
Don't be a morning person if you're not one - kreeWall
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20171114-why-you-shouldnt-try-to-be-a-morning-person
======
WheelsAtLarge
No such thing as natural morning or night person. Peoples rhythms are thrown
out of wack due to artificial light. Get rid of the artificial lights and we
all go back to our natural circadian rhythm. We start to get up and go down
with the sun.

All you need are glasses that block blue light. Try it.

~~~
beagle3
... and possibly enough vitamin D early in the morning (e.g. before 10am),
either as a supplement, or, preferrably, by exposure to the sun. And also
quite a bit of exercise.

Or not. Anecdata are plenty, scientific evidence is scant.

~~~
fnwx17
calling bs on the "blue light glasses work" as well. No direct scientific
evidence.

~~~
beagle3
To be clear, I was not calling bullshit - I experimented with UVEX blue-
blocking glasses, and so a marked difference in "natural" sleep times.
Similarly with early morning Vitamin D, and exercise, and I am not the only
one.

However, I am not aware of any reasonably objective evaluation of these
claims, so I don't consider them "truth" or "science" \- they are anecdata,
which might be interesting, but not science.

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eldios
Hey, I'm one of the "night owl" people type.

I've always been since when I memory of.

If you're reading this and you are interested in more data for studies or
experiments to challenge my chronotype, let me know.

Tried many different method and nothing really worked. If not forced out of
bed I'd wake up past 12AM and go to bed around 4AM.

Working as a remote for a different time zone helps a lot with work, luckily
:)

Well hit me up if you want to know more.

I can probably do an AMA if people are interested enough.

~~~
wfn
You've probably tried many things, but just curious: have you tried melatonin
(and if so, what was the result of that)? I've had some or other form of sleep
and/or sleep time window issues since early teenage years or possibly before
as well; regular exercise and (some form of) diet helps, but what _really_
changed sleep for me (and therefore had a measurable impact upon my quality of
life) was melatonin (I have a strong aversion to the idea of regular use of
sleeping pills). It's used by jetlagged people to reset circadian rhythm, etc.
(See e.g. [https://www.gwern.net/Melatonin](https://www.gwern.net/Melatonin))

Apologies if this is nothing new at all to you (probably not), but interested
in what you think re. this (perhaps melatonin does not help at all in your
case, which is also interesting in itself).

~~~
eldios
I tried melatonin and it was awful :D I did it in the wrong way though.
Specifically I took two pills instead of one (I think it was 500g each and I
took two) and I slept for about 24 hours straight! I simply couldn't stay
awake so I just took one sick day at work and sleeped it off :O

I also don't like the idea of building my life on top of regular pills usage,
unless it's the only way to go through.

I don't exercise regularly, but I have such a busy life that I find it really
difficult to find time (and consistency) to stick to it. When I _DID_ exercise
regularly (daily, 30-45 minutes, for about 4 months) it didn't change my sleep
habits.

And to be honest I _CAN_ wake up at 7 - 8 AM if somebody kicks me out of bed
or if there's an "emergency" (like one of my children shouting for help or
crying) or some family appointments... but I'm referring specifically to
natural sleep rhythm or what my body would "like" to do.

I also somehow find it WAY easier to wake up when I'm NOT at home.

On an interesting note, I live in Italy (UTC+1) and when I went to San
Francisco (UTC-7) for work, not long ago, I kept waking up at 7AM
consistently, naturally and went to bed around midnight more or less. I felt
NO JETLAG AT ALL. When I came back, I felt nothing for two days and then I had
to sleep for about 12 hours to catch up the normal sleeping rhythm, then I
went straight back to my normal habits.

I admit I probably have the weirdest sleeping habits I can know of :)

~~~
wfn
Hmm very interesting! Thanks for sharing. :)

> _I think it was 500g each and I took two_

I _do_ hope you meant _mg_ , not _g_ \- I've seen (usually American) online
malatonin pills with 50g+ dosages (effective dosage seems to usually be within
the range of 0.3-1.0g), so could be _g_ :O but hope not. 0.5-1g does the trick
for me, fwiw.

> _I also don 't like the idea of building my life on top of regular pills
> usage_

I hear ya; the reason I'm ok with melatonin is that there appear to be no
tolerance buildup, addiction, or any actual effects specific to long term
usage (see Gwern's meta-analysis of literature, etc.) But - yeah.

Very interesting sleep time window patterns. Have you thought about consulting
professionals re this? See e.g.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_disorder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_sleep_phase_disorder)

~~~
eldios
> I do hope you meant mg, not g

ahaha XD Yeah sorry. one pill == 500mg :D

> Have you thought about consulting professionals re this?

I did but since I found a way to accomodate my schedule (more or less) by
working in the afternoon and evening and sleeping through the morning (til
about 10.30 or 11 AM) I'm fine for now.

I'd be more interesting in the CHANGE itself.. like in experimenting on
changing my sleeping habits, more than in the results.

I'm a tech/sci/IT nerd afterall :P

------
internetman55
I've heard someone say that he thinks a lot of night people aren't actually
night people--they're just people who don't decide when they want to sleep or
wake up and drift until they collapse.

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VeejayRampay
I have to admit that I'm quite ignorant about the science of "morning persons"
VS "night persons", sleeping schedules, natural rhythms so for anyone more in
the know than I am, aren't body and brain extremely flexible and retrainable
to accommodate for different schedules? As in, if you force yourself to go to
bed at 10PM every night and wake up everyday at 7AM, don't you eventually
become a "morning person"? And say that "eventually" happens over a period of
a few years to make the transition smooth.

Genuine question, I'm really curious.

~~~
srean
> As in, if you force yourself to go to bed at 10PM every night and wake up
> everyday at 7AM, don't you eventually become a "morning person"?

Been trying that for ~15 years, hasn't worked yet.

~~~
YuriNiyazov
You should have some children, you will turn in 2 years or so

~~~
srean
Thanks, that drew a chuckle.

~~~
lichenwarp
nose exhale

