39 Is Fine: but does it mean I'm meant to be a morning person?
'You're nearly 40! You should be able to get up!'. That was the slightly bemused voice of The Boyfriend this morning. He is *shudders* what's known as a morning person.
I am not.
My reply: 'Why? WHY?! Whyyyyyy (yes, in whiny voice, eyes still shut tight) should I be able to get up because I'm older?!' Although, it did help me decide what to write about today. So, you know, silver linings…
Now my eyes are open, the question remains. DO I have to be a morning person because I'm nearly 40? And if so, why? Seriously?! What is it about my age that means I should get up on time? (apart from, I suppose, as an adult, I should be able to rise and shine so I can do what I need to do before I leave for work on time?!)
Hell, one of the reasons I picked journalism as a career was that most magazines and newspapers start at 10am. EARLIEST. Newsdesks start later (and finish later, I might add, before someone accuses us of being shirkers).
Apparently one must rise to 'make the most of the day'. But for me, a lie in IS making the most of some of the day! Esp when poor Boyf brings me a cuppa to try and wake me up. Tea in bed – what’s not to like? He's been known to get up at 5am to get on with work. I cannot fathom the idea. The only time I am good at getting up (as in I do it) is for a flight, or similar. When-life-depends-on-it-type deadlines.
So here's a question... How do you wake up? Bright and breezy, before the alarm? Slowly but surely? Snoozing a bit…? Well I do none of the above. When I wake (if you can call it that - perhaps more 'when I come round' or 'post nightly hibernation'...) it’s as if I am creeping out of a pit of hibernation. Every. Single. Morning. As if I've been put to bed in a marshmallow, and have to crawl from it, physically and mentally. While trying not to wee as I always need a wee. Then I get up, go for a wee and get back into bed - and that's the BEST TIME. That post-loo snooze. With the curtains open a bit to let the natural light in. Come on, you know I'm right.
There are many women in business who extol the virtues of that extra hour of ‘me time’. As far as I’m concerned, none of the things you could do if you woke up deliberately early are better than staying asleep. Not even, you know (winky face). Well, maybe that, on a weekend. Ahem.
I’m a night owl – not necessarily a party animal, mind you. I seem to wake up as the night progresses. I wrote a lot of my novel between 11pm and 1am.
Apparently there are loads of books I could read about how the extra hour can help… but I’d probably need an extra hour to read them?! In all seriousness, I don’t see why an extra hour first thing is better – why not an extra hour during the middle of the day. How many of these ‘early risers’ have a full lunch break? Or know the joy of a late night TV watching sesh?
I’ve tried setting the alarm to get up a bit earlier. You know – read the papers, have breakfast at home not from Pret… But I can’t, I just can’t. I love sleeping. I love the cold side of the pillow when I come round from dozing. I hit snooze many, many times. And yes it frustrates me sometimes but not as much as getting out of bed straightaway would. Sometimes that makes me dizzy. And not always when hungover.
The point here is that I’m saying I don’t want to try and be a morning person. As I approach 40, I am done with trying to drag myself out of bed in the hope it’ll help me get more done, achieve more, or be a better woman. Hell, I’m a pretty good woman already!
Hilariously (some might say, probably not my mother), when I was a lot younger I'd wake up, and come into her room singing something along the lines of 'Morning! It's the morning! What shall we do today?!'
When I stayed with mum as my flat purchase went through, I had to get up at 7am and we were both amazed I did it every day. It was a daily challenge. And it doesn't matter how early I go to bed - it's the deep sleep that holds onto me in the morning, not simply tiredness.
A quick note to those who are now thinking: ‘But you don’t have kids! They’d wake you up!’
No, I don’t. *Presses snooze*
Any time I’ve got up to go to the gym before work I’ve felt nauseous. That’s not a good start to the day, surely? And then I feel like passing out with sleep exhaustion by 4pm. So then I hit the sugar. Thanks, early start. NOT.
You say ‘pre work magic hour’ I say ‘extra sleep time’. As I approach 40, perhaps I should be leaping from bed to make the most of that time 'I've got left'. But I can’t bring myself to spend the rest of my life berating myself for not wanting to skip round the local park before a home-cooked breakfast and then work. You could argue if I try it then it might change things. But you’d have to wake me up first.
