Everyone's Happiest in the Morning – Bull-hockey

Google when are people happiest and you’ll get thousands of results declaring "Everyone's Happiest in the Morning." (1) Bull-hockey.

Created by ChatGPT - 9/6/25

From Psychology Today to studies claiming a million data points (seriously, who collected all those?), the headlines all say people are happiest early in the day. But scratch the surface and they’re all based on the same study. (2)

Not being my happiest in the morning—and having plenty of night owl friends—I’m skeptical. Did they only ask early birds?

I’m a happy night owl. Now that I’m retired, I love lazing under the covers in the morning, but otherwise, I think mornings are overrated. There’s a saying that goes, “If God wanted us to enjoy the sunrise, he would have made it at a more reasonable hour.” That feels about right.

My spidey sense, backed by my statistics training, always twitches when headlines shout about “the latest study.” How can mornings be the happiest time when the day ahead is full of work, chores, or doctor’s appointments? My happiest time starts around 4:30 PM, when the to-do list is behind me. That’s when I can enjoy a relaxing dinner with friends, reading, playing Wordscapes on my iPad, or watching Jeopardy. Doing things I actually enjoy.

When I was working, mornings were chaos: exercise, rushing to catch the train, sprinting to the office, and organizing my day before downing my first cup of coffee. Not exactly joy-filled. Even now, mornings mean scanning my calendar, which usually includes chores and medical appointments—though I’ll admit the monthly trivia game is a bright spot.

So I looked up this famous study. It didn’t take long to spot the elephant in the room: it was done during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Of course people were happier in the morning. Morning was the least bad part of the day.

Think about it: by afternoon, you were trapped in the house with nowhere to go, beauty parlors closed so your hair grew shaggier and the grey roots longer, no restaurants or movies, and the same four walls closing in. Every day blurred into the next. Depression, anxiety, and loneliness climbed as the day wore on, while happiness and life satisfaction slid downhill. DUH. Morning was the only time you hadn’t yet realized how monotonous the day would be. To me, that explains the “happiest in the morning” result—not normal life.

Created by ChatGPT - 9/6/25

And about normal life: yes, there are those chipper souls who wake up bubbly and energetic. That ain’t me. I wake up groggy and a little grumpy. I like to ease into the day by staying under the covers with a book or game on my iPad. Left to my natural rhythm, I don’t hit full stride until about 10 AM, slump in the afternoon, and then hit my stride again after 7 PM.

I know this goes against historic wisdom that praises early risers. But that was before electricity. Back then, what could you do at night besides read by candlelight—or, well, you know. With electric lights, I can do everything at night, and my mind is often more fertile after a full day of experiences to feed my creativity.

Even the arts lean toward the evening. Sure, sunrises can be stunning—I once wrote about Bugsy Sailor’s gorgeous sunrise photos. But let’s be honest: poets and painters have always swooned over sunsets. And that old sailor’s adage? “Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning. Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.” Enough said.

Bugsy Sailor's Stunning Sunrise Photos

So, hats off to the early birds who wake up chirping and cheerful. I’m glad they exist. But me? I’ll happily keep my owl feathers. Except maybe on December 25—when I bounce out of bed at my usual time, and somehow that feels like a small Christmas miracle.

As for the idea that all people are happiest in the morning? I still say bull-hockey.

References

1. Everyone’s Happiest in the Morning, Study Says, USNews.com, Feb 5, 2025

2. Feifei Bu^, Jessica K Bone^, Daisy Fancourt^, .Will things feel better in the morning? A time-of-day analysis of mental health and wellbeing from nearly 1 million observations, MentalHealthBJM.com. University College London (UCL) COVID-19 Social Study. Happiness was measured by the single question 'In the past week, how happy did you feel?’. Life satisfaction was measured by the single question ‘Overall, in the past week, how satisfied have you been with your life?’. Sense of life being worthwhile was measured by the single question ‘In the past week, to what extent have you felt the things you are doing in your life are worthwhile?’ How would you have answered during COVID-19?

3.  Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) - Take a look at the questions and see if you wouldn't have looked depressed during COVID-19.