Why try to be pointless lark

We constantly hear motivational statements: to be successful, you need to get up early. Apple, Tim Cook, CEO of stands at 3:45. The head of Fiat, Sergio Marchionne automotive companies rose at 3:30. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, wakes up at 5:45.

Against the background of these tough guys are poor fellows, who are struggling to get up to 10 or even lying in bed till noon, do not look very advantageous. But they can encourage that science believes to be an owl naturally. And do not worry about it.

Each chronotype advantages

researchRelationship between chronotype and temperament / character among university students show that larks more assertive, independent and agreeable. They have set themselves high goalsAre achievement goals different among morning and evening-type adolescents?Better planningMorning is tomorrow, evening is today: Relationships between chronotype and time perspective your life and more positiveHappy as a lark: Morning-type younger and older adults are higher in positive affect

. Compared with the owls, they are less likelyGenome-wide association analyses of chronotype in 697,828 individuals provides insights into circadian rhythms depression, abuse alcohol and smoking.

But although those who earlier rises in the morning, better comprehend academic disciplines, from their opposites, owls, stronger memory, greater processing speed and better cognitive ability (even in the morning!). This is confirmedChronotype, cognitive abilities and academic achievement: A meta-analytic investigation scientists from the University of Trier. Owls are more openChronotype, Sleep Behavior and the Big Five Personality Factors to new experiences and willing to seek adventureRelationship between morningness-eveningness and temperament and character dimensions in adolescents. They tend to be more creativeCreativity and habitual sleep patterns among art and social sciences undergraduate students (Though this question is still controversialEffects of Chronotype and Synchrony / Asynchrony on Creativity).

And contrary to the saying of Benjamin Franklin, "Early to bed and early to rise, becoming healthy, wealthy and wise" and established stereotypes, statisticsLarks and owls and health, wealth and wisdom It demonstrates that the owl is, in principle, as healthy and intelligent as larks. And yet even a little richer!

Change your chronotype not work

You still can not help thinking that, turned into a lark, You will increase your chances of becoming a CEO of a large company? Do not rush to set an alarm for 5 am. Katharina Wolf, a biologist at the University of Oxford, studying chronobiology and sleep, claimsWhy you should not try to be a morning person:

If people follow their natural sleep, they feel a lot better. They are much more productive, and mental capacity is higher. mode bias may even be harmful.

Catherine Wolfe

Organism owl waking up before their usual time, he continues to produce melatoninThe effects of time of day and chronotype on cognitive and physical performance in healthy volunteers (A hormone that regulates circadian rhythms and provocative to fall asleep). This can lead to problems weighing:

Forcibly changing their sleep patterns, you can trigger such negative consequences as a violation of the sensitivity of the body to insulin and glucose that causes obesity.

Catherine Wolfe

Matthew Walker, director of the Scientific Center of the human dream at the University of California at Berkeley, argues that chronotype does not depend on your will. In his book "Why do we sleep" he's writing:

Owls criticized (usually larks), in the mistaken belief that such a schedule - it is their own choice made due to lack of organization. And if they were more disciplined, we would wake up early in the morning without any difficulty. However, for the owls is not a question of free choice. They are attached to such a rigid schedule scheme own DNA, so it is not conscious of their error, but rather a genetic fate.

Matthew Walker

Walker's words are confirmed by several studies. That which we chronotype, laid genetically. Regulation of our internal clock genes perform PER1Gene distinguishes early birds from night owls and helps predict time of death, PER3Why some of us are early risers and ABCC9A genetic factor that regulates how long we sleepAnd they are owls and larks are different. For example, because of the gene PER3 owls I need more sleepThan larks.

When a man wakes up at will before the usual time, the prefrontal cortex of the brain that controls complex thought processes and logical reasoning, he "remains in the disconnected, or" off "state," writes Walker. It is like a cold car engine: will not work until it warms up. Therefore, owl, eyes pushed his way before dawn, will be worse to think and move slower than a lark.

Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and an expert of the American somnology Council, in his book "Always on time"Argues that the nature of the fight with his pointless:

I am often asked the question: Is it possible to change your chronotype? Chronotype determined by genetics. It has been included in your DNA. Can not be changed, as well as eye color and height. The best you can only move the usual classes for one or two hours within its biological time.

Michael Breus

Chronotype may varyFrom Lark to Owl: developmental changes in morningness-eveningness from new-borns to early adulthood itself with age. Children usually get up pretty early, but in adolescence mode changes. Ranging from 21 to 65 years chronotype ustakanilos, and you will become an owl or lark. After 65 biorhythms change again, older people tend to get up early as a child. Affect these processes can not be. We can only adapt.

Try to change your chronotype not only vain, but also useless. The study showedIs the shift in chronotype associated with an alteration in well-being? scientists from the University of Warsaw, where the owls were trying to climb as early as possible, it does not improve their mood and overall life satisfaction.

So that the statements of all kinds of business trainers and coaches in the spirit of "Get up at 5 am and will be the second Tim Cook" overly optimistic.

So learn to live with it

According to the book "Why we sleep," Matthew Walker when people We are living in caves, Separation of owls and larks were very useful for survival. When most of the group was sleeping, the owls were awake and guarding comrades. If the community was in danger (for example, accidentally looking at the light saber-toothed tiger), night owls can raise the rest of the alarm.

Since then much has changed. Agricultural development, and then the Industrial Revolution, people were forced to get up at sunrise. Now we live in a world oriented larks. To succeed in school, to university, to work, to get up early. And those who rise at dawn, according to the ambitious and promising, and sleep lovers - lazy.

But this is not true. too short of successful people among the owls.

The most productive programmers I know, and more writers and other creative people, tend best work when others are asleep, because in this time faced with the fewest distractions factors.

Tim Ferriss, writer, hacker, investor

Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, prefers go to bed at 3 am and wake up at 10am. And then another half an hour lying in bed reading email. Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, falls 2 nights and about 10am rises (or when it will wake it cat). Nighters called and CEO of BuzzFeed John Peretti, and writers James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, and Gustave Flaubert.

StudyHomeostatic Sleep Pressure and Responses to Sustained Attention in the Suprachiasmatic AreaConducted in the University of Liège in Belgium, found that owls to keep fit after waking up much longer than larks. This means they can longer do things that require concentration and not get tired. After 10.5 hours without sleep larks involved in the trial have already started to nod, and the owl continued efficiently work.

And still the owl endowed with high intelligenceMorningness-eveningness and intelligence: early to bed, early to rise will likely make you anything but wise!Their daytime sleep is not harmful caffeineModeling caffeine concentrations with the Stanford Caffeine Questionnaire: preliminary evidence for an interaction of chronotype with the effects of caffeine on sleepThey have great potentialChronotype Influences Diurnal Variations in the Excitability of the Human Motor Cortex and the Ability to Generate Torque during a Maximum Voluntary Contraction sport (if you will be training in the evenings), and especially in baseballSleep type predicts day and night batting averages of Major League Baseball players. Yes, and owls more sexEveningness is related to men's mating success. So, as you can see, the night owls not be so bad.

It always seems that someone else chronotype better. But instead of dreaming about it, better take a look at their own biovremennym features.

Michael Breus

Michael Breus and his colleague, neurologist Jeffrey Durmer owls recommend the following:

• Find a job with flexible hours. Or Become a freelancer and remotely bother.
• Sleep 7-8 hours. This also applies to the larks, in general.
• Eat at least 2-3 hours before going to bed.
• Find the best time for sports. Owls most physically active in the evenings.
• Make time for friends. Many owls are prone to loneliness not out of introversion, so that when they are awake, all their friends already in bed. Set the time frame when you can meet with your friends. Or communicate with other owls.
• Go to bed only when you feel tired. Not earlier. Limit the impact on you of light, particularly from a smartphone or tablet. "Light is actually a powerful wake-up factor than caffeine"Says Durmer.

Adapt to your chronotype and see that you do not live worse than those who wakes up at 4 am.