Ask HN: How do you become a morning person?
I've always been a night owl and enjoy being up late. I have a bad habit of not going to bed until I'm tired, so that leads to me not sleeping until late. Any ideas?
- Force yourself to wake up at the same time every day -- no sleeping in on weekends.
- You should know roughly how much sleep you need in a night, and arrange your life so that you can get in bed X + 1 hours before the time you want to wake up.
If you can't do these two things at least 90% of your days, you won't succeed. Later (2-3 months later), once you've established your pattern and are well adapted to it, you'll have a bit more flexibility with your schedule and still be able to maintain it.
A few things that helped me accomplish these goals:
- Exercise (cardio) first thing in the morning. You will find yourself getting sleepy much earlier in the day. Don't exercise at night, as the endorphins can take several hours to disperse and will keep you awake until then. After about three weeks of morning cardio, your body will begin to adapt the timing of your energy cycles and you will find yourself springing out of bed ready to run. I have used this to my advantage to replace my "night owl" tendencies with "morning person" tendencies on the days off from the gym. I also find it more productive, as my mind is fully rested.
- Melatonin. Presumably, you're staring at a screen of some sort many hours a day like most people on HN. Blue light inhibits natural melatonin production, so to compensate, take a melatonin supplement 1-2 hours before you intend to actually fall asleep. (You should experiment to find out what the lowest dose is for you which still helps you fall asleep.) Also, turn off as many room lights as you can at that time, and dim any screens you're viewing.
Like I said, it can take a few weeks to initially shift your schedule, and a few months to fully adapt to it, but it can be done if you're dedicated. Best of luck.
The shower is closer, easier. 80% of the time I get in, then stand under the hot water for 15 minutes until I gain consciousness. After a few months, I start waking up a few minutes before my alarm goes off.
1. http://www.amazon.com/Sharp-SPC800-Quartz-Analog-Silver/dp/B...
That said, I went right back to being a night owl. There is something about working late at night into the early morning. Something peaceful, something serene, something that causes me to be more productive than ever. Being a morning person didn't even come close.
If you find it hard to fall asleep in order to wake up at the desired time, then just skip a sleep cycle. That is, stay awake until you are no more than 10 to 9 hours from when you have to wake up next. The extra hour or two compensates for the missed sleep. Make sure the bedroom is dark, cool and quiet. I need an alarm to wake me up, when it goes off, get up.
Same trick also works for me when adjusting for jet lag. Trying to sleep when you don't feel like it is hard. Staying awake an extra couple of hours when you getting groggy is a bit easier. But don't drink coffee, etc.
- Exercise in the evening. Helps work off the excess energy. - Eat early and light dinner. - Wind down activities early & unplug after dinner so that your body has a chance to relax. - Set an alarm and don't snooze it. Better yet, restrict the number of snooze (most alarms on smartphones allow you to do that). And set a follow up alarm for your next activity that is soon after the first alarm. This will help with getting a schedule going.
All the best.
Of course I am writing this at 0.30 am, so it didn't last :)
For the first, I went for resistance training as cardio bores me too much. For the sleep, I just started to eat well (more veg, less pizza) and my body seemed to get into a better rhythm. There were possibly more factors involved, but I guess I'll never know.
Also, I've been experimenting with f.lux to shift my screen to be more red than blue after sunset. Supposedly the blue tint on screens reminds the body of sunlight and makes you more awake. I don't know if it works yet, though.
Semi-seriously though, there's nothing like having to fit something immovable into your schedule for sorting things like this out.
If my evening is noisy, I end up waiting until it quiets down to "unwind"; I find I typically need a couple of hours of peace and quiet. The exception would be when busy and particularly positive circumstances have me quite tired at the end of the day, but this is the exception rather than the rule.
If my morning kicks off immediately into unpleasant circumstances -- work is fine, but attempting to work despite a bunch of crap is not -- then I find myself staying up later perhaps out of avoidance; I'm not entirely ready to wake up and put myself through that.
TL;DR: I love mornings -- when I can face them rested and not full of crap. Work is not crap, but crappy work is crap.