My sleep pattern shifted 5 hours while being in the same time zone. Around a year ago I woke up at 5 AM every morning. It was my habit. Yesterday, I was going to bed at 3:30 AM. Today I woke up at 10 AM. I did it both. Here is my personal position on going to bed early versus late.
Early Bird Versus Late Riser
I don’t think that I am personally a born early bird. As a teenager, I was always going to bed very late at night. Falling into my bed at 4:30 AM has never been a great rarity. So it was also no surprise that I was always tired when I had to wake up early. Most of my life I have been a late riser.
About one year ago I read a lot about successful people and I discovered that many of them developed the habit of waking up very early. Some are talking about setting the alarm for 4.30AM others at 7.00AM. So I gave it a try.
After a while, it was no problem at all to wake up a few minutes before the sun rises. It was actually a pretty great feeling. I was energized, more motivated to do sports, eat healthy, and to start my day in a productive way.
What is your motivation?
What makes waking up early easy is your motivation. If you don’t see any purpose and sense in your life it is easy to understand that you would like to sleep till noon. When you have a vision of where you want to be in three years, if you know what you need to do to get there, if you have a plan, it is very easy to wake up early.
What I learned waking up early was pretty clear. First of all, I am super focussed in the morning. Secondly, before other people drink their morning coffee you have already achieved more than other people achieve in the whole day. This second reason is one of the reasons why I will switch back to wake up early in the next days.
Focused Work = Morning Work
Now let’s talk about the other side. Last night I went to bed at 3:30 AM. I was at a networking event the last evening and I still had to work on some stuff and I had to cut my daily vlog. I want to be honest with you, working at night also offers great advantages. Early mornings or late nights are great for focused working. Nobody can interrupt you because most people are sleeping. But if you ask me, there is a little difference between working late at night and early in the morning.
If you work on your most important tasks early in the morning, these tasks get all your mental power. You are well rested and motivated. Your willpower tank is full and your tasks get your full attention.
Creative Work = Night Work
When you work on tasks late in the night, most of your energy is already spent. You are using the last remaining energy of your body. Your brain and your body actually want to shut down. I think the night is a great time to work on creative things like producing music, working on art, cutting videos, editing photos, writing fiction texts. But in my opinion, the night is not a good time to work on tasks that need your full attention and 100% of your mental power.
How Long to Sleep
This is another highly discussed question. I think everyone should get the right amount go sleep he needs. For me, it is 7.5 hours are great. If you need less or more sleep to feel 100% awake then adopt to it. For everyone interested in sleep I recommend the book “The Sleep Revolution” by Arianna Huffington. Click here to read a short summary of “The Sleep Revolution”.
What is your opinion when it comes to sleep? Do you love to get up early or do you prefer working late? Leave your opinion in the comments and I will join the discussion.
