# The secret lives of extreme larks: what do people who rise at 4am do with their mornings?



## Northerner (Aug 15, 2019)

A new study suggests that extreme early risers – people who are willingly up by 5.30am – may not just be restricted to a handful of tech CEOs and your annoying cat. Around one in 300 people tracked over nearly 10 years had naturally early awake times, which may not sound that common, but is perhaps unthinkable for anyone who struggles to wake up at 8am.

One of the authors, Louis Ptáček, a professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco, has been interested in extreme early risers for 20 years, after meeting a woman who would wake at 1 or 2am. He said that it made her miserable and lonely. “She grew depressed,” reports the Atlantic. “Sometimes, she would vacuum at 4am just to fill the time.”

For others, those early hours are cherished, filled with self-improving activities such as exercise and meditation. The schedule of the actor Mark Wahlberg created much excitement online last year; he claims to rise at 2.30am to pray, then exercise. In an interview earlier this year the singer Belinda Carlisle revealed herself to be an “extreme lark”: “I get up at 4am, have a coffee, then put on my Audible app and listen to a great spiritual teacher.”

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...rkswhatshould-we-do-with-those-early-mornings

I think we have a few on our forum  I certainly feel as if I have wasted half the day if I'm still in bed beyond 6 am


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## everydayupsanddowns (Aug 15, 2019)

I only ever used to ‘come to’ around 10am, even when I was getting up at 7 to go to work. 

Having kids, and also getting a dog have certainly wound that back and I now naturally wake at around 7 or 7.30, but anything earlier than that is a struggle!


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## Northerner (Aug 15, 2019)

For anyone interested - and it's a much more important topic than you probably even consider - I'd recommend reading 'Why We Sleep' by Matthew Walker. I found it to be quite revelatory, and it's certainly very critical of the 'modern' myth that sleep is for cissies, explaining why it is at the very core of mental and physical health


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## SueEK (Aug 15, 2019)

I’m up at 5.30 to go to work and am full of beans at that time in the morning. On my days off I tend to wake around 6ish and try to stay in bed until about 7, anything past 8 feels like the afternoon x


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## Lanny (Aug 15, 2019)

I’ve done a complete turnaround from being a night owl to an early lark since retiring from the restaurant business! In both cases I’m up at a time when most people are asleep & I KNOW about that special quiet me time when I feel I’m the only one awake & it’s a special feeling that can feel great if I have enough sleep: not SO great if I’m in an insomnia phase; which can happen to me too!


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## Northerner (Aug 15, 2019)

Lanny said:


> I KNOW about that special quiet me time when I feel I’m the only one awake & it’s a special feeling that can feel great if I have enough sleep


Yes, that's exactly it for me, and why I am often out for my run by 6:15 when there are few people about, just the sounds of nature  One of the reasons I dislike winter so much is because by the time it gets light enough to (safely) go for a run there are a lot more people up and about, more traffic etc.


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## Eddy Edson (Aug 15, 2019)

I'm just really variable - at a pinch I can work all night; some weeks weeks I naturally wake at 5am; other weeks more like 9am ...


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## Northerner (Aug 15, 2019)

Eddy Edson said:


> I'm just really variable - at a pinch I can work all night; some weeks weeks I naturally wake at 5am; other weeks more like 9am ...


I'm guessing it's something to do with living upside down


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## Eddy Edson (Aug 15, 2019)

Northerner said:


> I'm guessing it's something to do with living upside down


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## Lanny (Aug 15, 2019)

Northerner said:


> Yes, that's exactly it for me, and why I am often out for my run by 6:15 when there are few people about, just the sounds of nature  One of the reasons I dislike winter so much is because by the time it gets light enough to (safely) go for a run there are a lot more people up and about, more traffic etc.



I used to LOVE walking home at night, around 01:30 to 02:00 am on Saturdays, after work: the peace & quiet was incredible; helped wind me down too & I’d take my time, looking at the stars in the night sky!  But, the street lights would be bright so, only the brightest stars could be seen: not SUCH a bad thing as constellations are easier to see without the fainter stars; then, when I got to my private lane, no public street lighting, I’d stop, let my eyes adjust, & take a long proper look! 

Now it’s the opposite: often get up while it’s still dark, wrap up warm & nip outside for a look at the stars before dawn; can see the planets Venus & Mercury easier & better in the pre dawn sky than the post sunset sky! 

There’s a Japanese Anime early film by Studio Ghibli “Whisper of the Heart” that features, what I consider to be, the best ever depiction of sunrise, albeit in animation rather than real or is that live action at the end: sun rising over a misty clouded sky that mostly shrouds & hides the Tokyo skyline; absolutely STUNNING!


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## Ljc (Aug 15, 2019)

I am one of the Owl-lark combos, but it’s not by choice . My natural waking times is around 4 am , 5 am if I am lucky, I also have insomnia, I won’t say I suffer from insomnia because I love that quite time when most folks are in bed and on an early summer morning listening out for the first blackbird to start singing it’s little heart out.
I often step out into the garden to listen to the night creatures and look at the stars.
I also read and browse around here.
I sometimes go back to bed around 5 ish if I am tired.


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## SB2015 (Aug 15, 2019)

I reckon that in retirement I am making up for loss of sleep when I was working.
We still have the radio come on at 7:30, but I love that feeling of choosing whether to get up then offer just lie there.  Also if I have a bad night with ever rising levels (I know that curry is not a good idea but ....) I don’t worry as I know I can just sleep in, unlike when I was at work when I would then just get very tired.


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## TheClockworkDodo (Aug 15, 2019)

R is an extreme lark and I'm an extreme owl, so not a good combination!  He normally gets up about 5, but sometimes it's 4 and occasionally it's 3 - he's just awake and can't get back to sleep so he thinks he might as well get up and have breakfast.  I try to go to bed by 1, but often it's 2 and occasionally it's 3, so sometimes I'm going to bed as he's waking up.  There is no way we could sleep in the same room   I try to get up by 10am, but my body really wants me to stay in bed until 11am - R tries to go to bed at 10pm, but he's often nodding off on the sofa by 9pm.  Neither of us ever feels we get enough sleep.

Did anyone else see the Horizon episode about sleep last year? - it was really interesting, the only thing I've ever seen which gave helpful advice about actually changing sleep patterns (most other sleep remedies are aimed at helping people get to sleep, and neither R nor I have any problem with that at all, we both go out like lights as soon as we go to bed, it's just that I tend to go to bed 4 hours later than he does and wake up 5 hours later).


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## KARNAK (Aug 15, 2019)

I have just had two hours kip, that will be it for the rest of the night. I always know when its around 04:00 hrs the seagulls are up and about, screeching their heads off, bedroom window is always open. It gives me chance for ME time and the computer works a lot quicker.


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## Lanny (Aug 16, 2019)

I once watched a documentary programme on channel 4 sometime ago, can’t remember exactly when, about a really scary, fatal sleeping disorder FFI Familial Fatal Insomnia. It must have been about 2009/2010? as shortly after it was featured in an episode of the Oxford based crime drama Lewis episode Falling Darkness.

Unlike most gene mutations the REALLY scary thing is that it’s NOT a recessive but, a dominant gene: you only need 1 copy of it, not two, for you to have it. It’s inherited & runs in families. If you have it, the gene switches on later on in life around mid 20’s to 30’s & you cannot sleep at all. Basically your body eventually dies from extreme exhaustion as it can’t repair itself during sleep. Sufferers may still have day dreaming episodes where their minds go into dazes & they’re not fully aware but, they’re still awake & moving around.

A pair of siblings, man & woman, had previous family members die from this. One male member had even agreed to be scientifically studied & recorded on video when the gene switched on in the month or so before passing away: hoping to help in the research of a cure; still no known cure. The siblings were offered gene testing to see if either had inherited the gene but, both refused. Since there was no cure & it’s a dominant gene, they didn’t see the point: if they have it, it’ll switch on at some point; a death sentence they’d rather not know about as there’s nothing they can do.

I remember this & am SO thankful that I don’t have FFI during my bouts of insomnia when they hit!

Edited to add:- * Oops! Other way round Fatal Familial Insomnia & another form of it has been discovered since SFI Sporadic Fatal Insomnia caused by a non inherited gene mutation!


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## mikeyB (Aug 16, 2019)

I sleep for a minimum of 7 hours, usually 8. Doesn’t matter when I go to bed, it’s always the same. That doesn’t eliminate afternoon dozes, mind, but I regard those as an absolute right now I’m retired. You can’t  do that at work, even though you want to. I’m free range


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## Lisa66 (Aug 16, 2019)

I’ve recently finished reading (listening to) Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. Found it really interesting....fascinating actually.


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## Barbie1 (Aug 16, 2019)

On my days when I go for a run I like to wake around 5 and get out the door into that lovely peaceful and lonely space before too many other people join me. 
On non running days I wale at 5 as usual but have no problem staying in bed until 6.20 when the radio alarm turns on.  Then I’m up, out spry as anything.
Always need to be in bed by 10 though, no matter what time I have to be out in the morning.


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## rebrascora (Aug 16, 2019)

I am a night owl and will happily wander out at 2 or 3am and enjoy the peace of having the world to myself at that time, summer or winter. I often spend time with my horses or muck out. Since becoming diabetic I am trying to get into a more normal routine so as not to worry loved ones too much but I lapse every now and then. Maybe I should work at trying to swap it around and get up ultra early but I just like being out in the dark for some odd reason..


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## Matt Cycle (Aug 16, 2019)

Been both an owl and a lark at different times in my life.  In my younger years I used to stop up late and consequently got up later.  Now during the week I prefer to get to work earlier and leave earlier (get up around 6) but on the whole still get up fairly early at weekends so go to bed earlier these days.  Never had a problem sleeping.  Clear conscience.


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## nonethewiser (Aug 17, 2019)

Age and circumstances changes things, as a boy could stay up till 2am and sleep to lunch.

Work life meant shift work including 15 years of continuous nights, during the night shift period children were born and both of us had to work, so wife would work days I'd go to bed for 2 hours then get up and take oldest to school, back home and watch youngest ones until tea-time when we'd all eat and I'd go to bed for 3 hours more before work, during this time was constantly knackered but soldier on regardless.

Now treasure sleep, in bed most nights by 10 and sleep anywhere up to 7am, looking back it was all worth it but the sporadic sleep patterns was a hard slog.


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## mikeyB (Aug 19, 2019)

Cat naps are piece of cake for people like me, no mortgage, no kids at home, clear conscience. Being 66 helps, too.


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