If you got up 45 mins earlier

[Draconis]

What would you do with time?
I want to do this (when we get back to our normal routine) and fit in 20 mins of exercise and 20 mins of reading.

I love the idea and I would watch a show and exercise but I know it won't happen as I would be so tired. I barely function on a work day as it is.

Put make up on

Oh god more new year new you rubbish. My tip is don't start unsustainable habits that you won't keep up with, and then end up hating yourself for not being up to keep it up. It's not healthy.

Why is it 'rubbish'? 🤔

And you're the only person who has mentioned 'new year new you'!

A poster asked about what people would do if they got up 45 minutes earlier. Lots of us who get up early replied; others said it wouldn't be for them.

Sounds like a perfectly balanced thread to me!

It's worked for me for ages. It is about the only time of the day I get where no-one wants anything from me or of me.

I love it and would not swap my early morning rising for anything.

i'd mostly spend it wishing i was still asleep.

I already get up at 7, on usually only about 5hrs sleep if its a good night. It'll be a cold night in hell the morning i willingly wake up before 7 to give myself more time to do things, when i could be spending it sleeping.

It wouldn’t work for me. I just can’t shift my natural body clock to become a lark. It’s pretty rubbish being a night owl in a society designed for early risers.

I can’t get to sleep before 11.30/12 no matter what time I get up. I’ve tried.

Even when I drift off I wake multiple times before I finally go in to a deep sleep about 5/6am.

Its frustrating because there’s plenty more I can and would like to do at 6/7am - run/exercise/walk the dog and pretty much nothing I want to do 10pm onwards but I know I won’t sleep so can’t go to bed.

At the moment I have a 10 week old so usual life is out the window!

I use to get up ‘45 mins early’ to have a coffee in bed, have time to make bed etc, sort washing and have time to sort the kitchen after breakfast so I cud come in from the school day and dive straight into my wfh job.

if the (big) kids were at their dads, I’d get up early to go to the gym.

I do get up early before anyone else and cook the dinner, do the dishwasher, ironing, washing machine. I don't do any chores in the evening. We come from work/school/activity and dinner is ready and all we have to do is eat/read/wash/sleep.

I do agree that there shouldn’t be this image of early risers being more pious simply because their most productive hours happen to be in the morning, but just to reassure you that I get no end of stick for not being able to stay up late on the regular. I’m boring, old, no fun etc etc. Almost everyone I know is a night owl!

I suppose the OP could have said “what would you do if you could find 45 minutes to dedicate to yourself every day” and actually, having a proper relaxing wind-down or prepping for the next day in the evening would be just as beneficial to having a good start in the morning.

i already do this to take pain meds so i can get up! I WFH thankfully but could possibly get up earlier and get more done

For years I use to be up for work at 0445 but changed job in lockdown and now get up at 0700 and wfh. I am forever being annoyed at myself because I think I should get up at 0630 to write or run but I find it really hard to even wake at 0700.

I get up at 6.45 on a school day. This time of year it's so dark I struggle enough with that!
There's nothing I could do at 6am that I couldn't do at another time. My daughter is on the tube at 7.30am so I go to the park with the dogs and home just after 8, still time before work starts to get breakfast and do a few things.

I'm already up before 6am to walk dear dog for an hour before work. Some winter mornings I swear I have to draaaaaaaag myself out of bed and I do get super tired by 9pm and in bed soon after most evenings.

Yy I have had loads of stick about the night hours being the most creative, as though I am some dullard incapable of creativity because I need to go to bed by 9.30pm. And I’m not someone who sees any moral superiority in being a morning person so it would be nice to receive the same courtesy

In my head I'd exercise, in reality I'd sit downstairs in my exercise gear starting blankly into space while my cup of tea goes cold.

F that! I already get up at 5.30am to do horse and dog and subsequently am in bed by 8pm every night. Getting up 45mins earlier would just result in me going to bed at 7pm!

I’d sit angrily wondering why I’m getting up at 4:45am instead of 5:30am when DD wakes, do nothing extra with my time except perhaps google what level of sleep deprivation is enough to kill you.

My problem is that I'm a night owl so often go to bed at 1am but I also really, really hate getting up late and would prefer to get up early.
My night owl nonsense is often just watching tv or reading useless stuff on my phone.

I would probably spend that time laying in bed, before coronavirus I would wake at 5 am exercise do some cleaning and be at work for 8-30 now I feel less motivated.

I have a child that senses the moment I open my eyes and is up and awake before I've even moved. How? I don't know, but getting up early would just result on her following me around talking to me and subsequently wake up her sister too. I see no benefit in waking up earlier unfortunately

Feed the cats; make a ; watch an episode of QI while DH is snoring...oh, hang on - I do that anyway.🤦‍♀️

OK, feed the cats, then give them dreamies, clean the trays if needed, have and toast, watch a QI or two, have a bit of a tidy, feed the blackbird and robin (v early visitors).

DH gets up between 7 and 8 in winter. I'm up around 5 - sometimes earlier. I love quiet mornings. 😻

It would kill me.
I get up at 6am to be at work 7.30 as it is.
As an Owl rather than a Lark that's a huge struggle, especially in the short, dark days of winter.

@Draconis If you are a true night-owl, then you can't also be an early bird.
It will kill you - trust me, I've tried staying up really late, you get 2 days in and it's permanent jetlag crossed with a hangover.
Don't do it.
If you want an early morning then you have to have an earlier night.
Sorry.

I'd be up at 3.15 🤣🤣🤣🤣

That's NOT happening!

TBf though I'm up at 4 because I take DS to swim training for 5 and I do actually do 5k whilst he swims.

So I would absolutely recommend getting in some exercise if you can.

What I think based on my experience is that exercising first thing makes it easier to settle to sleep and so you'll probably be able to do the 20 minutes reading at bedtime as you'll be tired.