How I became a morning person • Hacker News Board

Re: How I became a morning person

#21

Post by tokenadult » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:31 PM UTC

There is a good research base showing that there are gene variants for human response to light in resetting the circadian rhythm. The evolutionary history of this is so deep that the same gene variant appears in fruit flies, where it was first discovered.[1] But even at that, light influences everyone's circadian rhythm, and a smart, timed use of light can help you reset your biological clock. This article is an interesting account of one person's effort to do a habitual reset that seems to have worked. Benjamin Franklin wrote, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise," and there seems to be a social and economic advantage in being a morning person in many life circumstances.

[1] https://global.oup.com/academic/product/how-genes-influence-...

Re: How I became a morning person

#22

Post by smhinsey » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:33 PM UTC

After years and years of trying anything that came my way and seemed credible, the only thing that ever worked to change me into a morning person was living in an apartment that was so bright in the morning that even drawn blinds and an eye mask wasn't enough to keep the light from getting to your eyes. A few exhausted weeks after moving in, I was getting up with the sun naturally and feeling great about it. Since moving away, I haven't been able to replicate the effect in my new, dimmer apartment, no matter what I've tried.

Re: How I became a morning person

#23

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:41 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: How I became a morning person

#24

Post by mrharrison » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:47 PM UTC

sergiotapia wrote: post #8

In all my years as a software developer the morning hours were just absolutely perfect for me to get the hard stuff out of the way. I reserve afternoons for the drudge work, but in the morning I have much better cognitive ability. Better yet, if you work from home you can wake up at 6am, start your workload early and you have the entire afternoon off for whatever you need, it's a sweet system!

I do exactly the same thing. I get half of my work done before anyone shows up, and just cruise the rest of day or leave early. I don't play the game of staying late to make it look like I'm working hard. I let my work speak for itself, which is easy because I feel great in the morning and there is no one to bother me, so the quality speaks for itself.

Re: How I became a morning person

#25

Post by paulddraper » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:52 PM UTC

smhinsey wrote: post #22

After years and years of trying anything that came my way and seemed credible, the only thing that ever worked to change me into a morning person was living in an apartment that was so bright in the morning that even drawn blinds and an eye mask wasn't enough to keep the light from getting to your eyes. A few exhausted weeks after moving in, I was getting up with the sun naturally and feeling great about it. Since mo…

Yep. This works.

Re: How I became a morning person

#26

Post by djsumdog » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:54 PM UTC

jaggederest wrote: post #16

There are still only the same number of hours in the day, though. You're making pretty fundamental alterations to your habits in order to 'reclaim' time that isn't really lost.

That's what I really had trouble with. There have been times in my life when I've been exceptionally motivated: pet projects, new girlfriend, etc. I'll wear out, get to bed at 8pm, wake up early and keep working or go to the gym.

But I'm also really productive between midnight and 4am. That's where I got my best work done during University and when I quit my job last year and went on a 9 months sabbatical.

How about we get rid of this horrible idea that we all need to be up early? If you're a morning person and that works for you: great. You should keep that shit up. If you don't think you are, then you should at least try it. Maybe it would work better for you. Don't discount it.

But if you try it and don't really like it, then why the hell should you have to be at work at 8am? Especially in IT. Our morning commutes clog up our motorways. If people adjusted and spread out office work schedules, it would make our transportation systems that much more flexible.

We don't all need to be morning people.

Re: How I became a morning person

#27

Post by iolothebard » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:56 PM UTC

jaggederest wrote: post #16

There are still only the same number of hours in the day, though. You're making pretty fundamental alterations to your habits in order to 'reclaim' time that isn't really lost.

He was referring to time with his spouse, so he was reclaiming time in that regard. Some time is more valuable than other time.

Re: How I became a morning person

#28

Post by rorykoehler » Sat, Dec 12, 2015, 11:57 PM UTC

rloc wrote: post #18

I tried that but can't fight my need to make the day last longer. I'm also quite productive late night. It makes me eat more in the evening and skip breakfast the next day (at the opposite of most nutritionists recommendations). The main issue with being a late night worker is that for most of us it means starring at a screen and this affects sleep in a bad way.

There are plenty of apps to mitigate screen caused sleep disturbance. I am using f.lux on osx at the moment and it works quite well.

Re: How I became a morning person

#29

Post by gkoberger » Sun, Dec 13, 2015, 12:00 AM UTC

I used to work hard to be a morning person, but the result was miserable. Laying in bed wide awake at 11pm, hitting snooze on all my alarms, over-caffeinating the next day. It never worked. Eventually, I decided to just embrace it. I don't feel guilty anymore, I don't lose precious work hours late at night, and I don't spend all day being groggy.

(That being said, the one trick that worked for me was finding a gym with non-refundable classes in the morning, which forces me to get up.)

Re: How I became a morning person

#30

Post by Joof » Sun, Dec 13, 2015, 12:04 AM UTC

paulddraper wrote: post #25

smhinsey wrote: post #22

After years and years of trying anything that came my way and seemed credible, the only thing that ever worked to change me into a morning person was living in an apartment that was so bright in the morning that even drawn blinds and an eye mask wasn't enough to keep the light from getting to your eyes. A few exhausted weeks after moving in, I was getting up with the sun naturally and feeling great about it. Since mo…

Yep. This works.

Can confirm. Have a circadian rhythm disorder where I pretty much can't wake up earlier intentionally; very common in teens, but occasionally it sticks as an adult. In my case I actually cycle around, living >24 hour days left completely unchecked, which is probably worse than it sounds (but extroidinarily unlikely; guess I'm just lucky). The prescription is to get bright blue-spectrum light-box and have it within the field of view for 15-40 minutes in the morning. Or stare at the sun. I also cut out blue light at night (f.lux and custom arduino-controlled lighting.) People were built for the light; some more than others, but it still holds true.

I go camping on occasion to reset it as well.

Edit: For those without disorders it works similarly. Doing my routine would have you comfortably waking up a bit earlier each day, but just getting some sunlight in the morning and toning down the blue at night would work.