What makes some people “morning people” who can jump right out of bed and be wide awake and fully functioning, when others of us are slower to get going, hit the snooze button, take time to wake up, etc.? Are there any physical or metabolic explanations or is it just attitude and/or habit?
I used to just get up and go, but as I get older, I have a longer lead-in time to my day. However…I don’t think that’s what “morning person” means. I start my day early because that’s the clock I’m on. Some people have a hard time getting up before noon…and then still have an hour burn-in time. That’s a “night person.”
I think you may have a slight misconception as to what a “morning person” is. I’m firmly a morning person, meaning that at work, I get there about 7-7:30 a.m. and do my very best work before lunch, and usually even before 10:30. The afternoon isn’t usually anywhere near as productive or creatively useful for me, and the evening’s worse.
This morning orientation doesn’t also necessarily translate into some kind of ability to shake off being tired in the morning- I still need my cup of coffee and a shower to wake up fully, and usually don’t get my head straight for 30-45 minutes after waking up.
About the only weird thing I do is immediately get up at or before my alarm goes off every morning, and I’m pretty sure that’s a discipline thing for me, not some kind of morning orientation.
I think the OP is perfectly stated. I for one am a morning person. As soon as I wake up, I wake up fully functioning, and I am at my peak productivity in the early hours of my day. FWIW, I don’t drink coffee, and rarely have breakfast, and my family seems pretty random as to who is a morning person or not.
I am a morning person, but I taught myself to be one. Now, the habit is so ingrained that it is difficult for me to sleep past 6:00AM and I’m usually up between 5:00 and 5:30. My darling Marcie, however, springs out of bed at the crack of noon any chance she gets.
Morning people will be the second group up against the wall after the revolution, right after the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
Apparently, it’s genetic.
I believe that. My dad’s mother, my dad, myself and my sister are all night owls, while my mother - even when she was younger - was one of those “early to bed, early to rise” types.
Interestingly, the same group of us put 6 ounces of black pepper on dinner, swear a lot and drink (non-alcoholic) beverages like fish - seriously, if my dad’s mother, my dad, myself or my sister ruled the world, a 32oz. soft drink would be a “small”.
I can just as easily be a morning person or a night person. During college, I routinely stayed up until 3 or 4 am and slept until 11 or 12, or would go to bed early and get up for dance practice at 7.
Unless I am sleep deprived, I can go from asleep to fully functioning in minutes or even seconds, regardless of the time of day.
Nah. We’ll find the execution order while you’re still sleeping in, spread the word while you’re still waking up, then we’re out of there.
Note to self: Hide the execution order in a safe place.
Note to self: Not the safe place you hid the early Christmas presents.
Note to self: Remember to keep looking for the early Christmas presents, they’ll probably be useful next year.
I was a night person for the first 35 years of life or so. I even got a job that generally had me working no earlier than noon, and as late as midnight. I loved it!
But when circumstances changed, so did I. Now it’s up at 6 AM M-F and off to work, finish circa 3:45 PM, home, and generally lights out by 11 PM. Now on weekends if I sleep until 8 AM, it seems late.
Humans are pretty adaptable, frankly.
Like Qadgop, I used to be a night owl. Then I joined the Army. Even after leaving the Army, I remained a morning person.
Some people may be predisposed to being morning or night people, but truth be told, I’ve never met any of them. I suspect most folks adapt to their schedules or are affected by their own behaviour.
I just can’t figure out who the bastard is that decided we should have mornings so early in the day.
I’m allergic to mornings myself. It never fails to amaze me when I hear otherwise thinking people say, “You work the night shift? How on earth can you stay awake that late?” as if I get up at 05:00 just like they do. Hmmph.
Although oddly enough, I’m a bit sleepless just this moment.
Perhaps all the consumption of caffienated beverages might affect your sleep cycle?
~raises hand~ I’m a night person. I’m always kinda slow in the mornings, I can accomplish what I need to get done, but I feel sluggish, even if I go to bed at some ridiculous hour.
Some of my best writing is done late at night, that’s just when my brain kicks in. I’m more alert, I have more energy at night, and it’s a visible change in my demeanor sometimes.
Yes, humans are adaptable, and I hold my 8-5 job very well, but given the choice, I’d be up til 3AM every night, and sleeping til at least 10AM.
I’ve been up since 4:30 a.m. so I guess that makes me a morning person.
I believe it’s genetic. Not that you can’t adapt to being a morning or night person, but I think everyone has a tendency to be one or the other or somewhere in between. Sure you can adapt to your schedule, but it’s got to be easier or harder depending on your body’s natural clock.
As long as I can remember, I could always wake up easily and be fully functional right away. My dad is the same way, while my brother and mother could sleep the day away. Even in college (the perfect environment for becoming a night person), I had a hard time staying awake after midnight or sleeping in much later than 8 or 9 a.m.
Even as kids forced to drink nothing by milk by our mother, my sister and I both used to stay up until all hours. I remember staying up to watch Carson and Synder as far back as second grade. Even now, if the missus brings home a few 12 packs of Diet Sprite (which is caffeine-free) I’ll still stay up until 5 or 6am.