Tell me about life as an early riser

[MaryJonesEscapesAgain]

After rashly encouraging DD's enjoyment of swimming, we've got to the point where I need to get up at 5am three times a week to take her to training. I'm wondering whether to try and make it my usual waking time so it's less painful, use the extra 1-2 hours to go for a walk, clean the bathroom, do archery practice or something. I'd love to hear about other people's experience of being a very early riser - how you use the time, how you adjusted (or if you didn't adjust) and how it impacted time with family members in the evenings. My usual waking time is 7am, and I'm ok with 6am, but anything earlier tends to leave me feeling sick all day. I'm happy getting up early in theory, but I would like to see DH occasionally (not an early riser) and I'm thinking 5am starts might simply be incompatible with the odd evening glass of wine. Thanks for any thoughts!

I was going to say I'm a morning person, but no where near the extent of some PP!

Get up 5.30ish, take the dog out, brew, breakfast, shower and start work around 7

Wow

You are amazing

We have horses so early mornings are normal all year. It’s the best part of the day (though the darkness in winter can be tough but I love being out and about as the sun rises)

I'm an early riser but really struggle
getting up before 6am particularly in the darker months. I also hate the idea of having to go to bed by 8/9pm!

I tried to wim the same time as DS did squad. But squad has changed to afternoons and I'm still waking early. I do Pilates at twice a week and brain rot on mumsnwt the other days.

I'm a reluctant early riser these days (2 year old DD), when I was a younger and more rested woman I used to love getting up at half 5 so I could cycle to work. It was about 18 miles and all along cycle paths and the coast. I'd be so zen by the time I got to work! I did go to bed at about 9pm though and slept like a log. Maybe that's why it's such a struggle getting up at half 5 now 😅

I've never, ever managed to adapt to being an early riser - I've always been a night owl. It was a problem for me during school, and sometimes as an adult when I've worked in offices and had to commute. It made me unwell and unproductive.

After reading Why We Sleep, I realised I really am wired that way. I can't get to sleep before midnight no matter how tired I am. My brain is buzzing at this time of night, I get a lot of work done between 9pm and 1am (I also write). If I have to get up very early (e.g. for a flight), I feel ill, and my whole day is a bust.

Realising there's no way I can rewire my brain has been revolutionary for me. I now work in the hours that I'm most productive, and wake naturally between 8 and 9am.

I love going up onto my roof terrace at night to enjoy the stars, and the way everything looks in the moonlight. I may not get the dawn chorus, but I get the nightingales, foxes, owls and nightjars.

Wow, Im a night owl and just couldn't cope with bed at 8pm! It's great that you're all up early enjoying the peace etc but how do any of you spend time with your children and dh if you're off to bed so early? How do you cope with nights out/events that finish way past your bedtime? I won't exoect any answers until tomorrow as I'm guessing you're all fast asleep by now!

I get up at 5am but can't get to bed before 11pm usually. My daughter has activities most evenings and we don't get home until 9/9.30pm and sometimes end up eating after as we haven't had time before hand. How do you get to bed by 8 or 9pm?

Early riser here. I love it. I read the news, have a coffee in peace & quiet. It's when I feel most alert. I love watching the sun rise. I love having done my chores, such as unloading dishwasher or doing laundry before 8am. I feel productive. And yes, I also exercise first thing too. It really feels like "me time".

I'd bin the idea of your DC being competitive swimmers, OP, and stay in bed. Otherwise you're committing yourself to years of early rising.

On an average working day when we haven’t got anything social on in the evening, DH gets up before 5am so he can go for a run and be at work for 6:30am as he has meetings starting at 7am. I just get up with him, enjoy coffee and the peace and quiet. If it’s light, I’ll go out for a walk, if not I will read til it is light. If it’s a cooking day (usually twice a week), I will cook for a few hours. I do laundry one day a week too and of course there is always tidying up to be done. DH generally home by 4:30 or 5 and we will have an early dinner, watch some telly and then go to bed no later than 9pm.

Chuckled when I read this. For me, the day is just moved around. DD is a young teen so is either out or in her room. There’s a small window where she allows me her presence and I just grab it. She goes to bed so late for me but it works for her. I did create a thread when I was frustrated about her bed time and found the responses strange as they likened our early bed time to sneaking off like teenagers which it just isn’t. The definition of horses for courses.

So you can comfortably go to bed while your young teen is still out? If an event finishes at say 11pm do you just get up later? Or do you avoid going out at night? Genuinely interested.

I go to bed while my teens are still awake. Mine don’t go out lots in evening yet. My parents used to go to bed before I was home. They had a phone by their bed though.

I think I would just end up going in my phone for even longer if I got up that early!

I walk rurally at 5am in the winter. Its no different other than the lack of light. I still see all the creatures and it's very cool walking past a field of sheep and 100 pairs of eyes reflect your headtorch back at you!

OP I'm a morning person, have been since I did a morning paper round as a teenager 33 yrs ago!

I go to bed early. Every night. My body just starts to shut down at 8pm ish, I'm always upstairs by 9. Stay consistent. My alarm goes off at 4.30am 7 days a week. I don't always get up, but very rare for me to sleep past 6am.

It feels lazy to me (I know it's not) and I feel guilty for missing the best part of the day.

If I need to collect DC from pub work at 1am, I go to bed and keep my phone on loud, wake up, collect them and go back to sleep.

No, no, no! I can go to sleep while she’s up (which took me a long time to be comfortable with and is only the last few years) but I absolutely would not be comfortable going to sleep with her out unless she was sleeping at a friends house. Even then she has to text saying she is going to bed.

And I would just get up later where I need to. If I can still get up early, then great but I’m not weird about it. Honest. 😬

You don’t need to do it everyday. one day a week I have to get up at 3.30am to travel for work. I just go to bed very early the night before. Often I don’t even get to sleep early but I’m resting. The first few times I did it I legit thought I was going to kill myself driving the car at 4am. Now I’m just used to it and it seems normal. On the other days I (reluctantly) get up about 6.30am because my children force me to

I wish I could be an early bird! DW is up and out at the gym every morning at 5 whereas I have to force myself up at 730ish for work. Earlier than that and I feel rubbish.

That sounds fantastic and so motivating.
I have to drag myself out of bed. 6am for work days , other days depends what I’m doing.
I’d love to be so productive.

We can be ships that pass in the night. I'm a late night person, OH is a morning person. He's usually up hours before me. I get up to tea in bed before I shower, my clothes warmed (cold weather) and layed out. Breakfast is usually ready for me an when we were working he'd have pit something in the slow cooker. Does sound like it was a bit spoilt but the downside was/is he goes to bed early. It's been something he's always done, he used to go to the gym/swimming early (apparently even at 5am it was already quite busy). Nowadays he sits out when it's not raining and reads his kindle. Somedays he bakes, I swear that baking cakes and filling the house with the smell should be a crime.

On “swimming weekdays” (my swimming, not the kids!) I'm up at 5.20, other days I aim for awake at 5.30 so I can mentally plan my day and be productive by 6am

On no-swimming days I’m up at 6am to make coffee and prep dinner, feed the pets and peg out /fold laundry, unload dishwasher, make packed lunches. Then time for a shower and get ready for work. By then kids have breakfasted so we can do reading, maths and spellings or whatever the teenager needs (often something unreasonable at last minute)

At weekends I swim at 7am so the timetable is slack - but a lie in until 6.20am is no lie in at all really …