It's possible to change from a night owl to an early bird.

[DGUtley]

It's possible to change from a night owl to an early bird.


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If your body and brain fail to rev up until later in the day, you’re likely a night owl, naturally programmed to enjoy staying up late and sleeping in past traditional school and work start times.


Yet getting up early to meet life’s responsibilities is the bleary-eyed reality of most late-to-bed types — leading many exhausted night owls to wonder: “Can I reprogram my biological clock to be an early riser?”

The answer for most night owls is “Yes, you can,” according to sleep experts. How successful you will be at changing your sleep preferences, however, may be dependent on your genes and your willpower. “We can make you less of a night owl, but not completely, because the genetic tendency, or predisposition, is still there,” said Dr. Phyllis Zee, director of the Center for Circadian and Sleep Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Illinois.


“It’s like if you have a gene for diabetes, right? You can modify that with your lifestyle, but it doesn’t change it,” Zee said.


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[LescoBrandon]

Yep. It's called "aging". As you become a "middle aged" person, you'll find that no matter how late you wanted to sleep, you're still awake before your 6:00AM alarm. May as well get up and pee.

[Omar]

This is something I struggle with. I'm a natural night owl, exacerbated by years of working late shifts. I've tried repeatedly to force myself to get up early in the morning, but I always drift back into staying up late (and getting up late). To make matters worse, even if I get up early, I don't really feel awake until about mid afternoon. And then my energy ramps up again around 11 pm.

[carolina73]

This is something I struggle with. I'm a natural night owl, exacerbated by years of working late shifts. I've tried repeatedly to force myself to get up early in the morning, but I always drift back into staying up late (and getting up late). To make matters worse, even if I get up early, I don't really feel awake until about mid afternoon. And then my energy ramps up again around 11 pm.

I worked a summer on swing shifts. Rotating 1 week on each shift. I never slept. I ended up negotiating to take 2nd shift rotation all the time, which no one wanted. Finally I slept.

[Omar]

I worked a summer on swing shifts. Rotating 1 week on each shift. I never slept. I ended up negotiating to take 2nd shift rotation all the time, which no one wanted. Finally I slept.

Ugh, swing shifts are the worst. It can't be healthy.

[Peter1469]

When I was in college and law school I did stay up late- happy hour somewhere every day of the week in New Orleans. I still got up what most people call early (like 7am).

These days I am in bed by 8:30 and up around 3am.

[jigglepete]

I trend towards night owl myself. The best shift I ever worked was 2-10pm. On worknights, I'd be getting out of work as my friends were winding down for the evening, I could (and would) rage until 4 or 5 in the morning, have time for 8 hours sleep, and still have time for a cup of coffee and lunch before my shift...heavenly...