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The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

productivityreport.org

21–30 of 122 posts

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#21

Will the pseudopolitical propaganda about the workplace ever end on HN? This topic is not just dead but eviscerated roadkill.

Well, this is actually an issue. This was killing me slowly. I had to quit and become self-employed, and there's no way of going back as long as things are arranged and organized like this. It is limiting my options drastically.

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#22
post #11

i think this is a good thing and not "rigged". here's why: 1. you can train yourself to be a morning person. this is coming from someone who is not at all a morning person by nature. so it's not unfair, what it does do is weed out people who don't bother to do so. it selects for disciplined people with a strong work ethic. 2. it is easier to be a night person than a morning person. inertia says it is easier to stay u…

No, you can't. Well, maybe you personally can. But all the actual science says that willpower, sleep hygiene, and sunlight exposure only move the margins a bit for those with inflexible night-time chronotypes. Doing everything "right" is not going to make a 5am natural sleeper into a morning person, it's going to make them into a 3am natural sleeper.

sorry, nothing about our bodies tells me they're this inflexible. i wonder if the "nighttime chronotypes" controlled for things that actually would influence it, like light exposure. regardless, one of the things that worked best for me was rigging a bright light to dawn gradually at a early hour, and cutting off my bright light exposure at a early hour. even if i have a "night chronotype" it's still possible to "trick" it into thinking i'm sleeping at a different time.

tbh i'm a bit suspicious that there are 5am natural sleepers. being basically nocturnal doesn't sound natural or healthy. and given the proven effects of lack of sunlight on mental health that should be fixed regardless of work timing.

i personally hate the phrase "the science" with a passion, but can you link me what you're referencing? cause nothing suggests that they're this "inflexible".

ngl everyone i've talked to who has a "nighttime chronotype" is actually just doomscrolling until 3AM then complaining "oh i can't sleep early". they typically keep bright light on late and use blackout curtains in the morning. no wonder their bodies don't work in a natural, normal circadian rhythm when they do this kinda stuff.

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#24
post #8

i think this is a good thing and not "rigged". here's why: 1. you can train yourself to be a morning person. this is coming from someone who is not at all a morning person by nature. so it's not unfair, what it does do is weed out people who don't bother to do so. it selects for disciplined people with a strong work ethic. 2. it is easier to be a night person than a morning person. inertia says it is easier to stay u…

Sorry, this is not how it works. (What actually happens: You're laying in bed awake and eventually raise to shuffle to work without any sleep.)

thanks for telling me what's actually happening to myself. you're wrong, it works fine. and it's worked for a bunch of friends as well.

why do you think "this is not how it works"? i may have only an anecdote and some reasoning to support my point of view, but you have squat to support yours.

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#25
"Morning people" stuff tends to select for conscientiousness.

Not a perfect correlation, but a positive one nonetheless.

I say this as a serious night owl, and someone who is intellectually conscientious (I love learning and mastering) but traditionally not (it takes me a lot of effort to be organised and disciplined to a reasonable standard).

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#26
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, this is not how it works. (What actually happens: You're laying in bed awake and eventually raise to shuffle to work without any sleep.)

thanks for telling me what's actually happening to myself. you're wrong, it works fine. and it's worked for a bunch of friends as well. why do you think "this is not how it works"? i may have only an anecdote and some reasoning to support my point of view, but you have squat to support yours.

It may have been so for you. Your case may have not been that severe. This doesn't mean that it so for everybody else, as well.

And why do I think that this is not how it works? Well, it hasn't been so, when I was 5, not when I was 7, not when I was 14, not at 20, nor at 30. It isn't so in my 50s. It's currently 2:50 a.m. local and there's no chance, I can get any sleep for another few hours. (So I'm going to do some work, until any of the early birds manage to show up.)

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#27

i think this is a good thing and not "rigged". here's why: 1. you can train yourself to be a morning person. this is coming from someone who is not at all a morning person by nature. so it's not unfair, what it does do is weed out people who don't bother to do so. it selects for disciplined people with a strong work ethic. 2. it is easier to be a night person than a morning person. inertia says it is easier to stay u…

You can adapt to early hours, but you can’t become a morning person. As people age, they do tend to shift their internal clocks earlier, but within the same age cohort relative early/late preferences generally stay the same between people.

Internal clocks and circadian rhythms are complex, but are demonstrated to have a biological and even genetic component. Declaring that being a morning person is about “discipline” is like saying being a great basketball player is about “discipline.” Sure, it helps, but at some point genetics and biology take over.

I wasn’t a believer on this subject before, but I found the book “Internal Time” incredibly well researched, written, and convincing.

https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674975392

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#28

Yeah, because more senior workers eventually have kids, and kids need a proper morning wake up, and child care doesn't run until 10 PM. Don't like it? There are lots of industries with nighttime work or extensive travel obligations.

Hm, I think this is backwards; there's plenty of evidence that we wake up kids way too early. Really, school schedules are as they are to fit around work schedules, not the other way around.

https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/features/schools-start-too-early.h...

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#29

I’m sure. It’s pretty obvious. If you have a choice in the matter, early start gives you superpowers and is evidence of discipline. I typically start work at 7:30. I have about 2-2.5 hours of actual, mostly undisturbed productivity. Early in my career my managers thought I was a genius because I knew everything. I did - because I read stuff. Nowadays I’m a boss guy, and I’m fully up to speed and ready to go at my 9:1…

> and is evidence of discipline.

No it’s not. It’s evidence of a morning person.

Re: The Workplace Is Rigged to Favor Morning People

#30
post #13

Early to sleep, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. In my case I have no choice, my SO works in medicine so I’m up when she’s up at 5 whether I like it or not. I’ve gotten a lot more productive since we started sharing a space. Is it the early rise, or the constant presence of the opposite sex?

Having someone else around you is enough to make you more active and on-task.

https://chadd.org/adhd-news/adhd-news-adults/could-a-body-do...

Well, as long as they're not distracting you at least.

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