The early birds gets the vibes

Mornings, as a concept, are kind of a trip because, when you think about it, it’s just a few hours in the day, the same way that the evening is a few hours in the day, and the afternoon and the night. It’s just a period in time. But, for some reason, the morning has this extra something. It’s like, the way you work your morning sets the tone for the rest of the day, and ultimately your life as you are living it. In an article on Neurotracker, Ciaran Robinson (2019) talks through some of the many benefits of getting up early, including:

  • Enhanced organising skills, since this is probably the only time in the day that you have to yourself

  • Feeling happier and more energetic throughout the day

  • Beating long or busy work commutes and crowded gyms (in pre-COVID times, of course)

  • An overall better outlook on life, due to enhanced sleep quality.


But let’s not get bogged down too much by the science. What about the lived experience of being an early bird vs. a night owl?



Well, this is where my own chaotic relationship with mornings comes in. We are talking completely different ends of the spectrum on a consistent basis, paradoxical though that may sound. I mean there were times I slept in past alarms and was late to school despite getting a good night’s sleep, times I believed waking up on a non-school morning before 10am was a mortal sin (cringe for me), but simultaneously I have had mornings where I am in the gym bright and early working up a sweat after a night on the tear, and times where if I know there’s a delicious breakfast downstairs I leap out of bed no matter how tired I am. You see? Very disordered to say the least.


Improving my sleep hygiene is something that’s been on the to-do list for maybe the last 8 years or so of my life, no joke. I have always been a night owl, traditionally. It was almost like when darkness fell, that was when all the craic was to be had. Going to bed early triggered FOMO. Once the clock struck 9, everything around me became so much more interesting - YouTube, Netflix, podcasts, books, messaging apps - that I felt if I tucked myself in for the night I’d miss something. This is delusional, I know. And every morning, I would wake feeling like crap, vowing to go to bed earlier the next night (disclaimer: that almost never happened).


More and more, however, I am appreciating the value of an early morning. I first realised this when on a school trip in Paris at aged 16. Without fail, we were fed, watered and out the door of our hotel every day before 8am. This way, we beat the manic queues for which European cities are infamous, experienced the city in a more tranquil state before the mid-morning and afternoon bustle, and we squeezed a lot more sight-seeing out of each day too. I still maintain the habit of rising early on holidays since my time in the place is limited, and the way I reason it is if I wanted to scroll Instagram in my bed til half 11 in the day, I needn’t have paid hundreds in flights and accommodation to do so. But applying the practice of being up early 365 days of the year has taken a lot longer.


Late nights and sleeping in don’t really feel right to me anymore. I get the impression that, for professionals in their 20s and 30s, the early hours of the morning are where it’s at. It’s almost like being an early bird is in fashion. And this completely makes sense. Various Instagram accounts I follow, be they influencers or actual acquaintances, have stories up from like 6am onwards engaging in what seem like such beautiful, inspiring morning rituals. The morning, when used well, seems magical, peaceful, a new beginning. In the last few months I have cultivated an a.m. routine of my own, which is usually a combo of skincare, repeating positive affirmations, reading from a self-help book or book of quotes, and of course the morning run. God I love the morning run.


Don’t get me wrong, there are times I hear the alarm go off and silently curse, but this is always the way when developing a new habit. I just remind myself of how well the rest of the day will go once I get over the initial, brief discomfort of actually getting up out of bed despite still yearning for my duvet. I find having something to look forward to really helpful in coaxing myself out from under the covers, and at the moment that something is journaling, and Shreddy’s Daily Dose drinks (alternating between Piña Colada and Pink Lemonade flavours atm). I’m hoping that my return to school this week won’t see me reverting back to my old habits of sleeping in as much as I possibly could on a school morning before doing multiple tasks simultaneously and taking barely any time to set myself up for the day in a healthy, meaningful way. Time will tell. In the meantime, please feel free to DM me about mornings and how you work them, or don’t. There’s no judgment here, since you’re talking to someone who, at this point, has been straddling the fence for years.



References

Robinson, C. (2019, July 2). Blog - 8 Health Benefits to Being an Early Riser. Neurotracker. https://www.neurotrackerx.com/post/8-health-benefits-to-being-an-early-riser

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