Overthrow the tyranny of morning people
I can’t remember the last time I saw a sunrise. That experience belongs to a different type of person: the extra-early riser, the lark that gets the worm without fail. They rise by 5:30 a.m. and go to bed around 8:30 p.m. They sip their first cup of coffee while people like me enter a new phase of REM sleep. And they are “more likely to benefit from the societal impression that people who wake up early are go-getters and people who wake up late are lazy,” Olga Khazan wrote in 2019.
But why not challenge that narrative? Though a revolution may not be imminent, ascribing virtue to a particular sleep schedule does seem silly. Productivity is not generated only in the first hours of daylight; it can strike in the late afternoon, or well into the night. “Let us smash the oppressive culture of our lark overlords and reclaim the day,” Tom Nichols wrote last year. Or let’s at least get “the early risers to stop bugging us in the morning.”
Today’s newsletter brings you stories about when people start their days:
Owner at Start English, editor, storyteller, job helper. I enhance your English-speaking skills for corporate presentations, employment interviews, and other public speaking scenarios. I write what you cannot write.
2moI am a morning person. I like the quiet before dawn and getting my thoughts together before work. I am more productive in the morning, dedicating the first few hours to reviewing the tasks I completed the previous afternoon or evening. My "morning eyes" are sharper. There are days, however, when I'm so tired I doze off for a little bit longer.
Independent consultant on Quality of Care
2moIn international health programs, US based staff can better communicate with colleagues in other continents early in the morning
Director at Cushman & Wakefield
3moLOL, I’m feeling attacked! Hey, I need wake-up time too - I just do it at 4am.
Senior All-Source Analyst | MGM, MBA, MAF
3moSome of us have to get up that early for work whether we want to or not.
Environmental Health Specialist in Training at Cincinnati Health Department
3moJordan Harbinger maybe a skeptical Sunday episode? The illusion of the early bird gets the worm?