The Early Riser's Dilemma: Is Waking Up Early Worth It?

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:

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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’ve been stuck at 185 for 2-3 years. My goal is 160, but is just stays where it is.
The most I have ever weighed was 198...
I don’t even eat much.. I eat in 1 day what most people eat for 1 meal.
(All you can eat Buffet (like the other thread) isn’t worth it to me, since I wouldn’t be eating much anyway.
That was a small issue in Japan, like when you go with friends (or your company) to eat and drink while enjoying relaxing time together...
I would eat a karaage chicken, or 2 (1 karaage is a chunk of cut chicken meat battered and fried.. about the same amount of meat as a chicken leg).. And at the end, everyone splits up the cost equally (would usually round to $50-$100 each). I usually had the karaage with 2 to 5 drinks.
(Then, some of us would go to Karaoke, lol.)

I have said that I can sleep when I'm dead but that doesn't usually last long. People who tell you they have worked 16 or 18 hour days for weeks on end are mostly liars. Humans can't endure that for long. My own record is about 72 hours with cat naps and a fatigue that makes you feel like rubber and your heart pound. I have slept for nearly 24 hours straight to recover from such a marathon. I know that regular hours are best but I have kept some of the most irregular hours possible over the years and could write volumes on the variations but mostly they are simply sleep deprived. Here goes anyway.

My first and intermediate stages: Between morning reports starting at 0600 and normal problem calls starting at 0500 then the workday followed by evening calls to chat about upcoming night events, the lonely hearts calls about news time at 2200, the nothing good happens between midnight and 0500 you sleep when you can that you are not really supposed to be working. Then there are the really bad problems you have to go out on that really are 24 and sleep if you can for days on end only to go back to the previous.

Second stage was the big shitty and waking to hit the road at 0500 for as little as 1.5 or as many as 3 or more hours in traffic if you missed the golden window by minutes only to leave the office at near quitting time to do it all again dashing out the door to try to beat the evening traffic as if your hair is on fire. If you miss those magic minutes you may as well stay until 2000 hrs and drive home late. If there are deadlines and compressed time schedules the wife brings you a change of clothes the next morning and you clean-up to begin anew.

Third stage, the traveling man consisting of the second stage or world traveler jet lagged by 6 to 9 hours to the east and 16 or more to the west or very few to the south or north but you never knew which direction you were going but you had to hit the office downtown again as soon as you were able to face what piled up while you were gone. Going to work in Brazil was the very best of long trips, the Middle East was the very worst. Going west was easier than going east.

Fourth stage, offshore for weeks at a time back on the 24 sleep when you are able cycle or somewhere around the globe for 28 and a blessed 24 or so days at home to catch up on being a sort of normal human being again. The 28 on and 28 off or traveling was the very best way to work. Anyone who can get on that gravy train for a full career and manage a marriage and kids should do it.

Fifth stage, a combination of all the above plus running a company in your spare time.

Sixth stage, blessed retirement. One bucket for money and one bucket for crap; when one bucket gets full, you retire or quit or just go home. I did all three. After 42 years I'd done enough. Now I do what comes naturally but try to make a show at some kind of self-discipline, I stay up until 0300 reading, drawing, planning or writing if I get caught up in it then get up at 0900. If I don't, I hardly ever hit the pillow before midnight and am up by 0700 because Shorty the cat tells me to or goes back to sleep for a bit then leaps off me. In between I push to get my goals accomplished and that is satisfying.

Most nights I fight sleep with something or other hurting relentlessly so full restful nights come by seldom but I can recommend sharp cheddar cheese for vivid dreams in those instances of REM sleep. They are blessed. If it has been a sleepless night I take a nap. Morning naps after coffee are the very best.

I try to never let things become urgent that are simply important and am careful not to make things that are important or urgent.

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