[sjg007]

Here’s how you fix this. Go to bed early and wake up earlier. I do honestly believe that young adults naturally stay up later though. I think there’s an evolutionary reason for it, basically to keep the nights watch and ward off predators.

[jjoonathan]

I'm a night owl (sleep 12-8am) who occasionally experiences season-long hard constraints that force me into early bird schedules (sleep 8-4am). Whenever the temperatures get high and I don't have access to an air-conditioned gym, I have to get up for the daily temperature minimum, whatever it takes. Since this happens for an entire summer, it gives me the chance to adapt to the schedule and optimize around it.

The early bird schedule didn't reveal an untapped reserve of morning energy. It didn't shift my late night energy burst into the morning. In fact, it didn't shift the productivity burst at all -- it eliminated it. This wasn't for lack of sunlight and exercise; getting up early to run outside was the entire point. It wasn't for lack of cold showers, which were remarkably pleasant after suffering in the heat. It wasn't due to a poor diet, or meal scheduling, which I experimented with.

To hear the early birds talk about it, these exercises should have transformed me into a superior moral being of hyper-optimized productivity, overflowing with perfection in every aspect of spirituality and performance. That isn't what happened. Not in part, not in whole. The net effect was small and negative. I traded high-energy night hours for low-energy morning hours. It was worth it to access the daily temperature minimum, but I wasn't able to make the morning schedule work for me, despite having every intent and incentive to do so. When the constraint lifted, I moved back to my regular schedule and recaptured its benefits.

Night owls: try the early bird schedule, there are enough people who report benefits from switching that you owe it a solid try.

Early birds: tips and anecdotes are fine, but frame them in terms of what works for you. Cut the sanctimonious bullshit. It isn't helpful, it isn't appreciated, and it isn't appropriate.

[balfirevic]

> I'm a night owl (sleep 12-8am)

That's... a night owl now?

[ajsnigrutin]

Nah... that sucks if you're trying to actually do something.

When i finish everything (work, home, cook food, eat, cleanup, random household tasks,...) it's usually 8 in the evening, maybe 9. If i want to do something (hobby, personal project....), I start at 9, and work until "too late".

If you go to sleep early, and wake up at (eg.) 5 in the morning, start work at 8, you have (eg.) 1 hour to get ready and commute + 2 hours of free time.

If anything "goes wrong" in my project, i have to debug, retry, fix, cut and cut again (and it's still too short),... doing this in the morning,it means, that you interrupt your pleasure-work at the moment where you're most productive (and where the thing you're doing is most "fun"/fulfiling). I can always go to sleep an hour later, or two, or five... most people are not that flexible with their jobs.

This is just my personal experience and opinion though.

[mewpmewp2]

I don't see how this fixes it at all?

Are you suggesting they do their own things in the morning instead? They would still be sleep deprived, plus the issue is that they actually would have trouble forcing themselves to go to bed earlier as they procrastinate.

[kiliantics]

Here's how you fix this (and how you fix nearly any social problem): organise with your fellow workers and demand better work conditions for all workers from your government and employers, with the threat of general strike across all industries.

[forgotmypw17]

This doesn't work for me. Evolutionarily speaking, we evolved without a regular day-to-day sleeping schedule until the advent of agriculture (see my other lengthy comment on this.)

What worked for me was putting my time and energy towards things which I feel improve the world.