

Benefits of Rising Early, and How to Do It - danhak
http://zenhabits.net/2007/05/10-benefits-of-rising-early-and-how-to-do-it/

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mhd
As with most Zenhabits posts, it's just filled with feel-good hokey (come on,
the Dalai Lama? How is he an expert on good working hours? I'd rather get sex
tips from the Pope). No actual evidence. And if you've got flexible hours
(which a lot of programmers have), most of it is moot anyway. Late risers can
have their breakfast and prepare for the day at 12 o'clock if they want to...

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archon810
The guy is clearly not a programmer. Programmers' most productive time is at
night - everyone knows that.

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vyrotek
I actually get a lot more done early in the morning. All the distractions are
gone. No one is sending me email or trying to chat with me on IM.

~~~
projecktzero
Some people are morning people and some people are creatures of the night. My
mind is much sharper in the mornings. Most of my co-workers are better at
night.

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ryanwaggoner
The article is OK, but in my opinion, it gets a few things wrong. And I should
know: after struggling with getting up my whole life, I became an early riser
(pre-5am). Rather than rehash it, here's a previous comment on the subject:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=525334>

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Adaptive
Agree with ojbyrne that this could all be replicated on a late night schedule
as well.

How about this: 10 benefits of conforming to your bodies natural rhythm? I've
read plenty of research on innate, physical inclination to rise early or late.

Regardless of whether I work late or early, I tend to rise at the same time
(unless acted upon by an outside force). Working late means I need less sleep
and am more productive.

Of course the downside of this is that the world is on a morning schedule. I
am currently conforming to this due to children. I look forward to reverting
to a night schedule.

[http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1903838,00.ht...](http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1903838,00.html)

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Encosia
The benefits of rising early are so profound that he decided to do the
opposite: <http://zenhabits.net/2009/04/how-to-become-a-late-riser/>

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JacobAldridge
Another Benefit - reading an article like this leaves you with a feeling of
acknowledgment and pride.

As opposed to my current feeling of guiltily agreeing with all of these points
and knowing I won't do anything about it.

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Goladus
There are benefits to rising late as well. Some of them are similar to the
ones listed in the article. If you are in your room by yourself, 1AM to 2AM
tends to be a quiet and peaceful time. A lot of social activity also happens
around midnight, and if you are an early riser you may find yourself burnt out
and unable to participate by the time midnight rolls around. If you are forced
to stay up late a few days in a row and you naturally wake up early as well,
you may start accumulating a sleep deficit. A sleep deficit will eventually
catch up to you and you'll stop appreciating those morning benefits.

There was also an article posted a while back of a study done that showed
people who tend to wake up late performed better on some cognitive tests at
certain times of the day, while there was no similar advantage for people who
naturally woke up early at any other times.

I do think _this_ article does point out some of the practical advantages that
the experiment in that other article wasn't interested in; like how a sunrise
makes you feel, the value of beating commute traffic, the value of getting a
head start on daily activities, etc. (I like rising early and have tended to
for the past 5-6 years. In my case, natural light and no drugs[1] is all it
takes)

[1] Alcohol, caffeine, as well as ibuprofen and other painkillers can all help
me sleep through a sunrise.

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roundsquare
Additionally, working (and therefore staying up) late can be out of your
control. If you have a job where you have "fire drills" with some frequency
then your sleep early/wake up early schedule is going to be hard to maintain.
However, if you have a sleep late/wake up late schedule then a last minute
fire drill might cut into dinner, social life, etc... but its less likely to
cut into sleep.

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chrischen
Wow that putting alarm clock away from the bed is ingenious. I've gotta try
that.

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bfung
Don't worry, you'll learn to sleep through the alarm clock =P

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spydez
You think you jest...

I have to have 2 alarm clocks on normal ok-if-I'm-late days, and 3 if I
absolutely have to wake up by x:00 AM. Each a progressively further zombie
walk away from the bedside.

I have 3 for the important days because walking to the kitchen is apparently
not enough to wake me.

The problem now is that my third is my cell phone, and if I forget to turn my
ringer way up, I can sleep right through that since it's so far away.

I am not a morning person. -_-

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socratees
Total irrational BS. Just like mhd said, that whole site is full of feel-
goodey things - doesn't belong on HN. The comments clearly reflect that.

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californiaguy
If I'm healthy and exercising 3 times a week and eating right, I can wake up
whenever I want and be productive the entire day.

If I'm not, it's simply impossible.

This stuff really isn't that complicated, people.

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TweedHeads
When I was younger I used to wake up at 4pm and code till early 6am, pure zen.

Now that I am older I try to go to bed the same day I wake up.

The older I get the earlier I want to wake up, the less I want to sleep.

