about late nights / early mornings being the quietest time of the day, less distractions. Same applies now but I'll get up between 4:30 and 6:00 depending on how late I was up the previous night and what I have to do that day. I am firmly in the camp that getting up early is better (for me and my productivity).

I think Parent-GAF has made it clear that not everyone will be free to decide their sleeping schedule. You seem to have the power to decide.
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Yep - I think it is all mental. I'm going to make this a project and learn to love getting up early.

And holy shit at that video. I would flip out every morning thinking I was being murdered. I'd probably develop symptoms of PTSD.

I don't have problems waking up from an alarm - it's not turning it off and going back to sleep that's the problem. But no more!

Also interesting that multiple people have said to cut down on caffeine even though I didn't mention it. I do consume a LOT of caffeine. Sometimes a couple 16 oz Rockstars plus maybe three cups of coffee throughout the day. I think it helps me through productive bursts during the day, but maybe it's actually making me less productive. I thought maybe I had ADD and was self-medicating, but maybe it's the caffeine causing the ADD symptoms AND messing up my sleep schedule.

So I'll cut down on caffeine too. No more Rockstars. No more than 2 cups of coffee. Maybe less eventually but I can't do less than that immediately or I might die.
 
When I got married and had a child, I almost didn't have a choice.

You get used to it. I'll never fully like mornings, but with a 20oz Coffee and a good spirit, you can achieve it.

You have to condition yourself to it though. Aint gonna happen over night.
 
It took a few years, but now I get up at 6am everyday - even weekends. As long as I'm getting into bed around 10:30pm I'm fine.

I used to stay up late and get up late a lot when I was younger. But now the feeling I laying in bed past 10am makes me feel sick.
 
Crunched said:
I go to bed by 9:30 to be up at 5:30 for work. Every day i am tired and foggy, my eyes are sore, and in general i spend the day feeling like i have just woken up. If i wake up at 8:30 or later, even if i don't go to bed until 2 or 3 in the morning, i feel great.

So i feel your pain, OP.

I always have more energy at night than in the morning... I think better, move faster, and am more sociable. Caffeine has nothing to do with it, unless i am hypersensitive to a single 6am cup of coffee.

Been like this for as long as i can remember. I'm a very light sleeper too, so every damn thing wakes me up.
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In the same situation here. Bed at 9:30, up by 6, feel like absolute shit.
 
After college I became a morning person.

The bad thing is how easy is to screw up your sleeping pattern.

It just takes a long weekend to mess up months of waking up early.
 
Morning person here.
Waking up at 5am mainly on workdays, but trying to do so even on weekend.

I benefit from this early rising since I can do so much more stuff in the morning.
I don't drink so that helps too.
 
You likely can't. You can get accustomed to waking up at different times, but morningness (short phases) and eveningness (long phases) are traits governed by your body's circadian rhythm.
 
I got out of being a "night person" after getting a job and having to get up at 6:30 am for the past 10 years. Now if I sleep past 8am on the weekends I feel like I'm over sleeping and missing out on everything.
 
I have four kids, three of them are morning people. Up at 6:00 to 6:30am every day. Doesn't matter how tired they are or when they went to bed. My wife and I are not morning people. My idea sleep time would be go to bed at midnight get up at 8:30 or 9, maybe I can try that when I retire.

I don't drink caffeine so I basically feel like crap every morning for a couple of hours. Getting up at 6:30 for the past 14 years for work hasn't made a difference.
 
Dude, just go to bed earlier, it's not that hard.

I'm naturally a night person, at weekends or on holiday I'll go to bed between 3 and 5 easily. But in the week I get up at around 6.30 for work and it's fine. Bed by 11 though, I need the sleep. But on Fridays I'll usually get up at 6.30 and stay up till about 4 the next morning.
 
I hate mornings with a passion. I have an 8-5 job. My body can adjust to it. My biggest problem is morning dry eye. Jesus I just want to rip my eye balls out of their sockets. What could be causing this? Sleeping with the fan on?

EVERYTHING MUST BE BLACK/DARK. Facebook -> FaceBlack. NeoGAF -> NeoGAF Dark theme. I can't change my work screen. White work-screen at work. (even with flux) = Tears of blood.
 
I used to stay up to 5AM and sleep in to 1PM every day. I was terrified at the idea of ever having a morning job. Now I have a morning job and it's just normal to me. You adjust to it. You're human (I assume), your body is pretty good at adjusting to shit.

I actually like it a lot. I always felt like shit from sleeping in so late and seeing sunlight is always nice.
 
I wasn't always a morning person. Back when I was in high school, I hated getting up early.

Few things I think contributed to making me enjoy getting up in the morning:

- I dont need a lot of sleep to feel rested. 5-6 hours and I'm 100%, good-to-go. So I can stay up late, get up early and not be groggy or anything.

- Always had either school or a job that meant getting up quite early, so I became quite used to it.

- At one point, I started getting up a little extra early to eat breakfast and kinda be able to take my time in the morning instead of getting out of bed, rushing into the shower and then hauling off to work, stopping at a fast food place or 7-11 to get something to eat real quick. I really started to enjoy this, especially because I was typically the only person up that early, so I had the house to myself.

- I dont drink coffee or soda or energy drinks or anything. I think people who drink this stuff a lot in the mornings are kind of dooming themselves to be groggy in the mornings as they become dependent on them for energy. Personally, I feel that eating breakfast as soon as possible is the best way to get your body going. That and a shower.

Eventually, I just started waking up early in the mornings on weekends and instead of staying in bed, I'd get up and go enjoy the morning time. Everybody else(roommates/girlfriend/whoever) would still be asleep so I could either lounge around and relax or do a bunch of productive stuff early so I could enjoy myself later on.

I'm not sure that it'd be all too easy to consciously turn yourself into a morning person. If you need a lot of sleep, it'll definitely be more difficult. You can try just forcing yourself to be up in the morning to get into the habit, but you have to be able to enjoy it to a degree I think.
 
I have been experimenting with this site:

http://sleepyti.me/

Basically, if you are past your bedtime, just ask that site when you should go to sleep to wake up fresh early, it has actually worked for me, pretty amazing.

Of course dont abuse it by getting like 4 hours of sleep everyday.
 
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