Good morning, sunshine!
Specifically, the difference between 'night owls' - those who prefer to start and finish the day later - and 'early birds' - those who find they are most productive early in the morning.
The Times has recently reported a new project about the sleeping patterns and how they affect our well-being. Bad news for you, owls. It turns out that when owls are made to follow the same time schedules as larks, it can often lead to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or depression.
Researchers in Germany scanned the brains of late chronotypes (owls) and early chronotypes (larks) and discovered that the specific part of the brain called the white matter differs in those who can jump out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off and in those who could sleep in all day long. The owls’ white matter wasn’t catching the nerve signals as quickly as larks’. Researchers say that this could be linked to depression.
What causes it isn’t yet clear but the scientists speculate that it could be because the owls suffer a kind of social jet lag while early risers are already spinning in a wheel of daily tasks.
Dr Jessica Rosenberg of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Jülich, Germany says: “These late chronotypes have more difficulties with the usual working schedules that start early in the day, as a result, they develop a sleep deficit.”
It isn't all bad news for night owls though. Back in 2009, The Daily Mail reported about a study conducted by Dr Philippe Peigneux, of the University of Liege in Belgium where night owls and morning larks were made to compete against each other in terms of measuring their reaction and attention times.
The newspaper reported: "It found that during the experiment, the volunteers got up and went to bed at their usual times, with the larks tending to turn in four hours earlier than the owls.
"Both did similarly well at the task shortly after getting up. But ten hours into their day, it was the night owls that shone, being both quicker and more alert at the task."
Unfortunately, we can't choose which chronotype we have. The Times adds that it is 50% inherited and 50% set within our bodies which can be affected by external influences.
The issues arise when we try and change our natural body rhythms by drinking coffee to stay awake for longer or take other stimulants. Alcohol also affects the quality of sleep a person has, which may make you try and 'catch up' on sleep at the weekend - which experts mostly agree is terrible for your body clock.
If you are an owl and would like to gently change your sleeping pattern to become an early bird, here are some tips:
1. Get to bed before the clock strikes midnight. It has been proven that you get a better quality of sleep before 12am.
2. Get out of bed gently. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier than you need to get up. Choose a nice, calm or uplifting music to use as an alarm. It eases you into your day far better than a loud beep as if someone’s burgling your house.
3. Exercise for 10-15 minutes, cycle or walk to work. Exercise in the morning will set you up nicely to feel re-energised and ready for your day. Not only this, but you will feel great about yourself having worked your muscles and relaxed and centred your mind before your day really begins.
4. Be positive! Sounds simple, but just by telling yourself that you are going to have a great day and feel energised and happy will make a massive amount of difference. You get back what you put out, and even science is telling us how powerful our thoughts are.
5. Meditation. Sitting quietly for 10 minutes in the morning upright and concentrating on your breath, or listening to a guided re-energising meditation which you can listen to free on YouTube or download online will do wonders for your general well-being. Large companies like Ernst and Young are now introducing meditation into the workplace because its proven effects on well-being and concentration amongst other things. It’s simple to do, and costs nothing, so give it a go and watch yourself becoming calmer and more content.
Are you an early birdie getting up at 7am with ease or are you a sleepy owl – feeling the best after 7pm?
By Toma Sukyte – for Female First
Tagged in News