Get up around 5.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm so glad you posted this. My friend insists that she will never be a morning person, it's just her nature.

It's pretty rude of you to question something like this that another adult says about themselves. I have to be up at 5 every morning for work and hate it with every fibre of my being. I'm always up on time, but I'll never be a morning person.

No, but you could get yourself used to waking up early. Hell, even without an alarm.

I'm not a true morning person like my son - he has gotten up by 6 from the day he was born and is READY TO GO. But I can get up at that hour, function, and wake up without an alarm which is more than I could do before.

Some current research suggests whether you are a morning person or not is genetic, not something you choose:

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/do-you-have-the-genetic-profile-of-a-morning-person/

Yes! Lots of research on this. I got through college and grad school great as a night owl (and avoiding early morning classes or taking naps after class). Did great nursing because I didn't mind being up at night, but every morning for work takes me a good 2 hours to feel awake. My daughter is a morning person and my son is night owl and sleeps until 10 on snow days and weekends (he's 8). He goes to bed at 9:00. My husband requires very little sleep and that's another problem. He gets home from work at 7:30 or 8:00 and has to eat quickly then help with bedtime. I'd never see him if I went to bed at 9! He goes to bed at 12 or 1 and I usually go to bed at 11 or 12.

I'm not really a morning person, in that I don't like mornings. But they're actually a pretty good time for me to get stuff done because I'm very efficient in the mornings when trying to get out of the house.

I hate hate HATE getting up at 5:00 a.m., but during the spring/summer/fall track season, I haul my tired ass out of bed at 5:00 to go run the track once a week with a group. And during the summer when it's super hot, I will get up early enough to finish my run by 7:00. It's worth it to get the workout over with, even though I hate getting up so early, and then I can start my day knowing I've already knocked out the workout.

You will have to adjust your bedtime, though. I go to bed by 10:00 when I'm up at 5:00.

Op here. So I tried really hard to incorporate the suggestions here last night. DH did all the prep work while I got the kids ready for bed/got them to sleep. Then he went to exercise (in our basement) at 9, and I got into bed to read. I turned off the lights at 9:30....and lay around until 11. Fell asleep shortly after that but did not wake up at 5 am as I wished...just hit snooze a few times and couldn't get my body moving. Was awakened at 6:15 by DD1 as usual. Not sure how long this is going to take! I think I will try to set it for 6 am tomorrow, maybe I need baby steps...

I cut back to 80% and have friends/colleagues who did similar. The general consensus is that you take a pay cut but you do the same amount of work. I worked 10-4. Sounds lovely. I would always start getting emails starting at 8 and of course I would read them. I would get phone calls on my drive to work since everyone knew I was on my way. I would often be on the phone on my drive home delegating what I did not finish. After I got my kids and got home, I had emails and phone calls to return about 90% of the time. I ate lunch at my desk.

I eventually stopped working because I felt like I was half assing work and my kids.

I second (or third??) the comment from a PP who said cut back to 90% at work. Assuming they will let you....but you don't know til you ask.
If you have reservations, reconsider your priorities.
In the long run of life, when you are finally done with your career, it is not too likely that you will look back with regret about doing something that helped to keep your sanity, your time with your children, finally gave you some time to exercise for your own health, etc.