Who Starts The Day Too Early?

Some people, especially some actors and Silicon Valley chief executives, start the day very early. Is this a good way to get more done?

Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg, who has been nominated for an Academy Award twice, announced that he gets up at 02.30 every morning and goes to bed at 19.30 in the evening. Wahlberg isn't the only one starting the day this early. Apple's CEO Tim Cook was said to get up at 03.45; Disney CEO Bob Iger starts exercising every morning at 4:25. According to a common belief that draws attention on social media platforms such as LinkedIn used by professionals, if you want to be successful, you need to wake up early. So should everyone try this? Would we be more efficient in this case? Maybe. But this also has a price. It is also necessary to see the impact of the desire to wake up at the crack of dawn and impress people with how "productive" we are.

Getting enough sleep is important

Waking up as early as 02.30 can be interpreted as a long day and little sleep. But Wahlberg ensures that he gets 7 hours of sleep every night by going to bed early. Getting enough sleep is very important to be productive. Insomnia negatively affects both health and a person's cognitive skills. Christopher Barnes from the University of Washington and Gretchen Spreitzer from the University of Michigan conducted detailed research on this subject. They examined questions such as should companies ensure their employees get enough sleep? According to Spreitzer, actor Wahlberg can be more productive by changing his waking hours during the day and starting the day earlier. "This has some advantages," says Spreitzer. "You gain discipline and have more time for yourself. You get to do your own things before your family and friends wake up." However, going to bed too early in the evening may prevent a person from developing social relationships. Social relationships are necessary for mental health.

Are you an early bird or an evening bird?

So, is it suitable for everyone to start the day very early in the morning? It is the body clock that determines a person's sleep pattern. This clock triggers sleep and wakefulness times in our body at regular intervals. Most people tend to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. This is why our body is shocked by the jet lag we experience when we move from the country we live in to a different time zone. Based on this body clock, researchers divide people into two main groups: early risers (those who wake up early and go to bed early) and evening people (those who wake up late and go to bed late). Barnes says that there are differences between people, but in general, we are early birds in childhood, evening birds in our youth, and return to the early bird routine as we get older. Barnes believes that people like Wahlberg who are naturally "super early risers" are very rare. "Psychologically and behaviorally, the best thing for a person is to adapt to the natural body clock and determine the time to go to bed and wake up accordingly." Those who do not observe this and go to extremes are acting with a different motivation.

The need to impress others?

So why do so many people brag about how early they get up in the morning? This may be because waking up early is associated with productivity. Additionally, there is a tendency in society to favor early risers. A study conducted in 2014 looked at the performance evaluation of 120 adult employees by their managers and found that they viewed those who started work late as less sensitive and gave them lower scores. In addition, principals who were early birds evaluated them more negatively than those who were evening birds. "We see a bias when evaluating work patterns. If you start the day early, you are viewed more positively." However, the important thing is not to impress others, but to listen to your body and decide when to go to bed and wake up accordingly. Starting the day early can really be a productivity booster. But while doing this, it is necessary to ask: Am I really doing this to achieve more, or am I just trying to convince myself and others of this? Whatever the reason, health is important. Barnes' research shows that trying to stay awake at a time when the body clock demands sleep increases the risk of engaging in inappropriate behavior. "When you're low on energy and not feeling well, bad things happen to you," says Barnes.