Walk into the Menlo library and you’re likely to see more heads sleeping than studying. Tired students take power naps between classes and activities after staying up too late to finish homework — a task prolonged by TikTok and Instagram brain breaks. But in the pursuit of trying to get more done, there is a more successful and healthy alternative to the 2 a.m. homework submissions and late night Celsius drinks: going to sleep and waking up early.
Morning people have a bad rep. They are the peppy Instagram runners who wake up at 4 a.m., drink collagen, run in 30-degree weather in spandex and talk about all the nature they saw. Their chirpy demeanor is particularly irritating when we judge them while sitting bleary-eyed in our beds at noon. I, personally, am not a morning person. As a long commuter to Menlo, I used to dread my 6:45 a.m. alarm going off on school mornings — the latest I could get up to catch the bus or Caltrain.
Additionally, doing my homework until the dead of night seemed logical because it gave me peace of mind to complete my work before sleeping. But as I trudged through the beginning of junior year — with homework and sports practices piling up — I didn’t have the same energy for late night homework as I did during my years as an underclassman. A few years prior, my parents had started working East Coast hours — 5:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. work days — and had pushed me to adopt their schedule. I finally took notice that they had a brain boost every every morning and their eyebags had disappeared without the help of retinol cream.
So I gave my parents’ routine a shot. According to a study from YuLife (a wellness and lifestyle company), college students show that “morning people,” individuals who get up between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., are about 10% more productive, have higher GPAs and have better mental well-being. Waking up early, coupled with going to bed early, is essentially the same as drinking a shot of coffee, giving you a massive productivity boost. Your epinephrine levels elevate, giving you a “morning adrenaline rush.” This jolt increases heart rate, improves breathing and dilates blood vessels and increases circulation to your brain — making you feel more alert and energetic.
It might seem more productive to stay up late and finish homework in one go, but in reality, students tend to work slower at night and poor sleep makes it harder to form and retain information in their long-term memory. This myriad of health benefits makes it a popular lifestyle choice that is conducive to productivity, mental clarity and overall well-being.
It’s not the easiest thing to move away from a late-night routine and, if the early morning wake-up is too daunting, being a night owl is not always bad. Night owls tend to need less sleep to function for extended periods of time. They are also more likely to get bursts of creativity and brain waves that push them through brick walls. If you are a die-hard night owl, you might consider finishing STEM homework earlier in the evening and save the later nights for thinking through creative work that might be required in humanities classes.
That said, it’s worth making the shift because not only does waking up early make it easier for you to do your homework, but it also has positive effects on mental and physical health. Night owls tend to face higher stress levels, and are more susceptible to mental and emotional tolls, which reflected my own late-night experiences. Despite staying up late, I never finished my homework and I was too tired and anxious to wake up. In contrast, YuLife studies show that healthy sleepers — those who rise between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. — have better overall sleep and daily life habits. They feel more rested in the morning, and are less anxious, which, let’s face it, is how we all want to feel.
Despite its benefits, being a morning person is a function of your chronotype, which is your body’s genetic preference for waking up early or staying up late. Overcoming your natural circadian cycle isn’t easy, and the best way to make a long-term change is to incrementally change your routine. Studies recommend shifting the time you go to bed and waking up 15 minutes earlier every day over time to become a morning person. You should still try to get the same amount of sleep, but adjust the start and end time.
It’s 4:30 a.m. while I write this article to meet my deadline. I’m well-rested and I’ll finish with time to spare. I’ll enjoy the sunrise and be the first to hear the birds chirping. Though part of me still wishes I were in bed, I’d probably still be writing the first paragraph if I had stayed up late.
