Ever since I can remember, I was never much of an early riser. In fact, I’m quite the opposite. Every opportunity I get to sleep in I take full advantage. Waking up early not only seems crazy to me, but just down right impossible. Common sense would tell you that people who start the day early are probably more productive; they give themselves more time to accomplish work. However, I wanted to know for sure if I was truly at a disadvantage.
For starters, people who sleep late, or “night owls,” are more likely to drink and smoke. A Finnish study of 676 people found that night owls were much more likely to start smoking and have a harder time quitting. Another study of 537 people found that night owls consume much more alcohol as well. In a study of 1231 German university students, it was concluded that people who start the day early are much more agreeable, conscientious, and proactive than night owls. Lastly, early risers are overall happier people. In a study done by two University of Toronto psychologists, they looked at 732 people (aged 17-79) and found that people who start the day early are have a much more positive mood than those who like to sleep in.
People who start the day early are generally better off than night owls. While causation is certainly not proven, it’s hard to ignore all of these observational studies. It turns out I probably am at a disadvantage, so it might be worth a try to start the day earlier and see how it goes.
Sources:
https://www.fastcodesign.com/3046391/evidence/morning-people-vs-night-people-9-insights-backed-by-science
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886908000974
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb00926.x/abstract
Although I do agree that correlation doesn’t equal causation, I hope it does in this instance! I’ve always been an early riser, throughout my whole life. I just don’t feel productive sleeping in. Every day has so much possibility in it, and I feel you miss that by sleeping until noon. However I do also go to bed very late along with waking up early, so I’d like to see the implication of that on my health.
I am definitely a night owl and can often times sleep in on weekends till noon. I feel as If i am more productive at night time. I can see why people who wake up early are more productive. This article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-winkles/dont-eat-pizza-before-bed_b_7805060.html does a great job highlighting why you should not force yourself to be a morning person. I could never picture myself as a morning person. I would just be angry all the time. In high school when i had to wake up at 6 everyday I had to wait a good two hours before i could talk to anyone but I was just not a morning person. Do you think people should force themselves to wake up earlier?
I completely agree with this. If I had a choice, I would start my day at noon everyday. I feel like I can get much more done when I am fully rested. I was wondering if in either of your research though, if you found any information about over sleeping. I know sometimes if I do sleep too much, I wake up feeling more tired than when I went to bed.
This post captured my attention because I at one point was both extremes in my life. When I was younger I would always want to stay up until 3-4 in the morning and sleep in till noon or one o’clock. As a grew older I became more of a morning oriented person. I now wake up around 8-9 in the morning just about every day. Even if I decide to sleep in I’ll still wake up early. My internal clock has just been set that way. I feel like a large part to why early birds are more productive is because they are active during the sunlit hours. Sunlight plays a huge role in mood management and productivity. The more sunlight you get, the better mood you’ll be in and ultimately the more productive you will be. Though I do still sleep in from time to time, I would recommend that individuals become early birds and start getting up a little bit sooner. Below is a link about the advantages of waking up before dawn and starting your day.
http://www.letsreachsuccess.com/2015/04/05/early-risers-benefits/
I have always been a night owl for as long as I can remember. No matter how early I go to bed, I still find it close to impossible to get out of bed in the morning. I definitely can agree that overall, early risers seem like they are more productive because they don’t waste an hour trying to drag themselves out of bed, but to be honest, when it comes to school work, I’m glad I’m a night owl because I feel like I do my best work at night when I’m fully awake! Anyone else agree?
I also love to sleep in and do at every opportunity I can, but on the days I wake up early I find myself much more productive and I get to go to bed earlier and feel much rester for the next day. I usually always find myself hitting the snooze button though and have to plan snooze time. If I have to be up at 9am, my alarm is set at 8:30am so I know I have an extra 30 minutes of snooze time. http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20459221,00.html
Personally, I feel like while your article does give valid points, I am not a morning person and frankly waking up early gets me in a bad mood and i don’t feel awake until a couple of hours later after I’ve had woken up. And I will feel really tired all day until i get to bed. So I encourage you all to get more sleep! here’s an article on the benefits of getting more sleep http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/9-reasons-to-sleep-more#1
As a morning person, I can really relate to this article. I used to hate not being able to sleep in, but now I pride myself in being the first one awake to get work done. Its easy to be very productive in the morning, and I find that it makes me more relaxed and less stressed out. Heres an article that further discusses the early-riser benefits: http://www.childtrends.org/?programs=early-risers
I enjoyed your blog because I can very much agree. I’m personally a big morning person and I feel much much better when I wake up early and start my day as opposed to starting my day late and sleeping in. Here’s 8 health benefits that pertain to most morning people.
http://www.rd.com/health/wellness/morning-person-advantages/