"I Have Most Of My Day Done By 8AM": 30 People Explain Why They Wake Up At 5AM

Bored Panda reached out to That_Late_Bloomer who created the original thread to hear their thoughts. We wanted to know why they were inspired to ask this question in the first place. "I was just bored.I myself wake up at 5 am every day." Naturally, we also wanted to learn why they were an early riser. "I was a very lazy person until a month back I decided to change my habits for good. I now wake up at 5 am as a challenge to train myself to get out of my comfort zone. Actually, my body is not designed for an early bird. I am a night owl. But, you know, you gotta learn to adapt to new things whether it be physically or psychologically. So I am on my journey to become a better version of myself."

Unsurprisingly, the concept of an “early bird” comes from the old proverb “the early bird catches the worm,” which dates back to the 17th century. Anyone who has lived in an area with lots of birds can attest that they are quite early risers, often making a racket and waking entire households in their pursuit of, presumably, worms. Not the most appetizing thought to start a morning off with, but it’s the truth. 

To continue with bird-based metaphors, some people can be described as “larks,” another bird notorious for its early morning ways. The opposite would be an owl or a “night owl.” In general, the human population is quite balanced, with a relatively equal distribution of early birds and night owls and everyone who falls in between. 

Despite this distribution, humans have quite commonly been under the impression that waking up early is important, despite the difficulties, hence the plethora of advice telling people to do it. Aristotle wrote that “Rising before daylight is also to be commended; it is a healthy habit, and gives more time for the management of the household as well as for liberal studies,” while the quote from the introduction is credited to Benjamin Franklin. 

This creates a strange paradox, where a person who sleeps in, whether out of tiredness or a sleep disorder, is often seen as lazy, even though most of us would enjoy a few more minutes every morning to sleep. While schooling is supposed to pave the way for a career, teenagers do need more sleep than adults, so forcing them to wake up like a worker at a regular 9-5 is actually detrimental. 

Others listed outside factors that “forced” them to wake, like the aforementioned birds or simply the light of day creeping in. These are referred to as “zeitgebers,” or “time givers,” from German, and are indicators that your body reads to understand what time it is. Some are passive, like sunlight, but mealtimes are an example that we can control ourselves. This is why people are encouraged to try to be consistent with when they eat. 

On a larger scale, this is actually visible in sports. The home team advantage has a lot of facets, but one is that the other team has to travel, disrupting their circadian rhythm. This can mean the opposing athletes bodies are taking on nutrition, sleeping and even playing at accustomed times. It’s most visible when one time is at least three hours (time zone-wise) away from the other, as closer distances aren’t nearly as disruptive.