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Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

zenhabits.net

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Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#21

Post by lee »

"But I'm a night owl!"

I'm glad the author of the post recognized that it is possible to switch from being a night owl to an early riser. Anecdotally, I am a night owl... if it were not for work and kids, I would sleep late and wake early. That feels natural for me.

But, when my daughter was born, I was forced to switch and it has been fairly painless. If you're a night owl, it's worthwhile to at least experiment with waking early for a period of time to experience the productivity increase that occurs from waking early.

I find that on a night owl schedule, my creative side was heightened, whereas waking early allowed me more energy to "get things done".

Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#23

Post by knarf_navillus »

nwenzel wrote: post #22

"Never hit snooze." I love it! I don't understand snooze. If you're going to snooze, just set your alarm 5 minutes later. Otherwise, just get up.

There's a desperate, wishful-thinking part of my brain that thinks, "Just 10 more minutes is all I need to eradicate this unpleasant sleep inertia!", and it overwhelms all reason.

Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#24

Post by sbansal »

Personally I find working in the morning way better than working in the night. I used to work till about midnight and then get up at 7 AM to go to work. However in case I got stuck on some issue that I could not resolve, it would ruin my sleep. I would keep thinking about the fix. But now that I have started working in the mornings, I don't have that problem anymore. I can take some time out during the day and figure out the problem.

Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#25

Post by mahyarm »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #14
molbioguy wrote: post #8

This is one of those things that can kill itself if widely adopted. Several recent articles have touted the benefits of early rising. Being able to start your day in peace and quite is truly a benefit of waking up early. But if everyone adopted the strategy, if everyone was there with you to watch the sunrise, the gift of temporary solitude would be gone. I tend to like to work alone, whether early in the morning or…

From the blog post: > Quietude. No kids yelling, no babies crying, no soccer balls, no cars, no television noise. // Um, yeah, if you live in the countryside and don't have children or neighbours. The quietest time is actually about 2am-4am IME. Provided your kids aren't up yet ... Not that anyone cares but I'm not productive in the mornings, also commuting later is easier too.

The suburbs are pretty quiet at this time too.

Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#26

Post by jakejake »

I find some early risers to be holier-than-thou about their sleeping habits. They can easily be thwarted using the technique introduced on an episode of Seinfeld - just call very late meetings and watch how grumpy and tired they get.

There is nothing about being an early riser that is any better than being a night owl except possibly the sunrise (depending on how extreme of a night owl you are).

Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#28

Post by roopeshv »

I am not talking specifically about the article here, but bear with me

I read in some psychology article(I can't cite it now, I don't remember where it is), that being a night owl is an adaptation in hunter gatherer society for guardians of night. So, being a night owl is not that idiotic, it is a proper adaptation.

Also, if it is quiet enough for you to get to sleep at 9 or 10 or 11 in night (assuming you would get 7-9 hour sleep), then it is quiet enough to get the work done without distraction.

PS: That guardians of the night made me tingly when I read it, and SMUG. Didn't it to you? But also probably added to a selection bias to that research article.

Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#29

Post by jtbigwoo »

henrikschroder wrote: post #16

All the advice and benefits listed basically boil down to the fact that starting work a few hours after you wake up is a good thing, it removes morning stress and the bad habits that follow that, and it allows you to be productive at a time when few other people are about. But you can achieve that by simply moving your workday later instead of moving your sleep schedule back. That also has the added benefit of making…

Hacking your day to start later only works until you have kids unless you have somebody else to watch them. Post-kids you're pretty much doomed to follow the same schedule as everybody else unless you get up earlier.

Re: Benefits of getting up early even if you don't want to code

#30

Post by dugmartin »

What I like about rising early (4am) to work on my own projects is that unlike staying up late I have both a hard stopping time (7am to help get the kids up and breakfast started) and I don't have to transition from thinking about programming to sleeping. I also do feel strangely morally superior to you late sleepers.
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