That our circadian rhythms have a social synchronization mechanism as well as a solar one—i.e., we want to sync our sleep/wake cycles to those of our peers to ensure we don’t miss out on foraging, get left behind, etc.
Some people seem to be more prone to needing these resyncs—there is some research in treating bipolar disorders using something called interpersonal social rhythm therapy, or something like that. It basically is done by putting people on a regular social schedule so that they’re meeting people at the same times each day. Morning faces was an independently-discovered simpler version of the same idea: psychologist Seth Roberts noticed that his mood was better on days when he watched talk shows in the mornings, and worse when he saw them in the evenings. Many self-experimenters have successfully used the method to treat depression and other mood/motivation disorders, and I have found it to be helpful on occasion myself.
Note, btw, that it usually takes about 1-2 days after starting morning faces for the effect to be noticeable—I believe Seth Roberts says that there’s usually at least a 16-17 hour delay before the effect kicks in. I have experienced the effect that quickly, but not the first time I tried it.
That our circadian rhythms have a social synchronization mechanism as well as a solar one—i.e., we want to sync our sleep/wake cycles to those of our peers to ensure we don’t miss out on foraging, get left behind, etc.
Some people seem to be more prone to needing these resyncs—there is some research in treating bipolar disorders using something called interpersonal social rhythm therapy, or something like that. It basically is done by putting people on a regular social schedule so that they’re meeting people at the same times each day. Morning faces was an independently-discovered simpler version of the same idea: psychologist Seth Roberts noticed that his mood was better on days when he watched talk shows in the mornings, and worse when he saw them in the evenings. Many self-experimenters have successfully used the method to treat depression and other mood/motivation disorders, and I have found it to be helpful on occasion myself.
Note, btw, that it usually takes about 1-2 days after starting morning faces for the effect to be noticeable—I believe Seth Roberts says that there’s usually at least a 16-17 hour delay before the effect kicks in. I have experienced the effect that quickly, but not the first time I tried it.