How to Become a Morning Person—ASAP

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wondered how to become a morning person. Not necessarily in a “5am club” kind of way; I just like to start the day with enough time to eat a big breakfast, work out, and put on my makeup before work. But for reasons beyond my control, I would take naps again and again for an extra 10 minutes.

I walked into the office one morning complaining about how hard it was to get out of bed in the morning, when a coworker discovered that I had actually written an article in 2019 titled “How to Become a Morning Person When You’re Not a Morning Person.” As we laughed at the irony of it all, I decided it was time to take action to turn things around once and for all.

Even though I’m still a night owl at heart, there are a lot of things that make getting up in the morning easier and sometimes even fun. First, I read this story about changes I could make in my sleep hygiene to get some advice.

Here are things I’ve done over the past few months that have actually helped me become a morning person.

Benefits of being a morning person

Being a night owl is not inherently a bad thing. There are no significant health benefits to being a morning person, says neuroscientist and Pluto sleep expert Chris Winter, MD. Instead, the key is to make sure your body clock type (which is your body’s natural tendency to determine whether you’re a morning bird or a night owl) matches your sleep schedule. “In other words, if you’re a morning person and work the night shift, you’re going to be less healthy than someone who works the night shift. These are just genetic predispositions, just like eye and hair color.”

Christine Won, MD, medical director of the Yale Center for Sleep Medicine and director of the Yale Women’s Sleep Health Program, agrees, saying that our genes largely determine whether we have a morning or evening sleep chronotype, and that any health benefits we get from getting enough sleep have more to do with how in sync we are with our sleep chronotype. “Generally speaking…circadian biology is optimized when synchronized with light and dark. So the early lark [morning people] There may be advantages to rising with the sun and sleeping with the night,” she said.

Studies have shown that people who identify themselves as early risers may be less likely to develop depression or obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but she says going to bed and waking up early doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get these health benefits. “The studies so far are just correlations,” she said. “People who are naturally early risers also appear to be genetically or otherwise less likely to suffer from obesity, metabolic disease or depression.” As for the psychological benefits, she says enjoying the extra time before starting your day may make you feel more productive.

Can you train yourself to be a morning person?

While some people are genetically better suited to waking up early than others, experts say it’s still possible to train yourself and develop a morning habit. But you must be diligent in your daily work. “For people who have severely delayed body clocks or who are naturally late at night, it’s important to stick to a strict schedule, especially our wake-up time,” says Dr. Won. “Just a few nights of sleep can disrupt your rhythm, forcing you to start over and advance your body clock.”