Are you a Night Owl or Early Bird?

Rory Chubby Babbler wrote: »

I really wish I was an early bird. I've have tried lots of different things to try and trick myself into getting up early but none of it has worked.

Did you try drinking 12 glasses of water before going to bed?

Its not getting up early i find hard ..its SLEEPING early.

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I'm 44 and I weigh about 12st 10 ... I eat a fair bit alright ... ha ha ... when I've told people my daily diet I have been told I eat a lot .....

Yeah, I socialise and holiday with some high energy athletes and I'm sometimes shocked at how much they put away. Particularly the over 40 endurance gang. Would you like some pasta with your pasta? (for desert after your steak and spuds)

Night owl I just love sitting in the quietness at night when everyone has gone to bed

Night owl here, but I live the life of an early bird.

I’m a perplexed pigeon most of the time...

Saw it mentioned a few times about getting a bit of extra sleep and being worse for it. People need to remember that sleep works in cycles of roughly 90 minutes, so as long as you sleep 1.5 hrs, 3, 4.5, 6 or 7.5 hours you'll wake up feeling ok (maybe not after 1.5, but it's better than 1 or 2). Maybe that's what's happening to some folk. Like, 6 hours is perfect, but 7 is bad, but 7.5 is perfect. Will take a while to get used to it, but once you're sleeping as per your cycles, you should feel better.

Waking up in the middle of those 90 minute cycles means you're waking up during REM sleep, thus the feeling like ****!

joejoggs wrote: »

Nonsense

Apologies, I was slightly wrong, the REM period is the last of 5 stages of the 90 minutes. This is when you dream, stage 3 and 4 are deep sleep and waking up during them will leave you knackered.

But sleep does go through 90 minute cycles and waking up after a cycle is the best way. Adapted it myself years ago and it works. Anyone who has tried it has agreed, and there's plenty of studies supporting this.

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

You a leo?

No

NOT a morning person.

Like the OP, if I go to bed early I just lie there and reading posts of people who go to bed at 10pm so they can be up at 5am, I just shudder. What kind of life is that, unless you're home very early after work to make up for it.

Me I go to bed around 11 and read/watch videos for a bit and turn the lights off after midnight. Get up then around 7:45, shower, get ready and drive to work for about 9:30 (which has the bonus of missing a bit of the traffic).
Leave at 6pm, home by 7, make a bit to eat and watch TV, online gaming with the lads, read and repeat.

Work from home 1/2 days a week too which is a big plus.

randomspud wrote: »

My job involves shift work so I don't get to decide which I am. I'm pretty much constantly tired from having absolutely no regular sleep pattern.

That must be tough alright. I did an night shift for 2 years in my old job but I didn't have to change shifts, I was always on the same hours. I'd imagine changing shifts regularly would be very difficult.

bitofabind wrote: »

Yeah this. I just point blank don't understand the bed-by-10pm folks, I'd feel like I was living half a life if I hit the hay by that hour. Sometimes I don't get out of work til 7 or 8, then with the gym or fitness class of some sort or some other social thing, it'll be after 10 and maybe closer to 11 by the time I'm home. Then I need to eat something like and just chill for a while, hit the bed by about 12 at the earliest and up at 7.

TBH I'd feel like I was living half a life if I was working until 8pm and still had to get up at 7...that's almost all your waking hours at or getting ready for work and hardly any proper evening time!

I tend to do a lot of early shifts (I can choose my hours), which means up around 6am, in the office by 7ish, then finished between 3.30 and 4pm. Means the commute in is almost stress free because public transport/streets are quiet, can get stuck into work before the office gets noisy (people tend to come in around 9.30, so that's up to 2.5 hours of blissful quiet time to get on with stuff), I get lunch around 11.30 when lunch places are almost empty and no queues and office kitchen is quiet, then transport is also not too crowded when it's time to leave. Can then hit the gym before it gets really busy, do errands, a bit of clothes shopping, whatever I want for a few hours, and still have time to meet friends for a drink after they finish work or to do whatever activity in the evening.

I try to be in bed by 10.30 to 11pm, which isn't that much earlier than you, and still get 7 to 7.5 hours' sleep. People are always asking me how I can hack the early shifts, but tbh I think the massive advantages outweigh having to go to bed that tiny bit earlier. I do sometimes do later shifts if I have a big plan midweek and don't get to bed until midnight or later, but I always find them a drag. I find time seems to go way more slowly when working late, and I then feel like I have no evening.

I wouldn't say I'm naturally an early bird and I used to be someone who would stay up very late most nights, but I've trained myself to get up early and make the most of the mornings. I get up way earlier on weekends than I used to as well, and much prefer it. Feel like I have so much more time now!