Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference • Hacker News Board

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#201

Post by pengaru » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:28 PM UTC

For some reason I don't get creative and productive until the hours I should be sleeping.

Throughout my teens and twenties (I'm in my 40s now) I indulged this tendency and it served me well, often staying up for multiple days without realizing it and the productivity was incredible.

Since then I've become more interested in preserving/improving my health and how such behaviors may be harming it, so I try to keep a regular sleep schedule and it does seem to be better for my general well-being.

The down side is, I am never anywhere near as productive as I've been in the "sleep is for the dead" mode of operating. Occasionally I'll revisit that mode to get something that's been dragging on finished, and it's always incredibly effective.

I wish I understood why long waking hours seem to stimulate my mind and coerce myself into the deep flow state.

Colleagues have recommended I try Adderall in the past to enter that mode at-will with a pill, but I've always been averse to becoming dependent on a pharmaceutical to do something I can already do naturally.

I wonder what's more harmful to self: regular sleep deprivation or consumption of amphetamines in the daytime?

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#202

Post by JDiculous » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:32 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #39

I've been a night owl my whole life, with the exception of that period during secondary school where I was so depressed in the evenings I went to bed early and as a consequence woke up super early. I have followed every advice, meditation (1yr), excercise (3*1.5hrs per week for 18 months), staving off screens after 18:00 (8mo), no caffiene, no sugar, no food of any kind, I also tried: too much food, cooling my body d…

Long time night owl here - I just quit office jobs and exclusively work remotely now. I'd always joked that my life goal was to never have to wake up to an alarm clock, but really it is a huge boost to my quality of life.

Funny though as I write this I'm actually waking up very early, but that's because this week I flew somewhere 5 timezones earlier. Not sure how long this will last.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#203

Post by d1zzy » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:32 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #39

I've been a night owl my whole life, with the exception of that period during secondary school where I was so depressed in the evenings I went to bed early and as a consequence woke up super early. I have followed every advice, meditation (1yr), excercise (3*1.5hrs per week for 18 months), staving off screens after 18:00 (8mo), no caffiene, no sugar, no food of any kind, I also tried: too much food, cooling my body d…

Screw what others/society thinks and follow your natural cycle/needs!

Waking up at 6AM while being rested means having to go to sleep before midnight but 10pm to 1am for me it's the best time in the day, quiet, alone quality time. Take that away and then it just feels like a never ending (rat) race of waking up, go to work, come home, eat, go to sleep. I'd hate my life if that was all it was left.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#204

Post by Nav_Panel » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:33 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #201

For some reason I don't get creative and productive until the hours I should be sleeping. Throughout my teens and twenties (I'm in my 40s now) I indulged this tendency and it served me well, often staying up for multiple days without realizing it and the productivity was incredible. Since then I've become more interested in preserving/improving my health and how such behaviors may be harming it, so I try to keep a re…

Were you averaging around 7.5 hours of sleep a night, even with your long vigils? If so, I doubt it's a harmful pattern. Based on some studies I've seen recently, oversleeping is a larger health risk for many than undersleeping.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#205

Post by bobwaycott » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:34 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #39

I've been a night owl my whole life, with the exception of that period during secondary school where I was so depressed in the evenings I went to bed early and as a consequence woke up super early. I have followed every advice, meditation (1yr), excercise (3*1.5hrs per week for 18 months), staving off screens after 18:00 (8mo), no caffiene, no sugar, no food of any kind, I also tried: too much food, cooling my body d…

> EDIT: Based on the comments here, I just need to have a kid.

Nope. Father of two here. One is grown. Other halfway through high school. I’ve been single most of their lives. Neither of them changed me being a night owl. I’ve raised them on a few hours of sleep each night—regularly awake till 3-5a to get those crazy productive hours in when the world is asleep and my brain is awake, and still took them to and picked them up from school daily (though my high schooler recently started driving; the adult child didn’t want to drive until after high school). I do usually get a short afternoon nap in, though.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#206

Post by aegis4244 » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:34 PM UTC

arcturus17 wrote: post #91

dijit wrote: post #39

I've been a night owl my whole life, with the exception of that period during secondary school where I was so depressed in the evenings I went to bed early and as a consequence woke up super early. I have followed every advice, meditation (1yr), excercise (3*1.5hrs per week for 18 months), staving off screens after 18:00 (8mo), no caffiene, no sugar, no food of any kind, I also tried: too much food, cooling my body d…

I've done everything too, and the only thing that works for me is sleeping pills. I think it's a very unpopular view nowadays (esp. after Why We Sleep), but a small dose of a benzodiazepine changes my life completely. I'm in the midst of a full diagnostic course including cerebral scans, a sleep study and blood analysis, but my neurologist told me there's a good chance that nothing actionable will be revealed and tha…

Has your GP checked your electrolytes ? I had insomnia for 30 years. Couldn't find any fix, and I tried everything but prescribed drugs. (Addiction issues in my family.)

Fixed my insomnia on accident. Tried the 4HB diet. The supplements advice did it for me. Magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Overnight fix. Turns out, the culprit was my poor diet. Now, I only have trouble sleeping if I try to sleep less than 12 hours after waking. Best of luck.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#207

Post by techopoly » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:36 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #201

For some reason I don't get creative and productive until the hours I should be sleeping. Throughout my teens and twenties (I'm in my 40s now) I indulged this tendency and it served me well, often staying up for multiple days without realizing it and the productivity was incredible. Since then I've become more interested in preserving/improving my health and how such behaviors may be harming it, so I try to keep a re…

I can relate to this, and I wonder if it has to do with the unscheduled nature of staying awake through sleep hours. Our adult lives become so regulated and scheduled, which is arguably a good thing for health, relationships, and business. But, for me, during the recent times when I could not sleep at night, or had an unexpected pocket of time with no obligation -- I was unbelievably motivated, creative, and productive. Happy, even.

Something about the nature of constantly being "on", whether that means online, or simply fulfilling some sort of obligation to others or even yourself, seems to sap away at what really makes us human. Of course, if you take away those obligations, you're left with nothing. So I imagine there is a balance to be found. And our society is very bad at finding it.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#208

Post by ldng » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:39 PM UTC

sqs wrote: post #17

I used to be a night owl but switched to being an early riser in the last 3 months. I didn't intend to switch and am not sure why it happened, but here's what happened that probably contributed to it: - Started working out 1-2 hours per day (trail hiking/running) - Stopped reading my iPhone in bed at night, now I just read my backlit Kindle - Company switched to all-remote (used to commute to SF) - Had a daughter (~9…

What is IC work ? Seen it a lot around here lately but have no idea what that is.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#209

Post by fernandotakai » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:39 PM UTC

Raphmedia wrote: post #84

If you were able to "no longer be a night owl" after changing diet, through exercise or by other changes in your behavior, you were in fact never an actual night owl but simply someone with bad sleeping habits. You read the same thing whenever there's a discussion on clinical depression. People push their anecdotes about mindset changes but fail to acknowledge they were never clinically depressed in the first place.

i was a night owl almost 90% of my life. then i started working out, eating a bit better... and now i wake up at 6:30~7am every day.

guess what? drinking 6 cans of redbull per day fucks up your sleeping schedule.

Re: Early riser or night owl? New study may help to explain the difference

#210

Post by antisthenes » Tue, Feb 25, 2020, 7:44 PM UTC

sparkie wrote: post #164

wpietri wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I made the switch. Not intentionally; it just kind of happened. I think there were a lot of things that made it work, like taking up running (in the mornings), avoiding stimulants, and good sleep hygiene. But the one that finally made the difference surprised me: it's that I'm not a responsible lightswitch user. I built an automated lighting system such that dawn in my house comes at 6 am and gets gradually brighter.…

I made the switch unintentionally too. I ended up with a job in logistics which required me in work at 0630, with a 30 min commute. Started going to bed earlier to try and maintain 6-8 hours sleep. Was working 13 hour days and pretty tired by the end of the day anyway. I'm pretty sure the biggest change which made me an early riser was my diet though. I stopped drinking sugary drinks and cut out carbs almost entirely…

I'm sorry, but people who claim "they've made the switch" just don't get it.

You don't really make a switch from being a night owl. I thought I'd made switches multiple times too:

* Taking early classes in college * Deliberately cooling myself down and going to bed super early * Getting a puppy that forced me to wake up super early

Every single method regressed to night-owl schedule within 2 months. Not to mention my productivity and learning ability took a nosedive during the periods I was waking up early.

This is over a period spanning 15 years, so it involves multiple stages of life as well.