
Former Night Owls Offer Tips For Becoming A Morning Person
[rebelmouse-image 18349719 is_animated_gif=A healthy sleep schedule can be paramount to success and is essential for maintaining overall well-being. Many people, however, find themselves trapped in erratic cycles, resulting in lost productivity and constant exhaustion. If you're a night owl looking for ways to improve your sleep, this thread is for you.
thissideup124 asked, Night owls of Reddit who became morning people, what tips and tricks would you recommend for making the adjustment?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
Great advice. Also, keep your alarm across the room.
[rebelmouse-image 18349720 is_animated_gif=I've been both, and still can be both depending on what I need to accomplish.
Never hit the snooze button ever again. Never. As soon as that alarm goes off sit up and get moving. Drink a glass of water (or orange juice) and have a shower.
If you wake up 5 minutes before the alarm goes off, get up. This ties in with the snooze button but anything less than 30 minutes of sleep is useless and makes it harder to get up.
Dogs have owners, cats have staff. Either way, you can't sleep in.
[rebelmouse-image 18349721 is_animated_gif=Have pets with strong opinions.
I wake up at 6:30 every day because the animals are ready for breakfast. They do not understand concepts like weekends or holidays, so even if I don't set an alarm, someone will be meowing or licking me awake.
Expend calories during the day. Lots of calories.
[rebelmouse-image 18349722 is_animated_gif=Exercise twice as much as you use to. This will make you tired and want to sleep earlier. Then keep track of when you sleep and when you wake up. Keep sleeping ten to fifteen minutes earlier until the problem is solved.
Yeah... no. Do people really get up before noon?
[rebelmouse-image 18347135 is_animated_gif=Go to bed early. Do not consume any caffeine past noon, including chocolate or tea. Do this every day, regardless of whether or not you have obligations in the morning or not.
I've done this, it works.
[rebelmouse-image 18349723 is_animated_gif=My bedroom window faces east. In order to wake up with enough time to properly get ready for work, I stopped sleeping with the curtains closed. Now that they're open, I wake up with the sun. At first, it was a difficult transition but now I find myself walking up naturally early on weekends, even if the curtains are closed.
Sleeping pills au naturale.
[rebelmouse-image 18349724 is_animated_gif=Melatonin supplements are great for getting to bed a reasonable time.
Like a Bandaid, make it quick.
[rebelmouse-image 18349725 is_animated_gif=I used to get up every single morning at 5:30 in the morning to work out before school, so I can speak to this. I think an important thing to note is that "morning" people (especially people getting up before 7:00 am) are not skipping out of bed alert and chipper. Months into waking up at 5:30 am, you will STILL be miserable getting up, and it will feel like hell and you want to go back to bed desperately EVERY SINGLE TIME. The difference is that the momentum and power of your habit overcome that dread and longing to stay in your bed and hit the snooze button and you rise out of bed like a machine to go splash some cold water on your face. It is not easy, and it likely will never be! But habits are a powerful thing, so if you want to be a morning person you just have to do it. Don't ever expect that getting out of bed really early in the morning to be a fun thing to do.
Your work schedule can determine your sleeping habits.
[rebelmouse-image 18349726 is_animated_gif=Until I got myself a job where I had to be at work at 4 in the morning, I was a total night owl. I'd go to bed at 2 or 3 and sleep until noon. Now, I'm just the opposite. It's rare I'm up past midnight and always awake before 8 in the morning. I was forced into it and now if I stay up too late, I get blinding headaches.
This seems so... tranquil.
[rebelmouse-image 18349728 is_animated_gif=I have to wake up at 5:30 to get ready for work, I used to go to sleep at 3/4am.
I set my alarm for 5. I get up, I turn the heating on for a shower, I make a cup of tea and I get back in bed to drink the tea and browse the internet. Once I finish my tea, the boiler has heated the water so I can shower and get ready. Then I eat breakfast.
The desire to stay up late never goes away.
[rebelmouse-image 18349729 is_animated_gif=I was a night owl and then got a 9-5 job. I had the motivation to do it and just started getting up earlier. It was definitely a tough adjustment because I generally wasn't tired when I knew I had to go to bed but you gradually get used to it. The most important thing was to just set a time to go to sleep and stick to it. After a couple of months, as long as I had gotten enough sleep I was wide awake in the morning. Now I actually get more work done before lunch than after on most days! I still want to just stay up until 3 am and play video games sometimes though.
Being a night owl could be genetic, says science.
[rebelmouse-image 18349730 is_animated_gif=Some scientists believe that people are genetically set to be night or morning people or something in between.
This makes sense if you think about the way different peoples lived way back in the day. Some people were agrarian, meaning they generally stay in one place, have a regular schedule for eating and sleeping and tend to crops/livestock. I imagine these would be early risers.
Then you had nomadic tribes, whose diet and sleep schedule depended on resources in whatever area they were in. Being constantly on the move, one can imagine that they'd need to be on high alert to guard against theft or predators at night. It would serve someone well back then to be able to stay up well past dark for these reasons. Warriors would have this type of schedule as well. Perhaps they'd take turns taking naps etc. Sleep habits like these form epigenetic traits that are passed down from your ancestors.
Anyway, to answer your question (i'm an extreme night owl) whenever I've had to set myself an early schedule I set my alarm for the target time and keep an orange or something refreshing to eat right as the alarm rings. After a couple of days, you'll start waking up at this time more easily as your stomach signals food intake to your brain as the start of a new day. Or so I've read. Works for me.
Having a kid means NO sleep.
[rebelmouse-image 18349731 is_animated_gif=Honestly, for me, having a kid was the ultimate switch. But seriously, take a shower as soon as you get up and don't hesitate to get out of bed as soon as you open your eyes.
Goals. Single af.
[rebelmouse-image 18349732 is_animated_gif=I made the switch only when I had something I really looked forward to every morning. I met someone who was an early bird and was giddy looking forward to texts from him when he woke up. It just stuck after that.
This method of self-torture is actually quite effective.
[rebelmouse-image 18349733 is_animated_gif=I have two alarms, one is set for an hour before I actually need to get up. It breaks me out of my deep sleep and leaves me with another hour to rest. It takes a bit of getting used to in the beginning, but nowadays I actually wake up feeling good and not groggy!
We night owls do have routines... of bad habits.
[rebelmouse-image 18349734 is_animated_gif=Routine routine routine. I can not stress this enough. People get into bad habits sleep wise because they do not have a routine. Doesn't matter if you go to bed at 4 am or 10 pm. You need to do it consistently. You're impacting your health of you vary your sleep time every other day.
Daylight Saving Time for sleep? How novel.
[rebelmouse-image 18349736 is_animated_gif=I switched from night owl to morning person because I wanted to be able to work on some of my hobbies before work because I was always too tired/cranky afterward. So my no. 1 tip would be:
- Have a reason to get up early. Literally, something to get you out of bed. For me, it's drawing while listening to music and enjoying a cup of coffee or tea.
- Do some light reading before your new bedtime. Try to avoid your TV, computer, and phone. Even just 30 minutes of reading can make a big difference and helps quiet down your brain. Music works too, or something like meditation.
As for the actual process, I made the switch the weekend DST ended. It gives you that extra hour to help with the adjustment.
I need to buy some blue lights.
[rebelmouse-image 18349738 is_animated_gif=I'll assume you already know about basic sleep hygiene.
Some seriously effective way for shifting your sleep cycle is through light therapy. You'll need a bit of equipment or the opportunity to be outside in clear weather in the morning.
The recommended protocol is:
Day 1. Wake up and rise at your natural time. Immediately get as much light exposure as you can through a 10000 lux lamp or sunlight. Get to bed at a reasonable time with good sleep hygiene.
Day 2 wake up one hour earlier than day 1. Immediately get as much light exposure as you can through a 10000 lux lamp or sunlight. Get to bed at a reasonable time with good sleep hygiene.
Day 3 wake up one hour earlier than day 2. Immediately get as much light exposure as you can through a 10000 lux lamp or sunlight. Get to bed at a reasonable time with good sleep hygiene.
In addition, you might use glasses blocking blue light in the evening before sleep. They will stimulate melatonin production and help shift your sleep cycle. There are some medically certified brands, but the orange Uvex Skyper glasses are a cheaper option that does work just as well. Wear them from about 12 hours prior to waking up.
(Sources: I'm a resident doctor with special interest in sleep, have worked with leading sleep researchers and dated younger sleep researchers. To lazy to paste any links right now)
Well, that's one way to be woken up early.
[rebelmouse-image 18349739 is_animated_gif=I joined the military, that did the trick.
Spoiler alert: some of us kids are always needy.
[rebelmouse-image 18349741 is_animated_gif=Having small children. By the time you're able to sleep in again, they've trained you out of it.
This is great advice. Naps are amazing, but they'll keep you up at night.
[rebelmouse-image 18347426 is_animated_gif=Do not take naps during the day. Ever. You'll have trouble sleeping that night, then getting up the following morning.
Being rich looks fabulous.
I know, money isn't everything.
I've seen the super rich literally throw money away, because they could.
They never see it as waste.
I want to be able to waste.
I wouldn't, but I'd like the option.
Redditoralexduvalowanted to know what rich love to throw money at in bundles.They asked:
"What do insanely rich people buy that poor people have no idea about?"
I would spend on clothes. And I already have a lot. I can't help it. Gimme...
Vroom
"On staff mechanics. People see the Floyd Mayweathers and Tom Cruises of the world buying tons of cars and motorcycles, but when you have a fleet like that, you basically need on staff mechanics who at the very least keep your cars clean, but also handle all maintenance."
earic23
"on retainer"
"An acquaintance of mine is one of six pilots 'on retainer' for a wealthy family."
BeastOfEden420
"I have a buddy pulling in nearly 200k as a chief pilot for a crew of 4 pilots for a billionaire family. They fly far less than your average commercial pilot and he’s in his mid 30s. We live in the south, where you can live like a king on 200k."
arparris
Far Reach
"Access. Need to call a governor? He's on speed dial and will phone the senators too. Need to talk to the CEO of Coca Cola... he's waiting for you and immediately assigns someone to fix your problem. Do you want to yacht around the horn of Africa? The closest naval fleet will tell you the safest route and provide 'support' so pirates don't mess with you."
"I own a company and by nature interact with a lot of billionaires and CEO's. I'm by no means rich but hang in the circle enough that I've e-mailed CEO's of fortune 500's and they've hooked me up with huge 'free' things as a small perk or thank you."
"I've been PAID to fly places just to have a 1 hour meeting and then get a free VIP week long vacation with the mayor or consulate showing me around. It's trippy and I've never really felt at home, but I've been eternally grateful for these travel opportunities."
metarinka
Destinations
"Support ships for your mega-yacht. The biggest yachts don't travel alone, they generally have small cargo ships that do everything from house additional staff, to transport your cars so you always have them when you make port, to holding all of your toys (helicopters, submarines, day-boats, etc.). They'll often travel a day or two ahead of the yacht to a destination so that your staff can unload your things (cars, clothing, etc.) at the next villa you're summering in."
climb-it-ographer
Get back...
"Isolation from poor people. Rich people spend a lot of money to make sure that poor people can't get anywhere near them."
Bizarre_Protuberance
Rich people are funny. And clearly a bit rude...
Doubles...
"Cloning pets, one of our investors spent ~$100K cloning his dog."
Jiltedjohn
Initiation
"There are membership-based vacation clubs. Similar to high-end country clubs, but for travel. You may pay a one-time initiation fee that can be upwards of $100k - $250k to get 5-10 years of access to purchase incredibly exclusive vacation/resort/rental property experiences. I work in the travel industry and I know of multiple companies like this."
El_mochilero
The Expensive Skies
"I work in the film industry and one time I booked a trip for someone to fly from London to California for a weekend and it cost more than my yearly salary. This was 2010, and it was $35,000 for first class airfare, private car, & hotel, because they realized Friday morning that based on his contract that he needed to be present while the film was being finished that weekend, and his contract specified he accommodations needed to be first class/5-star hotel, etc.I accidentally had an extra "0" it was $35k, which is $10k more than what the studio was paying executive assistants at the time..."
-CoreyJ-
Insured
"Kidnap insurance."
i-need-blinker-fluid
"It's called kidnap and ransom insurance. K&R and it includes training so that you know what to do in a hostage situation. It also includes a trained response team. The statistics on this stuff was/is nasty. Your chance of survival with insurance is about 60%. Without it you're closer to 0%."
gretverd
And popcorn?
"There is a streaming service that's pretty much Netflix for rich people, allowing you to stream current cinematic movies for about 3,000 bucks a pop."
VloekenenVentileren
Oh to be rich and fabulous. Gimme the coins.
People Explain Which Communities May Seem Nice From The Outside But Are Incredibly Toxic
Don't you hate it when you get deceived by something pretty?
Like... "fooled you."
Those are the thoughts you get when you grab a rose and a bee jumps out and stings you.
Every group or community has its bees.
Or the more you learn about said groups you realize it's one big beehive.
Nothing is ever really the same from the outside in.
Redditordragon_barf_junctionwanted to know how we can avoid the toxicity of others by making a list. They asked:
"What community seems really nice from the outside, but is actually really toxic?"
Every group has soulless people among them. It's all in the numbers.
Not so Chill
"Minecraft community, especially twitter. Minecraft is like the chillest game ever but the people who are into Minecraft youtube stuff are a whole new level of deranged."
AV8ORboi
Crunched
"Crunchy mums/hippie mums/gentle parenting groups. They seem lovely, but it typically winds up being a judgemental pissing contest over who is the best parent in the world."
Arugula-Current
"As a gentle parenting and somewhat crunchy mom I can't fit into these groups either. Inevitably there's a crunchy mom who believes sunshine and vitamin c cure covid, or a hippy mom who wants to organize a protest at chic-fi-la, but most of them just talk trash about everybody that's different from them."
"ALL Christians are bad (I'm an atheist and I know plenty of lovely Christians). I don't get why people have to be so black and white like that. I will say that I can't deal with moms being sh*tty to their kids by either yelling or being manipulative assholes so I will leave a group if that behavior is being condoned. Guess that's where my judgment comes in... verbal, mental or physical abuse are not my things."
spelunkilingus
The Scene
"Cosplay and it's not even close!"
judgedavid90
I love making cosplays and wearing them, but last time I went to a convention, I realized I'd just become too old for the 'cosplay scene.'"
"I literally don't care that X broke up with Y so Z and W got into a fight because they sided with different people but Z and W had a matching cosplay planned and now V has taken W's place in making the cosplay and X made a group chat to mock V's cosplays and... like Jesus, it never stops. I just want to dress up as Jinx and take pictures. Leave me out of your teenage drama."
DansMaLigneDeMire
Narrarives
"Body positive community has some surprisingly negative people. My friend who at some point lost a lot of weight and got into exercising realized she was no longer welcome there. Not because she tried to tell other people to lose weight or started sharing dieting tips, but because her experience with obesity and her body did not match the preferred narrative."
foxmachine
Yeah Right
"Any workplace that describes itself as 'like a family.'"
jasmminne
"What they really mean is the Manson family."
SeldomSeenMe
That workplace one is a golden rule of life.
No Solutions
"Chemistry enthusiasts. It's all reaction videos involving highly toxic substances."
venbrou
"It boils down to being a pretty caustic community. Not sure if there is a solution before it implodes."
DitDashDashDashDash
Be Well
"The yoga/wellness scene. the pandemic was actually kinda handy at showing you which yoga teachers to stay the hell away from. The big things are of course, the anti-scientific views on medicine, but it’s also a breeding ground for cult leaders and grifters."
ilmalaiva
"I agree! It’s so unfortunate because I love yoga, but so many instructors (in the western world I suppose) are awful. My least favorite is when I feel like I’m being given a stern lecture on vulnerability lmao."
soapdishlunch
Extremists
"NoFap community."
"If the community stayed true to their original purpose, to quit porn, it wouldn't be toxic at all. But I'd say there are a lot of extremist people there, like people who say masturbation is evil and you must be fully abstinent unless you get a one night stand with a 10/10 because you did X number of days, or just plain conspiracies about the whole world view. The problem is this kind of posts never get removed."
the_living_paradox00
Popped
"The Kpop community? They be like heeeyyyy come enjoy this and the next minute tear you apart because you didn’t pick their favorite member."
allmylovingxx
"Yess! especially the whole locals things. when people that aren't into Kpop find a song that they like, people will tear them apart for listening to Kpop, telling them to name all the members of a group (obvi not talking about those weird thirst traps made by TikTokers)."
girlcrushjeongyeon
Intense
"For whatever God forsaken reason, Paper Mario. I have gotten more death threats from Paper Mario fans than any other Fandom. I posted about it maybe three times, max. About how I liked the games, specifically."
GladOkumuraGotShot
"Mario fandom is freaking intense. Critikal made a video about huge fight in YouTube comments that started with which Mario song is better."
Falchen_
Not everybody is a good person, even when it looks like they are.
Have you ever wished you could pee a different liquid?
No?
Well, just give it some thought.
What if you could urinate something which could actually help others, or something which could ease your financial burdens, akin to the goose who laid the golden eggs?
Then too, what if you could change things up, and pee something a bit more interesting than the customary pale yellow urine we currently produce?
Redditor aggles_N533PA encouraged the Reddit community to allow their imaginations to go wild, when they took to Reddit to ask:
"If you have the ability pee whatever liquid you want, what would you like to pee?"
Antibacterial qualities
"Horseshoe crab blood."- Outnabout3535325
Just the simple stuff
"Water."- eeyorex
Saves money, and could put an end to drilling!
"If it did not hurt, I would be peeing pure gasoline."- Tink2013
"Ethanol so I could piss in my pants and it would go dry again after like a minute."- xaomaw
Two birds, one stone!
"Toilet cleaner."- Loriol_13
"Liquid gold."
"Not literally liquid gold, but the wood cleaning spray."- PoopMuffin5
Instant genie!
"A million more wishes."- johntwoods
Saves a trip to Staples!
"Printer ink."
"Undie dribbles could be a problem though."- MadMikey6
"Printer ink."
"One of the most expensive things in the planet."
"If not having to be real, then fountain of youth water so I could be young forever."- Catshannon
It's a very interesting idea, that urinating could actually accomplish more than relieving oneself.
Even if this might also require some alternatives to conventional toilets...
There's little more restorative than going on a hike.
Escaping from the hustle and flow, and enjoying the peaceful serenity of nature, and taking in all the beauty around you.
But every now and then, hikers may stumble across something a bit unsettling, even scary.
Making them want to return to civilization all the sooner.
Redditor purple_loves_bread was eager to hear about the creepiest discoveries made by experienced hikers while on the trail, leading them to ask:
"Hikers of Reddit, what's the weirdest/scariest thing you've found/seen during a hike?"
How did it even get there?
"A dolphin skeleton 50 meters from the water on a trail in Costa Rica."- argenntinosaurus
An unwanted visitor
"On a backpacking trip in the Sierra Mountains in California, my buddy forgot to put his toothpaste in the bear bag, which is a bag you put all food and aromatic items in to hang from a tree branch at night so the bears won't eat it."
"At about 2 a.m., we hear him yelling and get up to find a huge black bear on top of him in his tent trying to get at the toothpaste."
"The rest of us had to bang pans and throw rocks to get the bear to leave him alone."- The_Spyre
Literal grave robbers
"Hiking in Vermont."
"Saw a bright red shirt hanging in a tree off the trail, so I went to check it out."
"Saw a couple of freshly dug graves and a few really old headstones."
"Reported it - turns out it was someone stealing headstones from a local graveyard and relocating them."
"Don't know if they were stealing the bodies, too."- GravityoftheMoon
Improper hiking attire
"Me, my old roommate and a friend went hiking into the woods in Tennessee."
'We were going along minding our own business, then we came up on a stream."
"On the other side of the stream, getting ready to cross, was a group of about 5 or 6 dudes only wearing socks and shoes."
"Naked bros hiking in the woods."
"I'm all about being in your birthday suit or whatever, but it was weird seeing it for the first time and apparently its a thing."- BungJovi
Witness to a massacre
"I stumbled on a poaching dump when I was 14."
"I used to hike trails near our home, way out in the woods."
"I'd explore, and then have to find my way back without a compass."
"I went really far one day, probably 2-3 miles through these old logging trails."
"I started smelling something terrible."
"There was a rocky outcrop right before a steep cliff."
"At the bottom of the cliff, there was a massive pile of dead deer, most were decapitated."
"Some were fawns."
"Had to have been 20-30 of them at varying states of decay."
"The stench was mind-alteringly bad."
"When I thought I had seen enough, I heard 4-wheelers and decided to hide."
"Two poachers in camo rolled up and tossed two more deer carcasses on the pile."
"They smoked, talked, and then left after about 10 minutes."
"I was probably 15 feet from them the entire time, hiding under a hemlock tree."
"I did not recognize either of them, and I knew absolutely everyone on that entire side of town, it was only 15-20 houses in a 5 mile stretch."
"I ran home and told my parents."
"They didn't believe me."
"Plus, they didn't know I was running off to those trails, so I got in huge trouble for that."
"I mentioned it to our neighbor who was big into hunting, he seemed very concerned and brought it up to the game warden."
"They investigated it, found the dump site, but never caught anybody."
"I am 100% certain it was not my neighbor." - User Deleted
Up close and personal with nature's beasts
"Mountain lion came very close to me."
"It didn't seem aggressive but it was curious."
"After a few minutes of us staring at each other and me pissing my pants he finally lost interest and disappeared into the forest while I got the f*ck out of there."- -MultiF0rms
An underground operation
"I've seen mountain lions, I've seen bears."
"The scariest thing I've seen was an elaborate grow operation in Northern CA."
"I crested a hill and walked 20 yards into this valley when I realized there were irrigated pot plants for as far as the eye could see."
"Reservoirs, hoses, camouflaged netting."
"My friend and I noped out of there as fast we could, both expecting to be shot on our way back to our car."- Zmirzlina
Not so itsy-bitsy...
"Hiking early morning in Hawaii and my stomach notifies me that it’s time to go #2 ."
"I find a porta potty near the trailhead and jump in to do my business."
"Once complete, I flipped my headlamp on to find the toilet paper, but instead find a huge, 5” in diameter, banana spider hanging out in the corner of the porta potty."
'Trying not to spook it I slowly reached for the 1-ply."
"As I do, my headlamp shines on this monster and it proceeds to FREAK TF OUT!!! "
"It runs in circles for a bit, both of us losing our minds at this point, and ends up between my legs inside of my underwear!!!"
"I’m at a complete loss for what to do, but eventually begin wiggling back and forth in an attempt to get this spider to remove itself."
"That didn’t work at all! Instead of exiting the premises, this MFer runs up my leg."
"This is the point where I give up and storm out of the porta potty yelling and screaming, pants around my ankles."
"No clue what happened to that spider, but it disappeared in a flash…just like my dignity."- Kamala__2024
Everyone needs an escape to the great outdoors every now and again.
Even though one never knows what lies in store, or what they may find.
Making the feeling of coming home all the more comforting.