Overthrow the tyranny of morning people

I can’t remember the last time I saw a sunrise. That experience belongs to a different type of person: the extra-early riser, the lark that gets the worm without fail. They rise by 5:30 a.m. and go to bed around 8:30 p.m. They sip their first cup of coffee while people like me enter a new phase of REM sleep. And they are “more likely to benefit from the societal impression that people who wake up early are go-getters and people who wake up late are lazy,” Olga Khazan wrote in 2019.

But why not challenge that narrative? Though a revolution may not be imminent, ascribing virtue to a particular sleep schedule does seem silly. Productivity is not generated only in the first hours of daylight; it can strike in the late afternoon, or well into the night. “Let us smash the oppressive culture of our lark overlords and reclaim the day,” Tom Nichols wrote last year. Or let’s at least get “the early risers to stop bugging us in the morning.”

Today’s newsletter brings you stories about when people start their days:

• “Overthrow the Tyranny of Morning People,” by Tom Nichols. Leave the clocks alone.
• “The Life of a Person Who Wakes Up Really, Really Early,” by Olga Khazan. “Extreme larks” get up naturally when some people have hardly gone to bed. (From 2019)
• “The Lie We Tell Ourselves About Going to Bed Early,” by Arthur C. Brooks. To get better sleep, stop treating it like a chore. (From 2021)
• “The Nocturnals,” by Faith Hill. While most people are fast asleep, some ultra-introverts are going about their lives, reveling in the quiet and solitude. They challenge a core assumption of psychology: that all humans need social connection. (From 2022)
• “The Four Types of Sleep Schedules,” by Olga Khazan. A new study suggests that some people are neither “owls” nor “larks.” (From 2014)

—? Stephanie Bai, associate editor