Every day I’m convinced I’m becoming an old man. Not, like, in an “I’m an adult now, watch me do taxes” way. More like “We gotta get to Shiloh’s for their early bird special” kind of way. What has sparked this realization? I think I might kinda enjoy getting up early.
It all started last semester. I got a job as an early morning custodian. I’d get up at five a.m., toss some garbage in a big dumpster for three hours and go to class. So, five a.m. is pretty early but I got used to it. Now I have to wake up at four a.m. to do the same job. I won’t lie, that’s too early of a wakeup time.
I’m not here to brag about how inconvenient my alarm schedule is though. I’m here to report my findings after being an early bird for almost half a year, for the people. What have my takeaways been? I think I might like the early morning better than the late night, honestly. My entire life I’ve been a super night owl. Like, go to bed at two or three and wake up for my nine a.m. class kind of sleep schedule.
I gotta say though, since I’ve taken the four extra hours at night and moved them to the morning I’m a bit happier. Instead of working late into the night, tired and noticeably less focused, I just get some sleep and wake up rested and able to finish the work much better. Not to mention, and this is a peak boomer sentence, the sunrise is like, way better than the sunset. When I walk to class and see the sun coming over Portage Lake, it is honestly one of the few moments of color Houghton in the winter actually has.
What are some cons to the morning lifestyle? Well, for one, a lot of the time going to bed early just isn’t feasible. We’ve all got midnight deadlines for assignments and we all push it to the line sometimes. It is also very hard to adjust to waking up early. I won’t lie, if I didn’t have to wake up early for work I’d never have started waking up early. I also want to be clear, on my days off I don’t still wake up at four in the morning, I like to sleep in till six.
If you’ve gotten this far into the article, I’m honestly pretty impressed. I don’t know what compelled you to listen to me ramble about my sleep schedule for roughly 450 words. I’m not saying we should all wake up before the sun, because that’s kind of ridiculous. What I am suggesting is to try setting that alarm clock back an hour and go to bed an hour earlier. You might be surprised how much you like it.
