How to train myself to be an early riser ? Tips needed for a night owl.

[bushproblems]

I have never been a morning person, and as I’ve gotten older, it seems to be worse than ever. I just love my sleep and but I can not get to sleep before 12ish, then struggle to wake up at a reasonable time.

Ideally, I’d like to be up and about by 7.30am but I snooze my alarm till gone 8.45 some days! Luckily I WFH at the moment.

Has anyone trained themselves out of being a night owl?

I’ve been trying this for 20 years. It doesn’t work. My body still doesn’t want to sleep before 1am.

Absolutely. For some of us it’s much harder than just changing our job or habits.

I woke up at 9.30 after setting my alarm for 8.30 🫠

It’s not that simple OP. Being an early or late riser isn’t a lifestyle choice, it’s genetic.

https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/51/8/16

There are apps you can download on your phone that make you solve a puzzle every morning before you can turn your alarm off. That could help stop you hitting snooze?

Definitely genetic - I am an owl and remember having a conversation with a sleep specialist in who came to visit our university back in the day. We're hardwired going back as far as our earliest ancestors. He asked me what my optimum hours were - at 7pm I feel very alert and able to do anything, and that energy carries on until at least midnight when I really have to force myself to sleep in order to get up at a 'normal' time the next day. He said: "Well you were the one guarding the cave from the sabre toothed tigers while everyone else slept then - you were the person watching over the fire to make sure it didn't go out and kept danger at bay." Sadly the world is not geared towards fire-watchers and sabre toothed tiger observers...

People definitely see getting up early as somehow more virtuous than getting up later, even though they don't think they are lazy by going to bed early while others are staying up late.

it's been about 25 years of trying so far.

I was always a late riser, could easily stay in bed until 1pm on the weekends. Now I've 'slept in' if I'm up after 5am!

Go to bed at the same time every night and get up out of bed at the same time every morning, this will regulate your circadian rhythm. Fill your days with activity to tire yourself out, this way you'll find you'll fall asleep earlier and stay asleep and your REM sleep will improve. You'll also feel you've accomplished things throughout the day. Block out all blue light, get a white noise machine if you're like me and have to drown out racing thoughts, stress etc

I did have a sunrise/sunset alarm clock, but I found the sunrise to be too harsh, and then the alarm itself failed to go off entirely, so I've gone back to the buzzer.

I’m not sure it’s that easy to overcome your lark/owl inclinations.

I am a lark and I really struggle to keep my eyes open past 9:30pm. Ideally I go to bed at 8:30 and read for a bit, up at 5am full of energy and ready to tackle the day.

That’s the issue for me too, I never feel like I’ve had enough sleep. Even if I’ve had a solid 10 hours.

I’ve never once woken up and been raring to go.

The question to ask yourself is why sleep is not attractive at 10pm or even earlier and the. becomes so attractive when it is time to wake up again.

Have you ever been in a different time zone, you know how your time clock adjusts after a bit of disorienting? Could you tell yourself that you are in a different time zone, to help yourself get to sleep early?

once you sleep early, you will wake up early too.