I haven't been able to sleep in for years - I attribute that to kids... As infants they disrupted my "sleep til 11am/ingrained while a teenager" patterns

Then they started school and I started work... so up early to check emails and forums - like TE - makes lunches and drive them/me into town (we live 1/2 hour out in the country)

Now, with youngest aged 13, I have no need to get up and monitor at the weekedn, but I still wake early.
Sometimes this last winter, I slept til 8am - unheard of for years

In summer though its different. We have a huge number of birds around our place which is fantastic - but the compromise is having to put up with their noise. So in spring, the tui begins a day's break - very loud and pretty "bing-bong-bing" call from about 5:30-6:15. Its 6:15 now, and already I have burnt the rubbish, put in a load of washing and begun marking assessments (for my students). As pages load here (dial-up), I read and/or reply to posts.

Over Summer, the tui will have foregone its early announcement, but then we have the babies of numerous garden birds scrabbling around in their nests which their parents have kindly built in nooks and crannies around the eaves... sigh...

Ah well, this time of day is stunning and so many sleep through the glorious sun-rises, or misty ethereal mornings I witness.

CC - now, like you, if the day gets to 8-9, and I have done "nothing" I feel like so much of the day is gone and it feels more crammed to try and "fit" things in.

An early start actually makes my day feel relaxed and less hurried, and I usually get an hour (or more at weekends) to myself in the quiet, which I relish.