Hi everyone! Thanks for all the congratulations on my big milestone on Monday! The weather here in Anchorage has been pretty awesome the last few days and I’ve been doing tons of running, hiking, and playing outside to celebrate!
As I was recapping my weekend, I realized that basically everything awesome that I do happens in the afternoon or evening. I’m really not a morning person – I’d rather sleep in until 8:00 or 9:00, lay around drinking coffee and reading a good book, and then waiting until after lunch to do anything that requires moving. My peak hours at work are around 11:00 am and 3:00 pm, and I’m seriously so unproductive at 8:00 am when I get there. And running/working out in the mornings is painful for me. Why wake up early to work out on an empty stomach in the dark and cold while I’m cranky and half asleep when I could just wait until after work when I’ve eaten a few meals, hydrated, and given the outdoors some time to warm up?
Yesterday’s post-work run at the Lagoon. It was fabulous and NOT early.
I always see blog posts from my fellow bloggers titled “How to become a morning runner”, “How to wake up early to work out”, and “How to become an early riser”. I’ve always been amazed while reading those posts- waking up is HARD, how does anyone do it super early just for a workout? Why would anyone want to become an early riser, especially when it’s so difficult? And why do so many of us feel guilty when we just can’t be morning risers?
Truth.
Now, no offense to morning people, but it’s hard always feeling like the lazy ones and not understanding why mornings are so painful! But I recently read this article from the Huffington Post called The Hidden Brilliance of Late Risers, and I was excited to learn that I’m not the only one out there who feels this way. Night owls are pretty awesome people, and it’s time that we saw more articles celebrating our ability to be productive when most early risers are ready to sleep! So to help out all of my other late risers out there I decided to make my own how-to list to help people be more productive in the afternoon and evening:
- Spend your productive night hours getting prepared for the morning: I’m guilty of oversleeping and running out of time to get everything ready in the morning. Setting out my clothes, packing my gym bag, and preparing my lunch before I go to bed really helps me cut down on morning stress when I’m half asleep!
- Bring your workout clothes to work: Remember that gym bag I was packing? Even if I’m not going to the gym, it’s nice to have my clothes with me at work so I can change right into them and get in a run before I go home. By the time I get home I can get tempted by my comfy sofa and skip a workout, but it’s easier to fight that temptation if you don’t get home until after you work out!
- Maximize your most productive hours: I’m fully aware that my early mornings at work are a slow time for me to read emails, organize the office, and do basic tasks. I set up my most important tasks (meetings and classes) for the late morning/early afternoon so that I’m on point when it matters. I also set aside time at night for blogging because it works best for my brain!
- Stop worrying about not liking mornings: Hey, we can’t all like the same things in life. It would get boring, right? So if you’re the only non-morning runner in your group don’t feel bad. Make the most of your own strengths and own it! Skip those sunrise runs for ones that let you experience sunsets instead. It’s basically the same thing.
As the articles says, Late risers shouldn’t feel pressured into “becoming” an early bird. One isn’t better than the other; the most important thing is you know what works for you. When you figure out when you’re most productive, the rest will fall into place.
So tell me: Are you a morning or a night person, and have you ever tried to change? When is your favorite time to work out? Any tips to help people be more like night owls?
Mom in the Mtns 
I’m a long time morning person. 4:00 am is my favorite time of day. I recently had to make more use of my less productive after work hours to make time to study. It’s something I have to do right now but I will always be a morning person. My husband is the total opposite.
Haha this is the opposite of me! Your whole post made me cringe – which is the whole point of my post 🙂 We all clearly have different schedules and as long as we’re both okay with sticking to what works for us I’m happy! Seriously though, congrats on enjoying a time of day where I’m deeeeep into sleep 🙂 That is dedication!
I’m definitely not a morning person! My peak hours seem to be around the same time as yours, and I’d much rather get my miles in after work than get up earlier and go before (especially because I leave the house before 7 to get to work, which would mean waking up waaaaaaay too early to go for a run!). Last summer I tried to shift my long runs to early mornings so I could beat the heat, but it was rough. I think your tips are great – do the important things during your peak time and the rest will fall into place 🙂
Yay! I’m so glad I found another non-morning person 🙂 It’s so hard to find others who hate the early morning running too! Hopefully you won’t have to run too early in the mornings this summer.
Haha, you know I’m a morning person! Nights are for relaxing and doing nothing! I have so much anxiety if I put something off until the end of the day!
Haha we are so the opposite! I have anxiety if I have to get up early for any reason – I panic and can’t fall asleep because I’m afraid of oversleeping! I feel like we could never be workout buddies but that’s okay. We should still run a race together someday though!
I totally agree with this.! it’s all about finding what works for you. I know I’m a morning person. I wont do anything productive in the afternoon..besides eat, that counts right. lol
Haha yes eating is super productive and important 🙂
I love this! I can force myself to get up early and workout or get to work or whatever, but I don’t like it, and I don’t feel like I’m truly awake until after 9 am. We have a lot in common–I pack my gym bag, lunch, and breakfast (overnight oats) before going to bed, so I can sleep as long as humanly possible, and I bring my gym bag to work so I either run at lunch, or after work before going home–it’s great!
We would be perfect workout buddies! Mornings are so tough, we should just workout whenever it feels right!
I am a morning person, but not for working out! I definitely enjoy running in the evening time BUT I did try to change my mentality! I’ve been trying to hit the gym in the morning when I can, just to get a taste of what the morning workout thing is all about. It;s hard!!! I definitely love my bed way too much LOL, but I also like having my workout taken care of for the day. sooo.. I’m kinda inbetween right now, but I really still like the evening runs and watching the sunset 🙂
I am right there with you! My workouts are better (I can go faster and longer) in the afternoon so I don’t think morning running really does much good for me. Sunset runs are the best!
I love though when I go for a real quick 1 mile run + weighs in the morning and then a long run in the afternoon and say “I’m doing 2-a-days” lol
That actually sounds awesome! I could probably handle 1 mile before my body realized what was happening 🙂
You know, it’s funny, because I always get SO tired by the end of my days! It’s very difficult to motivate myself to go exercise after being on my feet all day. Not that mornings are easy for me but evenings are harder! But I think it’s good to have options, because there are definitely days I choose to be an evening person and other days I choose to go with mornings 🙂
I have days like that too so I hear you. I just think people should do whatever works for them so they can enjoy working out more!
I absolutely 100% agree with you! We are not all built to be early risers. I think creative people in general are more night owls. Getting up with my alarm every morning for work is hard enough. There’s no way I could get up even earlier to work out! This is just 1 reason I long to freelance some day!
Haha it makes me feel awesome to think that I’m a creative person! I agree that my alarm going iff is the most horrifying part of my day. It huuuuurts!
I’m a night person, but…. I do work out in the mornings. I’m on my feet all day at work teaching, and then my own kids just EXHAUST me at night. So once they’re finally in bed and it’s like 9pm, it is nearly impossible to get out the door. And then I get home and I’m all wired and jabbering away to my husband at like midnight when he’s trying to go to bed – haha.
In my perfect world, I sleep until 9am, sit around in my pajamas for an hour or two, and then head out for a run mid-morning, before lunch. That’s what I do in the summers when I’m not working. When my kids get just a little bit older and can stay home alone, I’ll probably try to leave work by 4:30 and get a run in before I head home during the school year. I don’t know. It’s all about staying flexible, I think.
That actually sounds like a perfect set up! I think that whatever works for people is what they should go for. I feel like so many people feel pressured to be morning people but it won’t work for everyone. I love that you’re able to make morning workouts work for you!
haha I love this! I categorize myself as a morning person, but a lazy one. I love waking up early and snuggling in with my coffee. I would rather stay home until mid-morning and then head out for my activity of the day after I’ve had time to eat. I love being awake early but not productive or active! I also love going to be early! :p
Haha that’s an awesome way to put it! I do enjoy taking time in the mornings to be lazy, I just wish I could sleep a little later before doing it 🙂
hi there 🙂 I am more like a morning person and my problem is that I am miserable in the afternoon (always sleepy and unproductive) the thing is that most of my exams are scheduled for the afternoon so my brain will not work properly (the difference is really huge lol) does anyway know a tip to overcome that? it is really not fair, and it is not about sleeping times, even if I’d sleep just before the exam I will never feel the way as in the morning
help! 🙂