For junior Ahmed Asad, waking up early for school is an advantage, as it allows for the ability to feel prepared.

“If somebody’s waking up at, say 8 a.m., then they might feel a little bit rushed getting ready,” Asad said. “I feel like if you wake up early and take your time getting ready, you’ll feel a lot more ready for the day.”

According to Jama Psychiatry, waking up just one hour earlier may reduce an individual’s risk of major depressive disorder by about 23%.  Without losing any sleep, an early wake up time can be beneficial.

Asad also said that waking up early allows an individual to do more things that will benefit them, like self care.

“If you have an early wake up routine, then you can also fit in a lot of things like taking care of your skin and making sure you’re clean and looking ready for the day,” Asad said. “They (an individual) would also be able to better manage their time that way.”

Junior Olivia Stock said she wakes up early in the mornings for seminary before school.

She said via email, “I know it makes me consider my priorities. Do I care more about sleep or getting extra time learning about the gospel I believe in? It makes me plan more carefully what I need to accomplish in a day in order to achieve that early start to my day.”

She said it also makes her less stressed about getting ready for things later in the morning, like going to school.

“I know for me, an advantage to waking up early is that I’m more awake than a lot of my classmates when school starts. I’ve already done several things, and my day began three hours earlier,” she said. “While other people are running around stressing about making it to school on time and things like that, I know I have time because I leave the house so early.”

Sociology and psychology teacher Michael O’Toole said waking up early can increase productivity to fit normal waking hours, even though teenagers generally tend to sleep later.

“There’s a lot of research that goes into this, (and) we’ve tended to find that especially teenage brains tend to be a little bit later, but the research does suggest that if you are able to adjust to getting up earlier, you tend to be a little bit more productive,” O’Toole said.  “Especially because we kind of adapt to our society. And a lot of our societies (tend) to be a little bit more productive up to a point whereas if you’re staying up later, things aren’t as open: businesses, access to teachers, access to other things are closing down at that point. 

Asad said waking up early can also be advantageous because it allows for more time for relaxation in the morning.

“When you wake up early, then you can take some time to relax and that really helps you feel happy, and you just feel very energized for the day,” Asad said.

“The mornings are frequently so much more peaceful. The whole world is not awake, the sun is rising, and there isn’t a rush to finish things because the day has just begun. This fosters the perfect environment for people to have time for themselves to collect their thoughts and get ready for the day,” Stock said.

O’Toole said waking up early is something that can be adapted to, even while following natural circadian rhythms.

“If you were able to know that you needed to be up at a certain time, and, and map out your circadian rhythm to say like, ‘I need to be at my most productive during these hours,’ such as school hours, there’s a way to adjust to that,” he said.

He said the hard part of changing those cycles can come from the emotional side of humans.

“Human beings are not 100% rational and we tend to overplay the emotional side of us. So like, ‘Do I want to spend time on TikTok? Do I want to message my friends?  Do I wanna play video games?’ Whatever that stuff is, it’s easier to do (later at night),” he said. “And maybe your parents are asleep or you can then play online games or connect better with friends because you’re not being pestered by your teacher or a job, possibly that kind of thing.”

Asad said it’s possible to have a good sleep schedule while being able to wake up early.

“If you go to sleep early and then wake up early, then you can ensure that you have a stable sleeping schedule,” Asad said. “So then you’ll be able to have a healthy sleep pattern.”

O’Toole said there are ways to increase motivation for waking up early, as well as the ability to wake up early.

“It sounds intuitive, but it takes a mindset shift,” he said. “These are possible factors like limiting caffeine after a certain time, limiting screen time after a certain time, setting an alarm, and (it can be) annoying, but if you set it really loud, but you put it across the room from you, that can force you to get up. And once you’re up and moving, you’re probably less likely to go back to bed.”

O’Toole also mentioned that besides limiting screen time and caffeine before bed, eating or reading before bed can also negatively affect sleep.

“Your last meal should be at least several hours before going to bed. If you’re eating, snacking even, even if it’s light, your body is still gonna try to digest that. It’s using energy, so it’s not as restful sleep as it could be,” he said.

He said reading before bed stimulates the brain and makes it harder to fall asleep at night.

“I hate to dissuade this, but reading in bed, your brain makes certain connections. So if you’re reading there, it might be more difficult (to sleep). Or if you’re watching TV in bed, it might be more difficult to fall asleep as well, which then is gonna keep you up later and (you won’t) get a restful sleep, and then you won’t wake up (as early) in the morning,” he said.

Stock said that waking up early does not always mean going to bed earlier, which can lead to a loss of sleep.

“Waking up early does mean you should probably go to bed earlier than your peers. However, this is not always what ends up occurring (I know because I’ve been there myself), so you are left with less total sleep than your peers,” she said.

She also said that evening extracurricular activities can make waking up early even harder.

“I know I have long evening choir rehearsals and unified football games, and even more responsibilities I have to take care of after school, so frequently my early starts can result in me getting home extremely late and then doing the exact same thing the next day,” she said. “I have other friends who have less responsibilities and make the same commute to our bible study every morning who feel less stressed and the morning wake ups don’t feel like as much of a burden.”

Asad said waking up early is more beneficial when a full night of sleep is achieved.

She said, “Once you get a good night’s sleep, then you’ll also be sure that you’ll be ready for whatever, like tests or anything you have.”