From Night Owl to Early Bird

I'm an early bird -- yes, I admit it.

A few thing.
1) Go to bed early. As in, early. As in, if you want 8 hrs and you have to get up at 5, you go to bed at 8:30 (9 would be 8 hrs but you need to allow yourself a little while, say, a half an hour or so, to wind down and begin sleep)
2) Prep things before you go to bed so that you're not dragging in the morning. I find it's great to be able to just get up and go with minimal decisions and agita. So, for example, lay out your clothes the night before. Make your lunch for the next day (if you bring lunch), that sort of thing. Beats the hell out of learning at 5:45 AM that the shirt you wanted to wear has a stain.
3) Instead of staying up for TV, try TIVO or taping it. Except for something really attached to time, like a sporting event or the news, who cares if you get the scoop a day or two later? Besides, there's a lot of junk on TV in the earlier hrs so, instead of staying up until 11 to watch whatever, tape it and watch it at 7 PM the following day when there's nothing else on.
4) This is a great time of year to be an early riser, as there is light and you can really see things that are kinda cool. Yesterday, I saw 2 robins (in different places) with a worm in their mouths. Which was kinda cool, it really does support the idea of the early bird and all that. I also get to pet a lot of dogs out for their early morning constitutionals.
5) Good for you for not overloading on caffeine. I tend to do the opposite, have some caffeine in the morning and then cut myself off by the afternoon. I am trying, though, to get off the initial morning jolt as I think it's not the best thing for me.
6) Exercise is also good. Things are a lot better now that I do about a mile's worth of walking every AM as a part of my commute, rather than just drive door to door. Less stress that way, too.

And -- welcome to the early part of the day -- you get to see all sorts of funky things, like deer. Used to see wild turkeys at my last job (and, er, not in bottles).

Thanks, jespah. I've seen some beautiful sunsets. Now I'm hoping to see some sunrises.



That is cool. I once saw a mama bird feeding her babies while taking a walk in the park. Everyone must've wondered what the hell I was staring at, because a small crowd gathered around and watched them with me!

Yes, I've noticed that I ususally need between 7-8 hours of sleep. Some mornings I wake up a little earlier than others. And getting the exercise before work helps to give me the energy to carry me through the day.

It's taking a little while to get used to this new way of life, but I think I'm going to like it!

I never would've thought it!

Interesting, this is really pertinent for us!

E.G. and I are naturally night owls, we always have been. He works a lot and gets home late and I just haven't been willing to put sozlet to bed half an hour after he gets home, which wouild mean that they never see each other. So the whole family has gone to bed late and woken up late. It's worked out well for us up until now; sozlet had afternoon preschool and afternoon kindergarten and there just wasn't any particular reason to wake up early. We missed some morning events, but got to go to evening events that other kids were asleep for or were total tired grouches, overall it was a wash.

But she's starting first grade next year. She's going to have to be up early-early -- school starts early and if she is to function well she needs to be up well before that, to have breakfast, chill out a bit, and wake up properly.

So starting in January I've been gradually moving our bedtimes back. It's been going great. E.G.'s adjusting, he's working the same number of hours it's just that they start and end earlier. I've been making dinner every night, that's been a good benchmark. The time I have dinner ready keeps getting earlier, and then we go to bed about 3 hours after that.

What I commented to E.G. this morning (after I woke up at 7:15 and went for a run before it got too hot) is that I think it's stupid and arbitrary but I feel so much more virtuous getting up early. I don't sleep more hours, it's just shifted. I don't do more work, I just do it at a different time. But American society is so focused on early risers being more industrious, or something.

We have some neighbors who are very much "early to bed, early to rise" people, and the other day sozlet and E.G. were hanging out in the yard at about 10 AM and one of 'em asked "Where's [soz], is she sleeping in?" E.G. said "no, she got up at about 7 to go to a meeting, she's still there." Neighbor was like, "Oh."

Her attitude when I WAS sleeping later -- and she had plenty of attitude -- pissed me off, but I was getting plenty done in the evening, before bed, and didn't sleep more hours than I am now! So stupid (I know, I'm repeating myself, but I've always thought it was an idiot prejudice).

Anyway, benchmark (dinner, easier to control then bedtime), making sure to wake up early (not usually a problem, I just wake up when I've slept enough, same as I used to) and going gradually (roughly half an hour per month) has been what has worked well for us so far.

Oh.I wish I "had to" get up early. I'm sure my days would be generally better organized. Since it's up to me, I stay up till 2-3 am, get up at 9am or so, putz around... It results in never having a complete time off. For I work in the evenings and night (by choice), but during the day it's like I'm gearing up for work or something. If I could start working at 8or 9am every morning, i bet it would be great.

But I have no boss other than myself. I know one can change, but I lack the discipline. How does one force oneself into something that would be 'nice' but it's not an urgent matter?

Yep, that's pretty much what I've done, gradually pushing up my bedtime and wake time each week. I think by going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, you actually sleep better too.

I don't let myself sleep in on the weekends anymore either.



I always thought it was arbitrary too, which annoyed me, and I think that's why I resisted it. But to tell you the truth -- and I know this might not be the case for everyone -- I'm finding that I am getting more done.

I don't know what it is about waking up earlier -- I somehow feel more motivated. Maybe it's that virtuous feeling you mentioned.

I also had to adjust my perception of the evening hours. As my bedtime approaches, I have to start thinking about winding down.

Yes, once the kid goes to school, you'll become an early bird if you want to or not. Once upon a time, I was a night owl as well, but these days are
long gone, and it's always a toss who wakes up first: the dog or the child.

I still have difficulties waking up, I am grumpy, don't want to talk and
just sip my coffee quietly, but our bedroom windows face the east, we're
high up on a hillside, so I do see the sunrise in the morning, and it is
most often spectacular and compensates for having to get up early.

I always go to bed before midnight and try to get enough sleep - that's
the key for me.

My inspiration came from my supervisor. She gets up in time to work out for a half hour, then gets showered, cleaned up and dressed -- and gets to work by 7:30 a.m.!

I figured if she could do it, I could! I think I just made it a challenge to myself. I'm still not where I want to be with it yet, but I'm working on it.

I think the key is to make this change gradually.

I admit, when I first started going to bed earlier, my body -- and subconcious mind -- seemed to be resisting and saying, "This is not what we do!!" Eventually though, I started getting sleepy earlier.

You also have to change your perception of day versus night hours. Daytime is the time to get things done. Nightime is for winding down and getting ready for sleep.

I wish... everything else is going well (especially in terms of schlepping the kid to morning-type activities that we used to miss), but my productivity is definitely way down. I kick into high gear somewhere around 8 PM. That's when I've always gotten my best work done, between then and 10-11 PM. That hasn't moved back yet. As in, even if I'm going to bed 2 hours earlier, my high gear hasn't moved 2 hours earlier. So now I have like 30 minutes of high-gear time before it's time to wrap up and start getting ready for bed, which totally sucks.

I'm trying to use morning time instead and it's NOT going well. I mean, I plod along, but I don't get that burst of inspiration and super-efficiency, and I miss it. I'm hoping that part will eventually adjust.

Dag, I've found that consistency and getting enough sleep matters far more than the hours per se. As in, if you need 8 hours of sleep (I do), get the full 8 hours, and go to to bed and wake up at the same time every day even if that time isn't early. As I say above, I've been more efficient when I go to sleep at 1 AM and wake up at 9 AM than when I go to sleep at 11 and wake up at 7; but consistency has always been important. (If it's 2-10, 11-7, 10-9, 12-8, etc, then I'm out of sorts and inefficient. And I know those aren't all 8-hour stretches, that's the other thing that happens when I'm inconsistent.)

I wish I could be more of a night owl. I have always been a "lark", but the older that I get, the worse that I get. A few weeks ago, I quit an activity that I started, and really loved, but simply could not hack it. It started at 7 p.m. and ended at 9. By a quarter of nine, my brain had gone, "click", and I was concerned about driving home two miles.

Personally, I think that the tendency to be a night owl or an early bird is genetic, and there isn't much that anyone can do about it. When I was young and dating, I would sometimes get home at 4 in the morning, but I would still be up at 7 a.m. I was never able to sleep late even if I were exhausted.

I suppose that one could modify one's schedule to a certain extent, but basically the tendency to be a lark or an owl will always be with you.

I walk with the creatures of the night and very seldom see the rays of the sun. Just because I am a farmer doesn't mean I toil during the daylight hours. On the contrary -- my tractor, like the enormous chugging beast of burden that it is, will sometimes have rumbled beneath my sinewy body hours before the first hint of daylight is noticed.

The night is my friend and companion. I spit at the day.

Does this mean you don't have any tips, Gus?

Tips? Do I look like a friggin waitress?

I dunno. Let me see your legs.

Phoenix, you might be right about that. But I have to fight this inner demon -- my inner night owl.

(From stage left: .....Hootie Hoot! Hootie Hoot!)

C'mere ya bastid!

You're starting to scare me, Stray Cat.

I'm a born night owl and no matter how much I try, I always end up back on nights.
This is why I decided to work on the night shift. When I work days, I'm a zombie

Sorry I can't help with some kind of advice SC, but the others here have given you some great stuff.

Twenty years ago, my old friend the mule man told me to enjoy sleeping late while I could, because the day would come when it hurts too much to stay in bed. I found that very hard to believe. Sadly, not that he is gone, I have discovered the truth of his wisdom. Age and arthritis will eventually make you a morning person, whether you want to be or not!

I sure hope that time takes its time in coming.

Montana, I remember when you had your job at the lobster place. Didn't you have to go to work early then?

Believe me, I know what you mean. It's rough to have to conform, but most companies have this weird idea that you should actually get up in the morning and -- get stuff done.

So, like I said, I just have to drink the Kool-Aid.

But I'm finding there are advantages to being a morning person. Who even knew there was a 5:30 a.m.?



I'm just starting?