Learn How to Beat Your Body Clock and Get an Early Start

How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Missing out on _Zzz_s may explain why you are feeling a bit groggy this morning — a sensation that is common for so many of us.

While turning up for work in a semi-conscious fog may be less common for those who consider themselves “morning people,” it is probably quite familiar for anyone who is naturally inclined to do their best work at night. And if you happen to be a “night person,” then you know all too well that attributing that dazed and confused sensation you feel in the mornings to laziness would be a major oversimplification.

There is a reason the term “night owl” and “early bird” are common idioms in the English language, and it has to do, in part, with our genetic makeup. Scientists have their own word for these terms: chronotypes, or our sleep timing. Whereas some of us are “morning types,” functioning best early in the day, others are naturally “evening types” and are more productive as the day goes on.

Most people are somewhere in between. Large-scale studies suggest that around 27% of us may be “definite morning types,” 35% are “moderate morning types,” 28% are “moderate evening types,” and 9% are “definite evening types.” As you can see, there is a bit of variety here.

Understanding your chronotype, which is impacted by both your environment and your genetics, can help you get to know how your internal clocks works, which will allow you to:

• Synchronize important work assignments or social activities with the time that you feel at your best.
• Stop feeling bad about being tired at certain times (it might not be your fault) and, if necessary, adjust your chronotype to better align with your work schedule.

If you are naturally a “night person” — whether due to genetic, environmental factors, or a combination of both — the first task may be harder to accomplish. The modern workday was not designed to accommodate your tendency to stay up late and sleep in later. Less than 20% of U.S. employees are active after 6 pm, and just 3% are active at 2 am, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These figures are pretty much the same in other parts of the world, with the majority of people working a traditional nine-to-five schedule. This means that you likely have to do your most important work during the day, even if you work best at night.

So let’s focus on the second task: Is it possible to manipulate your chronotype? The answer is two-fold, and to understand it, you first need to know a little more about how your body works.

Understanding Your Chronotype

Your chronotype changes over the course of your lifetime. While young children prefer early morning starts (which often occur day in and day out, showing zero respect for weekends or holidays), chronotype shifts later as childhood advances. During adolescence, a dramatic shift in sleep timing coincides with puberty. This is biologically driven and explains why it is so difficult for students in their teens to wake as early as 5 am for school (which may occasionally be just a few hours after they’ve managed to fall asleep).

If you are just entering the nine-to-five workforce, however, there is some good news. Around age 20, sleep timing swings back, becoming earlier again. Some people even consider this shift a biological marker for the end of adolescence.

If you’re struggling to fall asleep at a reasonable hour and have to wake up early for work, you may be missing out on sleep. While a few missed hours of sleep may seem trivial, over time, it’s not a problem you want to ignore. Short sleep has been associated with a plethora of health problems including cardiovascular risk and shorter life expectancy. One study even found that the U.S. economy loses $411 billion a year because sleep-deprived workers are more likely to perform poorly, cause accidents, and experience poorer health.

Knowing this, how can night people shift their chronotypes so that they fall asleep earlier, feel less groggy in the mornings, and get more sleep in general?

Changing Your Chronotype

Although the current state of the world has no doubt increased our stress levels, representing a big shock to our quality of life (and for some, sleep), there is at least a silver lining. For those of us who struggle to fall asleep at a reasonable hour and find our wake-up calls torturous, working from home doesn’t just reduce the rigidity of the traditional nine-to-five shift, it brings us closer to our bedroom.

There has never been a better opportunity for naps.

If your regular work schedule now requires you to stay connected for longer or start the day earlier than when you used to, you might want to block time in your schedule for some pre-bedtime relaxation or a short (approximately 20-minute) nap earlier in the day. If naps make falling asleep at night even more difficult for you, which is the case from some, we have a few other suggestions that may help.

You can use zeitgebers (external or environmental cues) to help adjust your body clock to the world around you. Light is the most important one. If you want to advance your body clock to sleep and wake earlier, get exposure to bright light early in the day and try to avoid it at night. As you’ve probably heard before, this means avoiding the blue glow of TV, cell phones, and e-books at least a couple of hours before bed.

Other factors, like the time you eat and exercise, can also make a difference. To enhance your performance and shift your natural sleep tendencies, try matching activities to your chronotype. For example, if you are a night person who finds it harder to do complex tasks in the morning, use that time to work out instead. This will boost your mental energy. Exercising outside may be especially helpful as getting exposure to bright light early in the day can advance your body clock.

Outside of your own routine and habits, there are a few other factors you might be able to manipulate. One option is to ask your employer if they might consider more flexible work hours, like later starts — something that may be more negotiable given the increase in remote work and decrease in morning commutes. If that doesn’t work, looking for work at companies with progressive perks like nap pods, famously located in the offices of PwC and Google, as well as Cisco, Zappos, or Ben & Jerry’s, may help to buffer the effects of an early start.

Keep in mind, though, that if you were to stop manipulating these environmental factors, you would likely shift back to your original habits (because of the genetic influences on your chronotype). Still, understanding your body’s natural preferences and patterns is the first step to improving your sleep quantity and quality in the long term. The sooner you start, the better.