Posted on 10/07/2024 1:57:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Some say the early bird catches the worm, while some studies suggest that night owls have better cognitive function (intelligence, reasoning, and memory) compared to early risers.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of rising early. You'd think that after waking up early all my life — first as a student and then as a mum — I'd be used to it by now. But nope, I firmly belong to the sleep-in brigade. Are you an "Early to bed, early to rise" sort, or a "Stay up late and sleep in" night owl?
If you're not an early bird, check out these pros and cons of getting up early that you may not know about:
Pros: The bright side of early mornings
It's peaceful
I admit it — getting up before anyone else in the house (I'm usually up by 6am to make school lunches) gives you a chance to enjoy some peace and quiet.
Most days, I'm racing from one task to another, so those early hours allow for much-needed, unhurried time for yourself.
And if you time it right, you could even catch a beautiful dawn. Resist the temptation to hit snooze; trust me, you'll thank yourself 10 minutes later for getting out of bed when you did.
Less traffic to deal with
Whether you're driving to work or catching a taxi or public transport, the earlier you get going, the better traffic. This means you'll likely waste less time and energy on your commute.
Get your workout done early
I've always admired those who rise at 4am just to work out. If only I had that level of discipline! But it's true — if you know you won't have any other time in the day for a workout, getting it done first thing is the way to go.
More time to get things done
Ever wish you had more hours in the day? By getting up an hour or two earlier, you can tackle tasks you've been putting off (and avoid wasting your weekend on them). I definitely feel more in control of my life — at least for those couple of hours anyway — when I start chipping away at my to-do list or finally get around to that dreaded paperwork. Win-win!
Cons: The not-so-great side
An early start requires an early bedtime
By Thursday, I'm usually ready to crawl into bed by 9pm. We know it's not healthy to get less than seven hours of sleep, but going to bed so early every night just isn't practical for me.
Getting a full night's sleep is important, and crashing right after dinner isn't sustainable in the long run. Trust me, it's not fun skipping the chance to unwind after a long day.
It's not as easy as it sounds
After reading Robin Sharma's "The 5am Club", I thought I'd give early rising a go too. But as I mentioned, it only works if you can resist the snooze button. There hasn't been a single morning when I've "hopped" out of bed at 5am due to sheer motivation!
Getting up early can be counterproductive
You might recognise this scenario (welcome to my life). Just because you abandoned your bed while it was still dark doesn't mean your body will thank you for it. Ironically, if you're getting less sleep in an effort to be more productive, you'll likely face a huge energy slump after lunch — hello, sleep fog!
Less sleep is unhealthy
You might have thrived on little sleep in your 20s, but as we age, sacrificing sleep can lead to negative effects like moodiness, poor concentration, potential weight gain, and increased risks of heart disease and high blood pressure.
There's no glory in being a performative workaholic who wakes up early just to squeeze in more work! And if you have kids, navigating the day on autopilot without proper rest won't do you any favours either.
Waking up early on weekends, too
You might not set an early alarm for weekends, but your body clock could still wake you up earlier than you'd like, because it's used to doing that Mondays to Fridays. It's frustrating trying to sleep in on weekends when you just want to catch a few extra Zs.
I’m awake all damn night.
Hard core night person here.
I do enjoy the early morning freshness and beauty, but it doesn’t matter to my body. Night owl, it is.
I experienced stress and loss of apetite early this year. Used that to my advantage by undertaking a proper diet, exercising at the gym at least an hour a day (cardio and weights, and sleep hours of 8pm to 3:30am. 3 liters of water a day. No alcohol or tobacco. Healthy vitamins for supplements.
Result? So far I’ve gone from 232 lbs. in February to 186 today. Goal is 160. Waist size from 44 to 36. I have not felt better in years.Energy, mind, balance, hearing, attitude, coordination, and blood pressure have all improved. Stress is greatly reduced. Cursory body scan puts it ten years younger than actual age.
Having reached retirement age, I still work full time and have two part time jobs that are not demanding. Full time is sedentary, so to exercise daily is essential. It feels *so* good!
>SPLAT< Didn’t see that bus coming.
I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? -Eccl. 7:15-16
Just wait until it hits 88 mph...
One day, about 1988, I’m about to merge onto the freeway when...a “Back to the Future” DeLorean passes me in the closest lane on the highway.
No, neither of us were going 88 mph. Which is why I saw it...
Try homeschooling, you can make lunch later and teach the kids how to prepare meals, too.
10 am is too early for me.
[232 lbs. in February to 186 today. Goal is 160.]
Nice. Good job. 186 would be my goal. When I got sick in 2021, likely COVID-19(84) I got down to 228. Now I gotta work to get back to that. 40lbs down from that (without getting sick) would be GREAT.
I worked with a guy who said he hated having to get up early to get to work on time...
I worked with a guy who said he hated having to get up early to get to work on time...
I am a night owl, usually not falling asleep until midnight or later. My wife is usually asleep by 9 and up by 5. It has been that way for almost 40 years now. It worked out well when our kids were little, because I could take the night shift and she could take the morning shift; however, I sometimes wonder how we were in bed long enough together to have kids.
I used to be a night owl, but up now by 7 as a retiree. The mornings are lovely!
And the second rat gets the cheese ;-)
[The mornings are lovely!]
They are? The job I worked 2021-2022 had me going in at 6:15 p.m. and I’d leave 3:45 a.m. to 4:45 a.m.
And often, overtime (at first)
I’d like to believe you about mornings, as you call them, but I’m usually asleep by then.
However, at 4:30-5:30 a.m. I often see what’s happening on FR.
There’s this strange thing when the darkness starts fading around 5 a.m. I don’t know what it is yet. I’m thinking it’s Global Warming.
"Do you smell that? Coffee, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of coffee in the morning. The smell — you know that caffeine smell — the whole kitchen smelled like - victory. "
At one point, when my children were younger, I was getting up at about 4:15 for some peace and quiet. Now, my wife is asleep by 9:15 and up by 6:30 no matter what. I get up around 7:00. Rarely am I able to sleep in on a day when I am allowed to.
I don’t need an alarm clock, I have a cat.
After I gave notice of retirement at my last job, there was about a month and a half before my final day. Over and over, people would ask “what are you going to do?” as if there is no life after a career. Being one that enjoys keeping things as simple as possible, I distilled my answer down to just two words: Sleep IN.
After enough weeks of repeating the simple answer “Sleep IN” my supervisor and friend began to really enjoy my answer. Every time I someone else would ask, I could feel my boss waiting for, anticipating my answer. Every time they would ask, she would get another good laugh at the simple answer.
I posted the below comments during a thread about retirement.
“”Being retired means doing whatever the hell I want. My oldest brother taught me well, and now, every day is Saturday. I have downloaded hundreds of books, and have even more physical books, and now I have the time to read them. I can read fast, or take my time. I can study stoicism, or reach for the stars with Robert Heinlein, Arthur c. Clarke, Asimov. I can read the amazing Will Durant histories. I can walk, run, bicycle and swim when I want to, instead of shoving it into a crowded schedule. I can drive across the fruited plain for months on end, or remain near home and sleep in. I can volunteer, or not.
As Jackie Gleason said, the world is my oyster.
I spent a lifetime helping, teaching,and inspiring thousands, and those thousands will go on to help and inspire millions, and all of it will echo through eternity. I received and learned much more, and will continue because I was lucky enough to have been born in the greatest nation on God’s green Earth.””
I would now add that I find the mundane chores, inside and outside the house, are actually a joy when one does not have to hurry to get them done. I often think about the “chores” humans had to do not so very long ago. Before electricity, modern plumbing, etc, daily survival depended upon those daily chores. Today, our lives are nothing like the past. Anyone who likes to state the ‘good old days’ were better, I ask ‘just how far do you want to go back?’ Back before, say, penicillin? C’mon, Man!
LOL, I actually do have one of those automatic cat food feeders.
Does it matter? No.
The early bird gets the worm but the early worm gets eaten
The second mouse gets the cheese.
it’s less worth it with inflation.
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