Why snooze and miss out on being an early bird that makes life happen?

 I know that for some strange reason most millennials have this genetic disposition for sleeping till noon? I was raised to truly believe that getting up early meant that you got more work done in a day, had more personal time and actually didn’t experience the always behind syndrome. I always chuckle when I see someone that just can’t get their act together until lunchtime and usually look like they are still sleep walking.

I had coffee with a close friend this week at 6am. We were just catching up on life circumstances when I finally asked my friend what time do you usually get to work? His quick response was; ‘I always go to the office at 6am because there is only one other person there. I can get three hours worth of work done in an hour with peace and quiet!’ I admit that we are both aging baby boomers who were programed from birth to see the obvious advantages of being an early riser.

So is it possible to see any of my adult kids or their friends actually purposely get up before dawn? As a parent it was somewhat humorous watching our two daughters grow up with their different internal clocks. One daughter, as a little kid, was up before dawn automatically. Our other daughter was barely awake at noon or 1pm. What’s hilarious is our night owl daughter now has a job that changes shifts all of the time and is more than able to be out the door before 5:30am to be at work by 6am.

So is it easy to transition from being a night owl that loves to see the sun rise but then sleep the majority of the real day to someone who sees the advantage of going to bed at a decent time so they can get up early? Clearly this is possible but not probable for most until your life circumstances force you to make the change. I’m so proud of one of our interns who recently graduated from college and just got her first full time job. Today was her first day of real work after training for the last three weeks. The challenge for our special friend is that getting up early in the past was around 10am.

Today we witnessed not a miracle but the discipline of someone who has joined the work force and had to be work at 6:45am. Our dogs give us no choice but to be up around 5:30am each day. So it was a proud morning as we watched our friend make the jump from being a night owl to someone that wants to change the world before the sun is out! This doesn’t mean that you can’t sleep in on occasion or take a nap!

So my mom would always tell me that the early bird would catch the worm and that usually when you snooze you lose. So what will it be; watch the sunrise with a great night’s sleep or have that hangover feeling all day because you just had a few hours of slumber?

Yes it helps to have a loud obnoxious ring tone on your iPhone's alarm to assist in rising before dawn!