![]() ![]() You must forgive yourself for both sleepless nights and late risings. When I say acceptance, I mean you must be on your own side. While the above science might’ve helped you understand yourself better, it’s still a far cry from the true acceptance of your chronotype. If you also feel like an exhausted pigeon in a world of songbirds, here is everything that worked for me to become a high-functioning night owl: Step 1: Accept I decided it’s my boundaries that need to change, not my sleep times. I no longer push myself and my body to be something it’s not. Today, I no longer believe wake-up times are the key to anything - be it discipline, success, or to reach your goals. To go to school and to work regular jobs often forced me into the habits of early birds and, in the end, pushed me deep into the dark world of insomnia. While I embrace being a little eccentric and creative, I have also suffered greatly from it. Some of my earliest memories (around the age of 3) revolve around how I laid awake at night and wasn’t able to sleep. I’ve been on the rollercoaster of the upsides and downsides of night owls pretty much all my life. THE NIGHT OWL HOW TOHow to Be a High-Functioning Night Owl in a World Made for Early Birds It’s that you’re a night owl in a world made for early birds. Read: it’s not the fact you’re a night owl which causes your misery. These findings suggest the need for researching possible interventions aimed at either modifying circadian rhythms in individuals or at allowing evening types greater working hour flexibility. Mortality risk in evening types may be attributable to chronic misalignment between internal physiological timing and externally imposed timing of work and social activities. The crucial point, however, is the likely reason the study gives as an answer to these alarming results: ![]() This study furthermore examined the association between chronotype, morbidity, and mortality, and found that - regardless of sleep duration - to be an evening type is significantly correlated with psychological disorders, as well as an increased risk for all-cause mortality and various diseases. Since the western world mostly caters to the natural cycle of larks (early birds), night owls were found to suffer from a form of chronic jetlag, accompanied by a higher vulnerability to depression and higher consumption of alcohol and nicotine.Įven our brains look different - the white matter of night owls was found to be in worse condition than of our early-riser counterparts. Unfortunately, it’s not only our habits and eccentricity which differ. The (literal) dark side of being a night owl This may be due to the necessity for night owls to look for unconventional solutions in a daytime-oriented world. The University of Madrid indeed found evening types score better in tests for inductive reasoning which is directly linked to innovative thinking. “There is a romance about all those who are abroad in the black hours.” - Robert Louis StevensonĪpart from the fact that they’re most active after sunset, night owls are often creative and tend to think out of the box, according to Breus. While to be awake at night comes with its perks, evening types can face some significant mental and health challenges throughout their lives. The circadian rhythm is a phenomenon neurologists have examined for decades. It’s clear by now night owl is more than a petty term for lazy, undisciplined people who can’t get out of bed. If you mess with this time or try to force yourself into a chronotype you’re not (read: when you wake up early when your best time is to work late), you don’t optimize your energy and potential. If to wake up early never felt quite right for you, you might be a wolf (Breus’s label of night owls).įor every chronotype, there’s the right time of the day (or night) to do things. Breus, Ph.D., who specializes in sleep medicine, there are 4 such chronotypes. We each belong to a certain chronotype which defines our propensity to sleep at a particular time of a 24-hour period. ![]() The answer lies in chronobiology - the biological field which examines cyclic phenomena in living beings. Why was I the only one whose body seemed incapable of getting out of bed early? I’ve beaten myself up for my “bad sleep habits” for years. The next day, I was as groggy and unproductive as ever. The pressure and the demand I’ve set myself to wake up early was enough to keep me awake all night. What’s worse, forcing myself to wake up early got me into terrible phases of insomnia. See, I’ve done the race against the sun and lost every time after a few ambitious mornings. ![]()
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