I keep seeing these articles which rehash the simple truth. That's not an indictment, it's just that there's nothing new. Perhaps what frustrates me- as a dedicated early riser who starts the day every day at about 3 am (that wasn't my choice, kindly, my body decided that, which means no goddamned night life AT ALL) is that so many folks love to BARK at you and me to be like Marky Mark Wahlberg, who is up even earlier than I am. The implication is do this and be rich like him. Oh for fuck's sake. In your case, be like him, be a zombie.

The inability of all these early riser life hackers to see that there is no single quick fix, that each of us is a universe unto ourselves, is embarrassing. It works for ME, therefore YOU should do it. Kindly, go spit. What works for me certainly does not work for most folks. I could no more sleep in til 10 than eat a boa constrictor, unless I had indeed ingested a boa constrictor, at which point I'd damned well better sleep it off.

Sleep studies have also shown that when you age, and I am 67 and a very serious high-achiever and athlete- the body sometimes shifts in either direction. In my case, I was a five am-er, leaping out of bed in that monumentally annoying asshole way that we early bird folks can have. Thank god I live alone. About six or seven years ago my body said NOPE. We want more early hours. So allofasudden, I start waking up at 3 am. WTF?

So I researched it. Perfectly normal. I had to adjust my bedtime because I wake up that early no matter when I hit the sack. Okay, so bedtime in summer means I have to wear an eye mask. No more dinners, dancing or late nights. That early to bed imperative has a huge effect on what happens when I am on adventure travel. I have to move my tent nearly a quarter mile from the campfire or be up all night listening to the laughter. These things have significant side effects, and to be healthy, we have to adjust. It's not as simple as "just get up at five am"? or whatever. Since I live alone, nobody else suffers when I hit the floor to do yoga at 3:45 am.