I have tried this. In fact, I have lived for several months consistently waking up at 7AM because I had to. I functioned, it was okay, I was productive and I'd say happy, but eventually I drifted back to my natural schedule and I realized ALL that I was missing out on and had forgotten about.
People change. My mother used to be a "party girl" and she says that her life completely changed when I was born. She started waking up early, like 7AM, and that was far out of her schedule (I think she lived like me, to be honest). So I'm sure I may one day change, but that hasn't happened yet, even after living for the aforementioned months in a very different way[1].
But I can very confidently say that while I can certainly function, be productive at my job, be liked by my peers, and be happy waking up at 7AM, I can be much better at everything, and much happier (and even creative!) if I just follow my more natural rhythm.
To be honest, I've grown particularly tired of some morning people insisting that if I just "tried it", it would "work" and that the morning is so much better and we can adapt. That I "need" to change because that's how "everyone works". I did try. It didn't work as advertised. Functional, even happy, but in nearly every way inferior to what I am now. Moreover, it's been obvious for a long long time, in many ways, that I'm not like "everyone else". Look at it from whatever angle, and I'm not. It's life, I live with it and enjoy it, and I guess that's what ultimately matters.
[1] Someone below mentioned this is based on the environment and context, and not genetics. I can certainly agree, but my environment won't change overnight, nor do I want it to. My life right now works much better, and makes me happy with my current schedule. Perhaps in the future it won't be like that.
I'm less of a morning person and more of a strict early bedtime person. I had horrible sleep for a long time until I put my sandal down and set a strict bedtime.
If I can't sleep, then too bad. I'll sleep better the next day! It's self correcting.
Obviously. Comparing different sleeping times without keeping the same length would be way too obvious for people to point out as a problem, even if forcing oneself to sleep earlier isn't as easy as people try to push.
> I think we are flexible enough to be whatever we want.
There are definitely some people out there who have severely distorted sleep schedules that won't respond to adjustments.
However, I think it's far more rare than a lot of people think. There are a lot of people whose shifted sleep schedules come mostly from lifestyle factors, not genetics.
This becomes most obvious when you watch new parents adapt. Most of the "genetic late sleepers" I knew mysteriously became natural morning people after having kids.
I had a coworker who insisted he simply could not show up to work before 11AM due to his sleep genetics. That is until he went on a camping trip for a week and his sleep schedule completely normalized. He was showing up at 9AM wide awake (and happy!) for several weeks after that, but then slowly shifted back to his 11AM arrivals as his sleep schedule deteriorated from his lifestyle. The culprit, in his case, was late-night internet usage that he wouldn't give up. At least he recognized and accepted the actual problem later.
Sounds about right. Sleep disorders are rare yet everyone thinks they have a sleep disorder. It's most likely poor habits. The best thing for me was having a routine.
I think we are flexible enough to be whatever we want.