Words of Wisdom

Oh Garfield. So wise. Sorry to bring on the cheese, but I really do think of toasters when I think of "morning people" and popping out of bed.

I read this on wikipedia today, and it does site the Encyclopedia Britannica as its source:

The ability of a person to wake up effectively in the morning may be influenced by a gene called "Period 3". This gene comes in two forms, a "short" and a "long" variant. It seems to affect the person's preference for mornings or evenings. People who carry the long variant were over-represented as morning people, while the ones carrying the short variant were evening preference people.

Day 5 Got up at 7:20...but I did have to work, and wanted to go to church beforehand, so there was some incentive. I felt okay most of the day, but pretty worn out by evening. Went to bed the earliest so far, must have been around 10:45.

Day 6 Got up at...9. But I didn't feel like this was a fail. I had the day off today, and a lot of studying to get done, and I could tell that if I actually got up at 7 I was going to be a zombie all day, and be frustrated that I got nothing done. So it was a semi-conscious choice. And I got a lot of studying done, once I finally made it out of the house. I'll have to update the bedtime on this tomorrow...not sure if i'll be as tired going to bed tonight, which is a big piece of the puzzle I'd say.

Days 3 and 4

Well, yesterday morn, Day 3, was the first day our heat was on when I woke up. Contrary to my original thought, this did not make it easier to get out of bed. I think I dozed between 7 and 7:45 when I finally got up. I may have actually felt a little less tired most of yesterday though. I don't remember wanting to curl up in a ball on the floor. :)
Going to bed last night was a complete fail. But in my defense, it was Friday night. Also, it should be made clear that alcohol isn't going to help with this experience, and I did have 2 drinks. So I went to bed at 1am.

This morning, also a fail. Snoozed and even reset the alarm. Managed to become upright at 10am. So if it takes 21 days to form a habit, does that mean tomorrow is day 1 again? Oy.

I will say this: I think another part of my reluctance to all of this is that I do think you should pay attention to what your body is telling you. And I've felt like mine was telling me to keep sleeping in the morning. But there's a difference between giving yourself what it needs(extra rest, some time to yourself, time for reflection), and imposing some discipline through routines. It can be hard to tell what's what. I have lived through a time in my life where I just pushed and pushed and never gave myself the time or the rest that I needed, and I'm protective of that now, because I don't want to get to that point again. But I think there's some room for balance. And I'm still calling tomorrow day 5.

a morning person

As wrong as it may seem to some, I just have always felt that there are "morning" people and "night" people, and since I was a little girl, still awake while Johnny Carson was on in the background, I have been entirely a "night" person. So when I had a visit with my naturopath earlier this week, and she told me I need to be going to bed earlier (between 9-11pm) and getting up earlier (at 7am), I felt confused, befuddled, perhaps a little disbelief. But how, I asked, will I be able to get out of bed, if I don't have somewhere to be? She seemed confused, "Can't you just be in your house?" she asked... "No, I mean physically, how will I be able to get out of bed, if I'm not expected anywhere?"... Just do it, you'll get used to it, she tells me. She wasn't that harsh, I could just tell, she must be a morning person. Also she has kids, and when you have kids, you kind of have to get up when they do...

Now I'm not saying I'm a lazy layabout. I don't sleep til all hours of the afternoon. But I do work different shifts on different days so I don't always have to be somewhere in the mornings, and I certainly have trouble being in bed before midnight. But I didn't think I was doing all that badly. So I decided to just listen to her. And see what happens. It takes twenty-one days to form a habit, so maybe it's about having the habit of early waking. Although I have to say the only time I've woken up naturally early in the morn is either when I'm having a lot of anxiety, or when I'm in pain. And don't get me wrong, I've had plenty of jobs that required an early waking time, but honestly that just made me feel like neither a morning or night person, a nothing person. Tired all the time.

So today is day two. And I have twelve minutes before I have to be in bed, asleep. I think today I felt even worse than yesterday. It's actually still kind of dark at 7am, and it's been so cold. Cold fall, turning in the winter might be the worse time to start such a regimen, but here I am. Granted some of this "feeling glued to the bed in the morning feeling" might be symptomatic of my larger health picture/problems, so maybe someday I will figure all of that out. Or maybe it will always be a struggle. I will say that I'm surprised I've been able to do it two days in a row. I haven't jumped out of bed, I have pressed the snooze, but I haven't fallen back to sleep either.

Day 1 (yesterday) I woke up at 7, physically got out of bed at about 7:30. Went for a walk to the mailbox, and felt ok for some of the day, but really wanted to go to bed at 7pm, sadly realizing that I had only been up for 12hours. Went to bed for real just a little after 11pm.

Day 2 (today) woke up at 7, stayed awake but did not actually rise out of bed until 7:45. Did my pilates for posture dvd and even managed to shower, though it was freezing out. And I suppose I'll be in bed a little after 11 again this eve. But I was really tired today, especially after lunch it just hits and I want to curl up in a little ball.

So yes, I want to hear your thoughts, morning person or night? Has it changed over the years? What are the contributing factors if it has changed. Do you feel changed for the better? More productive, more energy, etc??

I'm still skeptical about this sticking, but I figure I need to swallow my pride, because if I can't take my health care practitioner's advice, how can I expect anyone to take mine?