“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?” - Marcus Aurelius

“No one who can rise before dawn three hundred sixty days a year fails to make his family rich.” - Chinese proverb

I have been experimenting a bit with my sleep recently. Since reading Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep a couple of years ago and starting to track mine around that same time, I became fairly convinced of the importance of getting my 8 hours nightly. I am no longer so sure that is right. I have been waking up well before sunrise, going to sleep a little bit earlier, and sleeping probably an hour or two less per night, but feeling quite good. I have come to believe that too much sleep may be as consequential as too little and that the right amount of sleep depends on the person. Regardless of duration, I think it is a worthwhile experiment to try rising before the sun for a week or two. I had never so far as I can remember woken up this early this consistently for a couple of weeks, but rather only for a flight or to cram ahead of a morning exam in college. There is something about those off hours when most people are sleeping that makes it prime time for productivity. Night owls who work well into the AMs typically say the same. I personally like to see some daylight, so the morning shift works a bit better for that. I find I wake up feeling very clear headed and whatever I am to tackle first I can get done. I am looking forward to continuing the experiment and may follow up with further observations here. For now, gm.