Productivity

Why Being A Morning Person Is Not Essential

Photo by beccafrog

I see articles all the time on how being a morning person is wonderful and how you can easily transform into one. The articles generally promise sunshine and rainbows, peace and super-productivity.

Bah.

I am not a morning person. I cannot wake up easily or without external interference if the sun hasn’t risen. And you know what? I will never be a morning person. Years of trying things and failing have led me to conclude that some people’s physiology just doesn’t go well with rising before dawn.

Benefits Of Being A Morning Person

A morning person is supposed to get the following benefits:

Getting The Benefit Without Getting Up At O’Dark Thirty

So I look at the benefits above, and I think that I get all of those, even getting up after sunrise.

  • Greeting the sun: does the sun care if I am awake at dawn? No. The point of greeting the sun is to have a quiet space in your life to appreciate the magical turnings of the planet. I think you can do that any time.
  • Decreased commute: in my area, which is full of military type folks, the rush hour lasts from about 6:30 to 7:30 in the morning. Leaving later means less traffic. Also, I think that if time of departure means the difference between an hour commute or a two hour commute, you need to look at your commute time rather than your rising time.
  • Eating breakfast: I do that even if I get up after sunrise. I don’t see how getting up early ensures you will eat breakfast.
  • Happier and thinner: I think this has more to do with having enough rest than your waking time. Some of the grouchiest people I know are the ones who get to work before me.
  • More productive: the key to this is to have time when you are not interrupted. Find a time in your day when others are occupied and likely to leave you alone, and use that time to get things done.

If the point of getting up at an indecent hour is so that you are not rushed in the morning, well many of those things can be done the night before. Packing a lunch, getting clothes ready, bathing, and preparing coffee can all be done ahead of time, rather than waiting for the morning.


So I’m not buying the whole “morning people are great” thing. How about you? Any night owls out there who would agree with me?


Photo by beccafrog

7 Comments

  • Renee

    I absolutely agree with you! I’ve never been a morning person either. I keep trying to explain this to my husband but he doesn’t get it!

  • Martha

    YES!!!! I am with you!!! I’m definitely ***NOT*** a morning person. It is so much easier for me to function later in the day, despite all the benefits mentioned… Morning people are great… Night owls are just better 😉

  • MIchelle Deaven

    Loved this!!! Non-morning people, unite! Now I have reasons to back up why NOT being a morning person is just as great as being a morning person!

    • LJ Earnest

      We’d probably have a better fight if they didn’t insist on being so dang chipper right away in the morning!

  • Rachel

    I agree. It’s not about morning vs. evening; it’s about finding the time that’s right for you.

  • Ben

    I do everything the night before, except shower etc. I can get up, get ready in 20 minutes and be out the door by the 30 minute mark. The rush helps wake me up too. Instead of skipping breakfast like I used to, the night before I put together a small pack of fruit which I eat after about half an hour at work. The people I work with take 5 mins to have a ‘smoke break’. I eat my breakfast. Seems fair to me.

    • LJ Earnest

      This is an awesome approach. I find that I am not hungry first thing in the morning, so taking my breakfast to work is a good thing.