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Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

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Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#71

Post by zackattack »

For me, I can become a morning person AND cure my insomnia if I stick to these rules:

1) Set an alarm clock for 5am, and wake up.

2) No caffeine after 12pm

3) Daily exercise

4) No computer use after 5pm.

5) Go to sleep as soon as I'm tired.

* * *

I wish I were one of the elite who didn't need to adhere to these rules religiously to become a morning person, but I know that I need ALL of them. No exceptions allowed.

I think that another one of the reasons that it cures my insomnia is that by getting up early and setting an intention for my day, I get into my purposeful mode and my thoughts become organized accordingly. Good karma. Neuroscience in the Tao te Ching?

Another important component to me being able to stick to these rules is that I have a significantly personally compelling reason to be awake, something to do with my time, but more importantly something to fill all the extra hours. i.e. I need to have a reasonably accurate prediction of how I will spend the next day's time by the night before.

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#72

Post by sebkomianos »

I've noticed a lot of discussion about the topic of sleep during the past months.

Am I the only one who believes we should maybe consider changing a few things in the way the whole thing works?

- A lot of people are clearly way more productive durring the night. I've seen this applying to coders and to people that need to write essays but I guess there are more categories that fit into this.

- We don't all need the same amount of sleep. My almost-60 years old father can work intensively for around 12 hours (he is a taxi driver in a place that's like hell during the summer months), then work a bit more relaxed for 5-6 more hours and only needs a few hours of sleep every night (usually 3 to 5). Now, compare this to me: I just can't function properly if I don't get at least 6 hours of sleep (and that's a rather positive number, I usually need around 10 to bet completely okay).

- And then, summer people have no standard needs and can live with one hour of sleep now, then a few hours of work, then some more sleep, and so on.

I am not able to suggest a particular new system of daily life but I think we should discuss the topic. Maybe less days with each day being bigger and two "cycles" of productivity at each?

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#73

Post by gbog »

gte910h wrote: post #65
gbog wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say: "Drink a glass of hot water just before bed time". Hot like a cup of tea. Sip it slowly but steadily. This is relaxing your throat and your brain. They all do that in China, call it "white tea". Helps also if you have headache. I don't agree with the "don't read in bed" advice. It's good to read in bed. Read something interesting enough to wipe your mind away from work or project-related thoughts, but avoid…

These aren't my tips. Sleep doctors say don't read in bed over and over: http://www.sleepassociation.org/index.php?p=sleephygienetips I know it's nice to read in bed, but it's bad for sleep. It's not like you have to do everything in the list up there to get sleep, but the sacrosanct "Bed is for sleeping, only" is the #1 thing for many people. I often read Before bed, but on the couch, not IN bed.

I don't know. Skimming over this page you linked I have again those thought about how the world is filled with so many different customs, people, problems, even sleeping habits.

I leave in China right now and these tips look very weird, exotic from here. For example, what do they (ASA) have against a short nap? Here the countryside girls selling vegetables in local markets do nap on their lines of carrots. I bet you they do not have any sleeping problems.

They (ASA) say "When you watch TV or read in bed, you associate the bed with wakefulness". That's true for most recent TV programs, because they punch you in the face constantly (it has not always been the case), but most books I read do not push me in a "state during which [I am] conscious and aware of the world." On the contrary, good reading brings a soft transition between full awareness of the real world and the dreams I'll get during the night. Maybe it is a drug, but I tell you: I always read in bed before sleeping, even if I'm too tired. I just can't climb the couch and sleep right away. Sorry for not being able to agree with this American Sleep Association advice.

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#74

Post by jarin »

hnhg wrote: post #53
jarin wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me just preface this by saying that I think kids are great (and this is not taking into consideration the other benefits of having kids, like happiness and sense of purpose and things like that), but if your goal is not just to get up early for the sake of getting up early but to get up early in order to get things done, it seems like having a kid would not necessarily be a net benefit time-wise as the reason you…

I can't tell if you're trolling or not, but I believe the suggestion of having kids wasn't intended to be taken seriously.

Oh I got that impression too, I was just being literal for the sake of discussion :)

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#75

Post by jarin »

lkozma wrote: post #49
gte910h wrote: post #14

I had issues with sleeping when others do for a long while. I do not anymore (although get out of sync again about 2x a year). 1. Caffeine and you: You have a certain sensitivity to this drug. You may also be misusing it. Generally speaking, it's a late morning, early afternoon only drug. Late morning is the only place it starts working as its an adenosine antagonist, and you don't start getting adenosine in any real…

All great points, I would add one more: forget the alarm clock. If you can afford a variation of 30 mins - 1hour in wake up time, get up when you wake up naturally. Access to natural sunlight in the morning is best. It's amazing how precisely wake-up times synchronize automatically, but I find the alarm clock really really harmful. See this for a strong opinion: http://www.supermemo.com/articles/sleep.htm

If you don't have that luxury, Sleep Cycle is a pretty good iPhone app for waking up. It attempts to learn your sleep phases via the accelerometer and wakes you up during the closest light sleep period to your alarm time.

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#76

Post by kjell »

People say drink something before you go to bed so next morning the urge to pee will motivate you straight out of bed. I hate having to pee really bad when I wake up. But don't shit right before bed for a similar impetus. YMMV.

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#77

Post by SkyMarshal »

gte910h wrote: post #14

I had issues with sleeping when others do for a long while. I do not anymore (although get out of sync again about 2x a year). 1. Caffeine and you: You have a certain sensitivity to this drug. You may also be misusing it. Generally speaking, it's a late morning, early afternoon only drug. Late morning is the only place it starts working as its an adenosine antagonist, and you don't start getting adenosine in any real…

>Use tools like f.lux to drop monitor brightness after sundown.

And fwiw, Redshift is another alternative, in case you have trouble with f.lux. I couldn't get f.lux to actually flux on my Ubuntu 10.04 workstation or UNR netbook, but Redshift works fine on both.

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#78

Post by richpalmer2 »

I try to give myself adventures and goals for the morning to at least make it interesting. Some I've tried:

- Figuring out the most efficient way to make an omelet and coffee, in the least amount of time. Since you only get one shot at breakfast, you will have to try again the next day, and eventually build up your craft.

- Outdoor bike rides for both exercise and exploration. I luckily live in Berkeley, so there are plenty of bike-friendly paths and streets, but having the wind in your face, getting exercise, and exploring new areas of your city helps wake my mind up.

- However, the best for me when I was in a corporate job was to set my alarm for 5, have my gym bag and work clothes packed the night before, take the subway to the gym and shower there. I'd eat breakfast when I get to work. Breakfast for a while was granola (carbs), Siggi's yogurt (nice protein boost) and Yerba mate.

It's a shameless plug, but since I'm proud to be a morning person, I'm writing a series of posts called "Morning People Unite" that might help you and others get motivated:

http://www.richpalmer.org/good-morning

http://www.richpalmer.org/morning-people-unite-2

Re: Ask HN: how to become a morning person?

#79

Post by veidr »

chaosmachine wrote: post #16

I've found Flux[1] to be very useful in stopping the constant forward-shift of my sleep schedule. Now I actually get tired at night. Perhaps it was simply over-exposure to blue light all these years... [1] http://stereopsis.com/flux/

+1 anecdotal to Flux.

I went all kindle | paper in bed (no more backlit things), and simultaneously also started using Flux, and it seems to have helped me actually stop working and fall sleep.

You get used to it in about three days, and then if you use the temporary-disable command to see what your monitor looked like before, it really does sear the eyes like when those nazis opened the ark...

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