Office Hours with Arthur Brooks

Episode: Why You Wake Up Anxious, And How to Fix It

Date: January 22, 2026
Host: Arthur Brooks

Episode Overview

In this episode, Arthur Brooks dives into why many people wake up feeling anxious or “out of sorts,” especially those who experience intense negative emotions (high negative affect). He blends neuroscience, behavioral science, and ancient wisdom to explain the biological and psychological reasons for this phenomenon. Most importantly, Brooks shares actionable strategies—including the concept of “Brahma Muhurta” (the “creator’s time” from Vedic tradition) and evidence-backed morning routines—to help listeners manage their emotional baseline and start their day on the right foot.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Necessity of Both Positive and Negative Emotions (00:55)

• Brooks: “The fact is that the limbic system of the brain produces positive and negative emotions for very specific reasons. You need both.”
• Negative emotions aren’t “bad”—they function as an alarm system (fear, anger, disgust, sadness) signaling that something needs attention.
• Quote:

  “If you didn’t have negative emotions, you’d be dead in a week. They’re an alarm system for what’s going on around you.”
  (Arthur Brooks, 01:14)

2. Variability in Emotional Intensity (01:40)

• People vary in how intensely they experience emotions, both positive and negative.
• Four archetypes based on emotional “affect”:
  • Cheerleaders: High positive, low negative
  • Low Affect People (Judges): Low on both
  • Poets: High negative, low positive
  • Mad Scientists: High both positive and negative (“That’s me,” Brooks says humorously)
• High negative affect individuals may struggle more with mood management, especially in the morning.

3. The Challenges of Waking Up Anxious (04:15)

• Mornings can be especially tough for those with high negative emotionality.
• Physiological Reasons: There’s a cortisol spike 45 minutes after waking up—a natural stress hormone boost.
• Personal Story: Brooks shares his lifelong struggle with poor sleep, noting it runs in his family and that insomnia exacerbates morning mood challenges.
  • Memorable Anecdote:

    “Anytime I would wake up … I always found my dad, and he was always drinking a cup of Postum or hot chocolate or something. 2 o’clock in the morning he was up. 4 o’clock in the morning he was up. … He said, ‘Yeah, my dad never slept either. Good luck to you, son.’”
    (Arthur Brooks, 05:09)

4. Ancient Wisdom: Brahma Muhurta—“The Creator’s Time” (07:00)

• Brooks introduces Brahma Muhurta, a concept from ancient Vedic tradition: rising 1 hour and 36 minutes (two “muhurtas”) before dawn.
  • Associated with “insight into the mind of the Godhead,” clarity, and enlightenment.
• Modern Science Connection:
  • Cites research (Kumar, Raghavendra, Mujanath, 2012) showing students who wake before dawn show higher attentiveness, recall, creativity, and lower negative affect.
  • Early rising is especially beneficial for those prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder.
• Quote:

  “If you get up before dawn, your work is going to be better ... people who witness the dawn, who are up before dawn and fully conscious, have lower levels of negative affect.”
  (Arthur Brooks, 09:08)

5. Practical Morning Routine Strategies (11:10)

• Brooks’ morning: Wakes at 4:30 a.m., even while traveling, “because of these good effects which I’ve noticed in my life, I’ve seen in the research, and I’ve been able to witness in my own life as well.”

  • Not naturally a “morning lark”: “I use an alarm clock every single day. I did this morning. It went off at 4:30 and I didn’t like it.”
  • Winning the day starts with the first battle: getting out of bed.
    • Quote:

      “Winning the day is a big deal as the first battle in fighting negative affect and raising my well-being.”
      (Arthur Brooks, 12:33)

• Changing Chronotype:

  • Chronotypes (night owls vs. morning people) are influenced both genetically and environmentally.
  • Brooks shares how his lifestyle (musician in his 20s) made him believe he was a night owl, but lifestyle changes (“now I don’t drink at all”) made early rising easier—not automatic, but doable with structure.

6. Start in the Evening: Nighttime Procrastination (14:10)

• To wake up early and well, you need to go to bed early enough.
• Brooks aims to be in bed by 9:15 p.m. to get ~7 hours of sleep.
• Warns against “bedtime procrastination,” especially common among young adults rebelling against imposed structures, even those created by themselves.
  • Advice: Practice self-awareness (“be metacognitive”) about why you delay bedtime.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the necessity of negative emotions:

  “There’s no such thing as bad feelings. If you didn’t have negative emotions, you’d be dead in a week. They’re an alarm system for what’s going on around you.”
  (01:11)

• Brooks’ “mad scientist” affect profile:

  “Some people are high negative and low positive. We call them poets. And then there are the people who are intense on both high negative and high positive. Those are the mad scientists and that’s me. I feel things very intensely and that’s great on the positive side, but I need to manage the negative side.”
  (02:15)

• Family insomnia tradition:

  “‘He never sleeps. I asked him about it and he said, yeah, my dad never slept either. He said, good luck to you, son.’”
  (05:30)

• Why witness the dawn:

  “People who witness the dawn, who are up before dawn and fully conscious and witness the dawn, they have lower levels of negative affect.”
  (09:08)

• Self-discipline in the morning:

  “Winning the day is a big deal as the first battle in fighting negative affect and raising my well-being.”
  (12:33)

Key Timestamps

• 00:55 – Introduction to emotional intensity and the need for both positive and negative feelings.
• 02:15 – Archetypes based on affect; Brooks’ personal experience.
• 04:15 – Why mornings can feel anxious: cortisol, sleep challenges, personal anecdotes.
• 07:00 – Brahma Muhurta explained; blending ancient wisdom and modern science.
• 09:08 – Benefits of witnessing the dawn and waking before sunrise.
• 11:10 – Brooks’ personal routine: practical strategies, the difficulty of waking early, environmental vs. genetic factors.
• 14:10 – Importance of bedtime, pitfalls of nighttime procrastination, and metacognitive approaches to change.

Recap & Takeaway

• It’s “normal” to wake up feeling anxious or stressed—especially for high negative affect individuals—due to natural brain chemistry and sleep patterns.
• Ancient wisdom and modern science agree: waking up early, especially before dawn, can boost both productivity and happiness by decreasing negative affect and increasing attentiveness.
• Building an effective morning routine starts the night before. Address “bedtime procrastination” through self-reflection and structure.
• Anyone can implement small changes—regardless of chronotype—by combining discipline with understanding their own temperament and triggers.

This episode is an engaging blend of personal story, scientific insight, and practical advice—delivered with Brooks’ characteristic warmth and self-awareness. Listeners struggling with “morning anxiety” will not only feel understood, but also come away with new strategies to try tomorrow morning.