How I Became a Morning Person

Being a morning person has been a fight. It doesn’t come easy for me. However, I love waking up in the morning in the quiet of the day, reading my Bible and spending time in prayer and having the time to get a jump on the day before anyone is awake.

I have struggled with being a morning person for a long time. Ever since I was 20 years old I would love being the night owl, pulling all-nighters and going on 3-4 hours of sleep. However, that can only go on for so long before you have to crash and catch up on sleep. It would affect my moods, it would affect my productivity at work and I’d get headaches and crash during the middle of the day.

I had to make a change. It first started with getting rid of my addiction to soda. I would drink 3-4 sodas a day. I’m not a coffee drinker, so I rationalized it as my daily intake of caffeine. However, when I got rid of soda and switched to carrying around water bottles all day, that really helped me not to stay up so late. I then began to go to bed earlier and I would wake up refreshed. Those headaches I used to get throughout the day started to disappear. I really started to enjoy life more.

This also led me to be more productive with my time and helped me to start accomplishing some of the goals I’ve had. Having good sleep habits helped me to think more clearly and I was able to problem solve at work more effectively.

I recently saw this article on the Sleep Habits of Millionares, and although this isn’t why I started waking up early and getting better sleep habits, it is definitely worth the read.

Proverbs 20:13 says “Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.”

Getting enough sleep is important, but too much sleep can be harmful. Regardless of what millionaires are doing, you need to be your best self throughout the day. Your family needs you to be your best self throughout the day. Don’t waste away your life by sleeping through it b/c you can’t make yourself go to bed until 2am or 3am. 

What are your experiences with sleep habits? Does it affect your coding or your problem solving skills at work?