The Early Bird vs. The Night Owl
“When I wake up, I am reborn.”
My husband and I have been staying up late on Friday and weekend nights watching television. It’s our way to unwind after our respective busy work days. Our late nights have made me think about the impact of sleeping late and waking up late as well. I know the importance of sleep has been researched, discussed and expounded extensively over the years. I just want to touch on the aspect of sleep from the perspective of “birds”, namely the early bird and the night owl. There are those who are capable of rising with the birds, and others who rather be known as the “night-owl”. These people are distinguished with two different names because they function best at different times of the day.
If you’re a morning bird, you’ll always be awake in the morning to coo when the light comes from the east, but you’ll be dead asleep as the west consumes that light. An owl will never coo at sunrise because they’re always too busy sleeping. They don’t cherish the sun because it interrupts their slumber.
I’m more of a morning person and I enjoy the quiet of the morning when everyone else is asleep. It gives me this sense of peace and anticipation for what lies ahead in a fresh new day. My youngest daughter shares this trait with me whereas my husband, my son and my elder daughter are all more of night owls.
Seeing an early bird rise will annoy the owl as it tucks its feathers tightly over its beak. When the early bird watches the owl sway hypnotically in their sleep, they’ll always feel frustration and angst towards the owl since they’ll never be awake in the morning with everyone else. I can empathise with the early bird as I have felt frustrated when I wanted everyone else to be up to start their day and get things done.
The reality at the end of the day is that humans aren’t owls. We can’t be nocturnal creatures because that’s not how we were made to be. To live a healthy life, we need to embrace the early start of our days.
“If you want to be the best, you can’t take the path of least resistance. Every morning, you wake up, and your mind tells you it’s too early, and your body tells you you’re a little too sore, but you’ve got to look deep within yourself and know what you want and what you’re striving for”
― Antonio Brown, American football player
What are some of the ways that we can implement in our daily routines to enable us to wake up early? The quote above by Antonio Brown serves as a reminder to know our reason for wanting to wake up early. Once we know why we want to do so, we are better able to stay focused and committed to our early rising routines
Sleeping Material
Is your bed comfortable? You may have had it for a long time. And yes, that evidently makes the bed a familiar feeling but in truth, is it comfortable? Also look at the pillow type you have. There are definitely different pillow types since everyone sleeps in a different position. Some people sleep upright just like any proper princess would, others tend to sleep on their sides. Some people even admittedly, sleep with their face inside the pillow. There’s a specific pillow for all these sleeping positions including ergonomic neck pillows and stiff pillows for strained necks. Once you experience good sound sleep, you’ll feel more rested and refreshed with each awakening, creating a positive cycle to awake early day after day.
Sleeping Earlier
Always keep this in mind. The math behind waking up early comes from a nice long night of sleep that started early. You must give up late nights in order to wake up feeling fresh and productive. This doesn’t mean that my husband and I have to cease watching our favourite tv shows but we will have to be disciplined to watch only selective shows and turn in at a designated time every night. Phones, computers and tablets shouldn’t be near you to tempt you when you try to go to sleep. A dark or dimly lit room with no blue lights to keep you up should be where you sleep.
Use Sunlight To Wake Up
The light around you is very important. It is important to let natural light into your room. As soon as you can after you wake up, head out for some natural sunlight. I love to spend some time in my front porch during my quiet mornings with my coffee and just enjoying the morning sunlight and the fresh air.
Use A Friendlier Alarm Clock
Almost every day is another day where you want to strangle your alarm clock. Everyone can surely relate to that, but then again, the alarm clock is only doing its job. Choose one with your favourite tune or soothing tone. If you’re using your mobile phone as your alarm clock, it will be even easier to customise the alarm tone that will set you in the right mood when you wake up. Remember, don’t hit the snooze button!
Keep Yourself Awake
The next step after you’ve woken up is to keep yourself up and running, not collapsing onto the couch or dozing off over the kitchen table during breakfast. There are multiple things you can do here to ensure you’re up and ready for the day. Taking a shower or at least washing your face with cold water is a good idea. The touch of cold water will ironically unfreeze your tired mind. Rather than having a warm drink in the morning, kick the day off with a cup of cool water to jump start your body. I must admit that my go-to drink is still my cup of coffee but I make it a point to drink water from my water bottle which I keep on my bedside table before I do anything else.
The only way you can make space for the proper amount of sleep is by creating a suitable routine for yourself. This routine also has to energise and motivate you to stick with it. Perhaps, one motivational thought is to think of all the extra time you will gain as a result of starting your day early. It seems unfair at times to think that your late nights are being taken away from you by the morning, but they don’t always have to go. Once you have developed a steady and realistic routine that you remain committed to, you can enjoy occasional nights of staying up late with your favourite night owl!
If this topic of having better sleep practices and routines is something that you would like to explore further, please reach out to me here. Let’s work together to create the routines that will work for you in the long run!
