> I'm a night owl who always wished I could become a morning person to reap the benefits for side projects, etc.
If you're staying up late at night and getting work on projects done then, then switching that to the morning isn't going to make much of a difference. The total time is the same.
I wouldn't read too much into all of those gushing blog posts about people who get up at the ass crack of dawn to write the next Great American novel while also preparing a wholesome organic breakfast, running twenty miles, and volunteering at their local soup kitchen.
People are incentivized to present their idealized self and blogs are no different, and there's some strange vicarious joy we get from reading about people who are (theoretically) way more disciplined or productive than us.
In my experience, there's nothing magical about the early morning hours. I could, and have, also had lots of productive time late at night.
I switched to mornings because it worked for my particular schedule and the other constraints in my life. Find what works for you.
> Any tips for making it less painful?
The main tip I know for getting up early is: consistently go to bed early. What you choose to do the night before determines how your morning is going to go.
Personally, I'm not very disciplined. So if I was getting up early to do something I don't enjoy, like exercise or work on something difficult, it would be a non-starter.
So, instead, I tell myself that I can get up to have some coffee, surf reddit, watch some dumb videos. Whatever. Something totally easy and selfish.
That's enough to get me out of bed. Then, once I'm on my computer with coffee in hand, I eventually start doing something useful.
If you're staying up late at night and getting work on projects done then, then switching that to the morning isn't going to make much of a difference. The total time is the same.
I wouldn't read too much into all of those gushing blog posts about people who get up at the ass crack of dawn to write the next Great American novel while also preparing a wholesome organic breakfast, running twenty miles, and volunteering at their local soup kitchen.
People are incentivized to present their idealized self and blogs are no different, and there's some strange vicarious joy we get from reading about people who are (theoretically) way more disciplined or productive than us.
In my experience, there's nothing magical about the early morning hours. I could, and have, also had lots of productive time late at night.
I switched to mornings because it worked for my particular schedule and the other constraints in my life. Find what works for you.
> Any tips for making it less painful?
The main tip I know for getting up early is: consistently go to bed early. What you choose to do the night before determines how your morning is going to go.
Personally, I'm not very disciplined. So if I was getting up early to do something I don't enjoy, like exercise or work on something difficult, it would be a non-starter.
So, instead, I tell myself that I can get up to have some coffee, surf reddit, watch some dumb videos. Whatever. Something totally easy and selfish.
That's enough to get me out of bed. Then, once I'm on my computer with coffee in hand, I eventually start doing something useful.