What to Know Before You Try
You don’t have to surf the internet for long to find 10 steps that promise to make you a morning person. I once read a tip that if you want to get up earlier, practice repeatedly getting out of bed quickly to an alarm while you’re awake. You may have also heard that if you just go to bed earlier, you will wake up earlier.
But does it work? Can we actually train ourselves to wake up earlier? And will cramming in more exercise, work, or even meditation really revolutionize your mornings? The answer may be more hard-wired than you think.
Sleeping Like Cavemen
When early humans lived in groups, it was necessary for someone to always be awake. Their job was to keep watch over the tribe and protect those who were slumbering. This was especially true during the night, when darkness, predators, and mischief lurked. Survival depended on someone always being awake!
Often, the job of staying awake fell on teenagers. Their growing strength and angst helped them stay alert into the night. Then, when first light appeared, the elderly and the babies would wake up and the teenagers would head to bed. When full daylight hit, the working adults would vary their schedules so that the community always had a combination of activity and rest. It truly took a village!
What Science Tells Us
You have a clock buried deep within your brain. That clock works with daily cues like meal times and light exposure to roughly keep you on a 24-hour cycle. This is called your circadian rhythm. It plays a big role in when you want to sleep. That rhythm isn’t the same for everybody and it will likely shift throughout your lifetime.
It is a modern phenomenon to run the world (or at least the United States) on an 8 to 5 schedule. In some ways, our recent trend towards a 24-hour society is returning us to our roots. It allows people to honor their natural body rhythms and work a schedule that fits them best.
Unfortunately, our culture devalues sleep. Oftentimes, we try to maximize our productivity by cutting into our required sleep time, which leads to being chronically sleep-deprived. And ultimately, that sleep deprivation hurts you in a variety of ways – decreasing your productivity and increasing your anxiety and illness.
It Depends
The most important question isn’t “Can You Become a Morning Person?” Instead, ask yourself: “Should I become a morning person?”
Becoming a morning person can work, as long as you aren’t sleep depriving yourself to make it happen.
Making a few small changes each week can help you move toward your goal. Waking up early does tend to get easier the more you practice. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll like the change.
It’s also possible that your work and life schedule may not be well-suited for a new early morning ritual. If you’re a night owl or you work late, then give yourself a break. Don’t force an early rise time.
Love learning? Research this question and answer below: Do you know how and when the traditional 9-5 work schedule began?
It was a young Dolly Parton who campaigned vigorously for the end of punitive work schedules, sometimes as long as 12 hours, with her cry from the barricades of,
“9-5: what a way to make a living“