Society & Culture

Are you a night owl or a morning person?

Society & Culture

Posted by: TaylorCS

9th Aug 2021 04:43pm

Are you a night owl or a morning person? Why do you think that is? Have you ever purposefully made the switch?

Comments 89

Anna32388118
  • 27th Jun 2024 01:27am

Always a night owl, I tend to struggle to wake up early in morning even if I got to sleep really early, it just never changes, so been a night owl is more efficient for me.

Carla30692808
  • 11th Dec 2021 02:33pm

I've been a night owl my whole life, rarely asleep before midnight, more often than not still up at 1 or 2am...
I would love to change it and have tried different things, as my kids are usually up anywhere from 5:30-7am, and it's only the rare occasion that I can sleep in...
My next stop is hypnotherapy

isaacsmum
  • 1st Dec 2021 08:50pm

Night time is me-time so I’m a reluctant night-owl. I do try not to sleep in too late - is rising at 9am too late?
I think I am a night-time convert. When I’m an empty-nester would I still prefer to stay up than rise early - not sure but probably.

capfantastic
  • 17th Nov 2021 01:51am

I used to be a night person. Now I am a morning person. I think age has a lot to do with it! I would still be a night person if I could sleep until noon ;)

Anna32388118
  • 27th Jun 2024 01:28am
I used to be a night person. Now I am a morning person. I think age has a lot to do with it! I would still be a night person if I could sleep until noon ;)

Omg yes, I'm currently in uni, but I cannot imagine waking up early every morning for work, I love sleeping till noon

Avocado Green
  • 27th Oct 2021 02:13pm

I have always been an early bird. I'm always too excited to see the sun shining through the curtains and hear the birds singing! I can't go back to sleep knowing there is a beautiful day ahead! It's such a serene time of the day. It's the time where you can set your attitude up for the day ahead and choose whether you are going to take things in your stride, be grateful and joyful. :) (Or not!) However, I often find the night time is quite productive for getting work done. There is nothing left on the to-do list and you can concentrate on projects... When there are things to do, I become a night owl also!

I think having a quiet time of the day, where you can enjoy your own thoughts, is important. From my own observations of family and friends; I have noticed people split into morning and night people based on when they can get this time to themselves - whether it's a quiet morning or a quiet night.

Samantha32175360
  • 8th Oct 2021 02:29am

Hi, I'm a night owl because I have little ones under the age of 4 who is my son and my daughter has just turned one and believes night time is play time

wendel
  • 28th Sep 2021 12:34pm

I used to be a night owl and also had to get up very early for work each day. But when I was younger I could do manage it. But now I'm in my mid 60's it's very hard, early bed and later to rise.

gobombers
  • 22nd Sep 2021 05:03pm

I'm a night owl as I wake up late ing the mornings

heeleen
  • 19th Sep 2021 11:36am

I much prefer to get up early in the morning and get going, I seem to have more energy then rather then at night.

Koshica
  • 18th Sep 2021 02:03pm

Night owl- always been, afraid always will be. I've tried to purposefully make the switch but it's quite hard.

Jody 31416125
  • 18th Sep 2021 12:40pm

I have trouble waking up, but when I get up early I always feel better

Kim32166604
  • 17th Sep 2021 05:09pm

I get up every morning at 4.15am but I'm in bed around 8.30pm...I have tried to change my sleeping patterns but it didn't work..makes for a very long day but it's nice watching the sun come up in the morning

RandomThings
  • 15th Sep 2021 06:53pm

I'm a night owl. I sleep late, around 11pm to 2am, and wake up late. Usually 9 to 11am. It's probably because I like staying up to read, and also cos i feel more awake late at night. I've tried making a change but my desire to read surpasses my will to change.

mustang6000
  • 15th Sep 2021 08:28am

A night owl here, probably go to bed about 1/2am and usually up by 6am. So, maybe a bit of both bot I find I get more done at night after everyone is in bed.

Lierin 31622164
  • 14th Sep 2021 11:58am

I'm a night owl. I grew up with my mum being one and these days it's good to have some time to myself after the kids are in bed.

annie
  • 14th Sep 2021 07:41am

I like going to bed early reading or doing puzzles for a bit then go to sleep and wake up early and get up

Em_1405
  • 13th Sep 2021 08:09pm

I used to be a night owl that stayed up late (midnight bedtime) and get up at 8-9am each day and then start work at 10. Now I’m in bed by 7pm, up at 3am, start work at 7am. As someone that works in science and does a lot of writing, using the quiet time in the morning to get difficult tasks done has been fantastic. I feel like I am making many more achievements. It also means that when I get home from work, I can hang out and watch tv without feeling like I still have more work to do after dinner. It was a big adjustment, but absolutely worth it for me.

Ziah
  • 12th Sep 2021 01:00am

I am neither a morning person nor a night owl, but some form of permanently exhausted pigeon

I have tried to be a morning person to no avail, and insomnia often turned me into an unwilling night owl, but I really don't identify with either

helhy
  • 11th Sep 2021 05:36pm

I am a night owl, I like the quiet of the late evening and night, but sleep better during the day when there is traffic going past. I need some noise to sleep.

jenisweet
  • 11th Sep 2021 08:44am

Definitely a night owl. I start becoming active after 7 p.m.

CJ31637233
  • 11th Sep 2021 02:07am

Night owl
Yes tried to change

Summer31973094
  • 10th Sep 2021 11:23am

I’m definitely a night owl, something about night time makes it easier for me to concentrate and get things done.

helhy
  • 11th Sep 2021 05:38pm
I’m definitely a night owl, something about night time makes it easier for me to concentrate and get things done.

I'm the same, my brain works better at night.

pizzas57
  • 10th Sep 2021 09:48am

Night owl not into getting up at the crack of the sun only did when going to work and getting paid.

Lee337
  • 9th Sep 2021 11:39pm

Night owl with chronic insomnia. Mornings are hard? But once I’ve been disturbed it’s impossible to get back to sleep. So I’m just sleep deprived constantly. Nothing has helped so far.

Gail32128337
  • 9th Sep 2021 08:28pm

Im a morning person, up with the birds.

erogenius
  • 9th Sep 2021 08:02pm

Definitely a night owl. I hate any hour before midday

archer
  • 9th Sep 2021 04:32pm

I am a night owl always have been I can’t go to sleep to early Terry

stewy57
  • 9th Sep 2021 02:57pm

I used to be a night owl but then I got a job that required me to get up very early. I trained myself to wake early and now I can stay up late and still wake early.

Timbo
  • 9th Sep 2021 02:17pm

I was originally mainly a morning person but I married a night owl so now I am both but chronically sleep-deprived.

Manar31961574
  • 9th Sep 2021 01:08pm

I'm a night owl but a morning person at heart. I love the rejuvenation and freshness I gain from an early rise. I think I'm mostly a night owl due to peer influence at the moment. Most of the fun stuff happen at night, so I got in a habit of sleeping late to match schedules. Once lockdown is over though and I move out of my current living arrangements, I definitely want to make the switch to early-riser again :D

Manar31961574
  • 9th Sep 2021 01:07pm

I'm a night owl but a morning person at heart. I love the rejuvenation and freshness I gain from an early rise. I think I'm mostly a night owl due to peer influence at the moment. Most of the fun stuff happen at night, so I got in a habit of sleeping late to match schedules. Once lockdown is over though and I move out of my current living arrangements, I definitely want to make the switch to early-riser again :D

djh2301
  • 9th Sep 2021 12:20pm

Currently I'm a night owl. Pre lock down in Melbourne I was a morning person.

michb
  • 8th Sep 2021 06:03pm

I'm a night owl since retirement. I have no need usually to get up early so I don't.

Ivyreichelt
  • 8th Sep 2021 09:32am

Im a night owl

bestshot
  • 7th Sep 2021 09:30pm

Night Owl. Habit (parents were night owls too). Still trying to switch....

the rack
  • 7th Sep 2021 07:43pm

Always have been a night owl

Zedd
  • 7th Sep 2021 05:26pm

I still don't know. My family says I am a night owl but I think that's only because I lived with them. Growing up they would always eat late and do things in the middle of the night. I just lived like them because imagine trying to sleep at 10 pm when people are watching a movie next room.

When I picture my own future I wake up at sunrise and get things done when everything is still quiet. I do enjoy living like a grandma (it's actually been my nickname since before I remember).

I think a lot of it depends on the people you grew up with and live with (if you are on the younger side). When I have my own place I will definitely be a morning person.

Sarahg8
  • 7th Sep 2021 05:24pm

Definitely a night owl, I don't like getting out of a warm bed. The only time I purposefully make the switch is for early morning flights on holiday

Mumsey
  • 7th Sep 2021 04:14pm

Used to be night owl now I’m older morning person

melinda1972
  • 7th Sep 2021 09:58am

Night owl, getting up early requires coffee - at least one mug

Anonymous
  • 7th Sep 2021 08:40am

Morning person because I begin my day with exercise which stimulates my metabolism essential for good health

daisy
  • 7th Sep 2021 01:24am

iam anight owldont go to bedearly

DeNiro
  • 6th Sep 2021 09:52pm

I am definitely a night owl. I think it's genetic as my mother was the same and I followed in her footsteps although my dad was an enthusiastic early riser. Until about middle age mum and I were both able to fit into the 9-5 society when we had to by dragging ourselves up at the appropriate hour for work and school, but as each of us reached our late 40's we found it more and more difficult to continue in this vein. Mum, being unable to adjust her working hours, retired early. I, however, worked in a more flexible industry and was able to change to afternoon / evening shift. After retirement we both continued staying up till around 1 or 2pm and rising about 12 hours later (having breakfasted and read for a while in bed first).

gobombers
  • 6th Sep 2021 09:32pm

a night owl

raili
  • 6th Sep 2021 04:58pm

morning person because I am more active in the morning

Sport
  • 6th Sep 2021 12:11pm

Generally I'm a night owl but have found I'm also an early riser due to shift work completed 24/7....so I could be up between the hours of 4.30-6.30 or sleeping in all day and working at night...it truly depends on whether I have to work or not...

drummerschick
  • 6th Sep 2021 11:59am

I used to be a night owl and it was not unusual for me to still be watching TV (or cleaning) at all hours of the morning. These days, as I have gotten older, I am lucky to get past 8.30 p.m.! But I do wake up really early at around 5.00 so I guess it balances out.

yumna32125774
  • 6th Sep 2021 03:30am

I'm replying to this thread at 3.29AM so it's safe to say that I am a night owl :)

peakn
  • 5th Sep 2021 07:20pm

I was always a night owl and struggled to wake up in the morning but a few years ago I started running but was too tired after work so I started running in the morning. Now I'm both (or neither?!)

JuniorBula
  • 5th Sep 2021 06:23pm

A Night Owl

Rawa
  • 5th Sep 2021 05:06pm

Night owl

Rhino2
  • 5th Sep 2021 10:47am

A morning person. Always have full of energy and can focus during morning time and the day. In the evening and night, times will be tired as hell, I need is a night of good sleep. I have tried to switch several times without success

Gordo
  • 4th Sep 2021 10:51pm

By nature, I'm a night owl. Requirements of work etc have forced me to be chronologically flexible.

irishboy
  • 4th Sep 2021 04:52pm

Night owl..the hours I work as a nurse [ RN ] when I first started nursing I choose to do night shit . I am so use to the night shit its now what I take as normal . Its quiet as in noise.

AnxiousOne
  • 4th Sep 2021 03:38pm

I've tried both, but favour being a night owl. But no matter which one I do, I'm always very tired.

Liz Tate
  • 4th Sep 2021 12:33am

Well considering it's 12.01am I think I'm a night owl. Which I regrett every morning when 10yr child wakes me up.
Would love to make the switch but I feel horrible & barley keep my eyes open by 1pm if I'm up at 5 or 6am

Lynne32008350
  • 3rd Sep 2021 09:03pm

when studying I am a night owl due to extensive workloads, and working, plus family time during the day, but still get up early in the morning, having taken a study break I am now a morning person early to bed early to rise, so made the switch and now get more sleep.

Zanyt
  • 3rd Sep 2021 08:26pm

Definitely a morning person. I love getting up early in the morning to watch the sun rise and the dawn of a new fresh day.

zolga
  • 3rd Sep 2021 08:07pm

Definitely a night owl. Struggling to get up in the mornings.

judi1
  • 3rd Sep 2021 06:37pm

Definitely a night owl.

littleblackbird
  • 3rd Sep 2021 06:34pm

I'm both. Mostly a morning person but sometimes I switch. :)

Marihan31400331
  • 3rd Sep 2021 05:18pm

Definitely a night owl! I like working when it feels like the whole worlds asleep. Also, it’s peaceful to work knowing that I won’t be interrupted anytime soon. Sometimes I consciously try and sleep in so that I’ll have the energy to stay awake longer and finish my work. However, most of the time it just happens naturally.

Natasa
  • 3rd Sep 2021 01:03pm

Since we've been in lockdown I find I wake up later and go to bed earlier so probably neither haha! However, I'd say I'm more of a night owl normally. I sometimes try and wake up earlier to get more done but I always go back to my lazy ways. I'm self-employed so there isn't a strong urgency to get up early in most cases as the work I do can be done at any time.

stag
  • 2nd Sep 2021 10:28pm

Definitely NOT a morning person. Years of shiftwork and cannot for the life of me still wake up for early morning shifts even on 8-10hrs sleep 😴. I can stay up till all hrs though. Body has a mind of its own

Sim1here
  • 2nd Sep 2021 10:15pm

neither anymore, lockdown after lockdown has turned me into a hibernator

gwatt
  • 2nd Sep 2021 08:16pm

definately a night owl

Anonymous
  • 2nd Sep 2021 06:11pm

night

Jo
  • 2nd Sep 2021 05:50pm

Early to bed and early to rise

Michael
  • 2nd Sep 2021 05:04pm

I go to be between 8.30-9pm daily was a rule and get up about 11.12pm for some tablets. Then back to bed until about 1.30am to do up to no later than 3am to do emails and sleep on until 7.30am or earlier depending on what appointments I have outside the home like the GP. From the mid-1980s my late Mum and I did local papers and catalogues in letterboxes of an evening sometimes going into the wee hours for about 12 years. Couldn't do that now.

PGS
  • 2nd Sep 2021 04:05pm

I generally get by on 4 hours sleep, so cover both.

Jabucat
  • 2nd Sep 2021 12:53pm

I am very much a night owl. I get m second breath at about 21:30 and going to sleep before 22:30 is really difficult unless I plan it well, and so some personal tricks to get myself off to sleep. I toss and turn a bit and every now and then I get up as I am simply lying there being physically uncomfortable. It's in my genes as most of my family is like this. No, tried but never worked. Unless I have taken something to force me to sleep.

Carla Priscila32084450
  • 1st Sep 2021 09:15pm

Night owl person.

#Gypsy163
  • 1st Sep 2021 12:04am

Definitely a Night Owl, and I have been for most of my life.
I love to read late at night, usually up until midnight, sometimes later.
I find it is very peaceful, and I feel very calm and relaxed.
Yes, I have tried to go to sleep earlier, however then I will wake at midnight anyway !!
It doesn't make any difference to the time I wake, usually 7 am, sometimes earlier.

Taxi
  • 30th Aug 2021 05:15pm

Bill.,
I worked late nights for twenty years and found that even though I am now retired I still am up and about at 2/3am and usually awake at 8.30/9am I just love the quiet of the house and surrounding neighbourhood, I usually just read.

jtmorri
  • 28th Aug 2021 09:27pm

I love my bed too much and staying in bed in the morning, so I'm not a morning person.
I then aren't as tired at the night time and find I stay up later than other people in my household because I've stayed in bed longer in the morning than them. I generally get 8 - 9 hours sleep per night so I'm not burning the candle at both ends and staying up to past 1am or something.

kidwithsmurf
  • 27th Aug 2021 10:21pm

I never used to be a night owl during highschool as I always had to be up at a certain time for school and required my sleep. However, when I moved out of home and went to University I was more of a night owl. This was due to having classes on random days at a random times and not having a job. Therefore, if I wasn't at classes, I would do most of my study during the night. One of my closest friends even nicknamed me "Owly".

This said, after University and finally landing a job, I have been far from a Night Owl. This is because I work from 8:30am until 5.00pm. Then when I get home, I am exhausted and just relax for a few hours, have dinner etc and head to bed by 10pm at the latest.

So basically, I believe if you are busy, active and have a mentally draining task for most of the day... you are more likely to not be a Night Owl. Whereas, if you sit around all day/have nothing to do during the day, then being a Night Owl is more likely to be you.

So, I further believe that it depends on your circumstances and what you do during the day to whether or not you are a Night Owl. I believe, I am not a Night Owl purely because my job is mentally exhausting during the day which makes me need sleep at night compared to when I was at University for a couple of hours a day, I'd be up all night studying and talking to friends etc as I could laze around outside of University hours.

harry31626210
  • 26th Aug 2021 09:00pm

Are you a morning person or a night owl?
I’m a night owl. And here is the science behind these different sleep patterns.

Have you ever wondered why you're a night owl and your partner is a morning lark? This can be a real source of stress and even conflict in a relationship. If you are a “morning type” then you are like 40% of the population; night-owls make up 30%, and the rest lie somewhere in between. Sometimes I suspect that owls are naturally attracted to larks! Owls and larks are referred to as chronotypes.

Well the answer lies largely in your genes according to US scientists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbach and Michael Young. They were awarded the NOBEL PRIZE in 2017 for their studies into our body clock or so-called circadian rhythm.

We all have a central clock residing deep in our brain in a region called the suprachiasmastic nucleus within the hypothalamus. During each 24 hour cycle our mood, hormonal levels, core temperature and metabolic functions such as digestion, all fluctuate in a predictable repeated cycle. Similar time clocks are common throughout nature and have existed for many millions of years as species evolved under the influence of the sun’s daily rise and fall. They occur in animals, plants and even fungi. Our inbuilt clock is rather accurate. I am sure you have experienced waking up in the night and wondering what time it is. You “feel” it is 4:15 and you check the bed-side clock and lo and behold it is 4:21!

The prize winners’ research focused on molecular feedback mechanisms in fruit flies, and explains how "molecular feedback loops" keep time. They isolated a section of DNA called the period gene, which has been tied to the circadian rhythm. This gene contains instructions for making a protein called PER. As levels of PER increase, it actually turns off its own genetic instructions. This conveniently triggers the concentration of PER to oscillate up and down over a 24-hour cycle - rising during the night and falling during the day.

As part of the team, Michael Young discovered two other genes which he rather humorously named timeless and doubletime. They both affect the stability of PER. When PER is more stable, the clock ticks more slowly, when less stable it runs too fast. The stability at different times in the daily cycle of PER is one reason some of us are morning larks and others are night owls.

The clock so precisely controls our body to match day and night that disrupting it can have profound implications. In the short term, clock disruption affects memory, but in the long term it increases the risk of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Even our risk of a heart attack soars every morning as our body shifts from sleep to the awake state.

And if you are a night owl, make sure you still get enough sleep. Recent research by Malcolm von Schantz and his team in the UK shows that you might die a little earlier than your morning lark friends.

You can learn more about human sleep patterns at breathesimple.com.

If you found this answer interesting please upvote/share it so others benefit from your question.

I am a morning person,these days, but for many years I was a confirmed night owl. I eventually came to understand the emotional need in me to be a night owl, and as this emotional need in me came to be met, I no longer needed to be a Night Owl.

I can’t tell you that everyone else who is a Night Owl will have the same psychological issues I had, but I can say that there well may be some sort of psychological issue attached to being one, in as much as it seems our species has developed a strong instinctual connection with a predominantly daylight existence.

For me, my nocturnal existence was fuele


Definitely a morning person.

Before — for years — I used to be a proud night owl. Especially during my graduate school days. I was a teaching assistant and also studying for my Masters degree, which meant a lot of juggling tasks. There were student papers to grade, plus my own assignments to complete. I had classes during the day, then went back home around 6 to make dinner and go out with friends or have them over. I would start studying and grading papers after midnight. This would take a few hours so often I’d go to bed at 4 a.m. and wake up around 8, in time for in my first 9 o’clock class.

How

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Are you a night owl?
I am a million percent a night owl.

The nighttime is my favorite part of the day. I get to be in my room and have time to myself, without anyone bothering me.

I typically stay up super late most nights, and I usually fall asleep anywhere between midnight-3 a.m.

No matter how hard I try, I can never seem to wake up early in the morning, which stinks. I love how the world looks before 8 a.m. Everything seems so fresh and new, and the sky is beautiful. The sun emits a soft glow of light, and you can always hear birds chirping. It feels as if you can accomplish anything.

But, due to my habits of staying up late, I almost never get to experience that early morning feeling But I don’t mind that much; staying up late is much easier for me than waking up early...

JDK
  • 26th Aug 2021 01:46pm

both

Moi
  • 26th Aug 2021 03:53am

I am definitely an Owl! I have definitely made that choice as I have become older and particularly through months of lockdown in Melbourne!
My reasons are I find I am less lonely if my actual day is shorter and the evening longer. Before the curfew I loved to go for a walk late at night as it was so incredibly peaceful and beautiful! I always somehow feel safer walking at night as I feel one is far more aware of what is going on around and the street lights are so bright, I love my nights, I even do vacuuming and other chores at night, leaving the daytime hours for gardening. This means I am getting worn out just as it is becoming dark, PERFECT!

margw
  • 25th Aug 2021 10:31pm

I can remember when I was a teenager wanting to go to bed very late and sleep in, much to my mum’s annoyance. Later on in life, I did some shift work, and asked for the evening early night duties. But if it was a day shift, I asked for a later morning start, as I hated getting up at 6.00a.m.
Now I’m retired, I still go to bed quite late, usually watching t.v., but wake up about 7.30 a.m., but because of Covid and non essential travel, I have been staying in bed- sometimes going back to sleep for a few hours more!
I seem to

Dena31948125
  • 22nd Aug 2021 02:05pm

A bight owl. 2 years ago, I started a new job that requires me to work night shifts. I would like to be a morning person and I am trying to but it is kind of hard to switch.

snowbelldb
  • 16th Aug 2021 11:07am

Night owl, but that doesn't mean that there are days that I go to bed at 1 amand I'm wide awake at 6. Drives me nuts. .

Tazzyd
  • 16th Aug 2021 02:51am

I have been a night owl since 2019 and still till this day I can't really get to sleep at all during the night or day.

Maryanne32148409
  • 15th Aug 2021 06:40pm

I was a night owl but I have made the switch to being a morning person. It took a few month to get in a routine but now I wake up at 7-7:30am every day without an alarm

Hannah32113887
  • 13th Aug 2021 04:23pm

Definitely a morning person now, though was 100% a night owl as a teen. I think as I started eating healthier and exercising in my early twenties, I had more energy during the day so I became more productive early on

Gail32128337
  • 12th Aug 2021 12:32pm

Im definately a morning person, Im always falling asleep watching the tv at night. :)

pegz
  • 11th Aug 2021 05:09pm

Working in hospo I used to fiinsh up at around 11pm, get home and relax until about 1am then go to bed. I used to sleep in til 9am as I started at midday. Now years have gone by but I still find it hard to get to bed before midnight. I rise late and wish I could be more of a morning person. I used to get up at 6.30am when I had a design job as i started work at 8am. Recently I had another job where I started at 9am. No matter how I try, I struggle to change my sleep pattern now as I always fall back on the late nights when I am not required to get up for work.

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