Being a morning person is overrated

What if your brightest ideas shimmer under the moon’s watchful gaze or while everyone’s dreaming about an afternoon siesta?

‘Tis the season when social feeds echo with promises of new habits — destined to make the new year better than the previous one. Amidst familiar vows of fitness, reading, and carving healthy work-life boundaries (lol), one perennially resurfaces like the endless remakes and reboots of our favourite TV shows and films (we have better options): becoming a morning person. The tussle between the early birds and night owls reigns supreme.

For years, we’ve been serenaded by CEOs romanticising the virtues of an early start. We read reports about Tim Cook proudly unveiling his 3.45 AM wake-up ritual, Richard Branson indulging in a ‘leisurely rise’ at 5.45 AM or Narayana Murthy’s desire for a 70-hour work week. Their daytime efficiency is paraded as the benchmark of success and a celebration of the 5 AM club.

While the world slumbers, the 5 AM disciples partake in a symphony of activities — meditation to rival ancient sages, concocting green elixirs that could reforest the Amazon and workouts that could challenge Olympians.

Impressive, but is this early morning pilgrimage truly the only road to prosperity?

The last time I woke up that early was for a school trip. And while my markers of success look more like a Mahindra Scorpio compared to the top 30 per cent of people’s choice of a Rolls-Royce Phantom, it’s unlikely that waking up earlier will propel me into the top 10. Here’s why.

The morning person mantra, and why following it blindly can backfire

From a young age, we’re taught about early birds and worms. Mom pulling off your razai at 10 AM on a Saturday because you’ve slept away half the day.

Some people thrive in the morning, perhaps finishing their day’s work before lunchtime. Hustle culture denounces the lazy bums who waste precious hours of the day on something as frivolous as sleep when you could be “smashing the stock market, bro”. So I tried to be a somewhat morning person.

Cue to days of clocking in to work at the required 10 AM mark and after a big hit of caffeine, word-vomiting a story. It works for about half an hour until I find myself spacing out, as I contemplate whether I should get a hydrafacial or chemical peel on the weekend.

Then comes the struggle and frustration. My writing becomes robotic; I can’t follow a coherent narrative flow and become irritated at my perceived failure. Annoyed, I try to squeeze out any creativity in my brain and hit send on the link to my article for editing, knowing very well I’m headed for edits. Cue more annoyance.

After years of trying to bend to the lure of the morning people syndrome, one throw-away line changed my perspective. Stuck in a writer’s rut, I was complaining to my editor at that time. While giving me advice, she said, “I don’t care when you work, as long as you’re dependable and meet your deadlines. I value that.”

Over time, (and much experimentation), I’ve finally come to accept that my internal clock doesn’t synchronise with the crack of dawn. And that’s ok.

My mental pace prefers a gradual ascent rather than an immediate sprint until well past noon — so trying to meet morning efficiency feels like fitting a square peg into a round hole.

The often-touted benefits of being a morning person revolve around heightened productivity, discipline, and seizing the day. But do innovation and creativity truly adhere to a schedule? What if your brightest ideas shimmer under the moon’s watchful gaze or while everyone’s dreaming about an afternoon siesta?

In an interview with Fortune magazine, Marco Frigatti, SVP at Guinness World Records said, “Unlike many other business leaders and chief executives, I’ve always been a night owl—or a late chronotype.”

“My night times are when I’m condensing all the ideas, conversations and interactions I had throughout the day,” he explained. “It’s when I’m able to think critically, be more creative and come up with solutions to help my team and our clients succeed.”

Consider history’s nocturnal maestros. Kafka wove tales under the night sky (though he had chronic insomnia). Mozart composed symphonies in the tranquillity of night.

Success isn’t reserved for a morning person. Productivity comes when you tap into your natural mode of functioning — now I dance to the rhythm of my own symphony rather than Tim Cook’s. And I enjoy it much more.

Identify your rhythm and formulate a plan

Tune into your prime hours. Start by recognising what the most productive hours of your day are: when you feel the most awake, alert and ready to concentrate.

If your mind hums with the first light or the slow burn of the afternoon sun, embrace it. Use those hours for activities that require focused attention. Whether it’s journaling, planning, or creative brainstorming, your prime time offers a canvas of possibilities.

For those like me who find their creative juices flowing after noon, revel in it but plan for the day-time routine of work schedules.

I still do my reading, interviews and basic research in the morning and start writing when I’m most productive – after lunch. Keep the heavy lifting for your peak hours rather than attempting mental gymnastics when you haven’t even stretched.

Instead of struggling all day after forcing my brain to function in the morning, I put down the basics, take a break and manage to get most of my day’s work done in my peak hours 2 PM — 6 PM.

Find your prime time, and designate these hours for complex tasks that require maximum concentration. Delegate the rest of the not-so peak hours for mundane task that require minimum effort.

Adjustments

Often, becoming a morning person isn’t really a choice. You have to embrace it to meet life’s responsibilities. But there are ways around it — if sending kids to school, commuting, house chores and family emergencies come up in the AM, when you’re more bleary-eyed than a hibernating bear, adjust.

Finish off the tasks requiring urgent attention, but take a break when you can, even if it means a partner or parent steps in to help you. Better yet, if they’re a morning person, swap tasks and take on high-energy chores for when you’re at your best.

Our biological rhythms are pretty much inborn and out of our control. While your sister is naturally programmed to wake cheerfully at ungodly hours, your father gets his best work later in the day. Experts call it chronotype, “a person’s natural inclination with regards to the times of day when they are naturally active and alert, and when they prefer to sleep,” according to Forbes.

Energy optimisation

Quality sleep is the cornerstone of productivity. If becoming a morning person interferes with your life, sleep schedule or impacts your health (and sanity), what’s the point?

After trying to become a morning person, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s overrated. Success and happiness aren’t confined to a particular wake-up call. I started writing this post lunch and wrapping it up to send it to our copy editor at 6pm, utilising my peak performance hours and going into what my partner calls ‘power mode’.

This story is no James Baldwin or Arundhati Roy masterpiece, but if you could see the first drafts of my older stories, it might seem that way.

My ambition doesn’t mirror that of the high-achievers I’ve mentioned, and I already anticipate the reaction to this being that my mindset is exactly why I would never get there. But I’ve found contentment in my work and life goals that aren’t orbiting around my job.

So, here’s to the moonlit magicians and post-afternoon prodigies in the making. Success doesn’t have one face; it dances to the beat of your drum, regardless of the hour.