With a light hand, «larks» «owls» are considered lazy. But for those who go to bed late and get up late, it’s time to stop complexing. They just need to understand themselves and follow some of their «owl» rules.
I am an owl, and a pronounced one at that, so I know from my own experience how larks love to chuckle (or even mock) at us. According to them, we are all more or less lazy, since we get up late, while they have already managed to redo so many things in the morning. And what we manage to do during the day, in the evening (when they are resting) or at night (when they are already sleeping), “does not count”. It’s strange, but we ourselves often have complexes when we hear their jokes/criticism addressed to us. Probably because it is the larks who rule this world. Otherwise, the working day everywhere would begin no earlier than one in the afternoon. And the “larks” are also joined by “pigeons”, which can easily adapt to any regime without any problems.
But let’s still admit that the logic of the «larks» is clearly lame. The course of their reasoning was ironically described by chronobiologist Till Roenneberg in his book “Internal Time. Chronotypes, social sleep disorders. Why are you so tired” (1).
“The postman (as an early bird — A.N.) cannot even imagine that a person, due to his characteristics or for some other reason, can work all night. For him, such a person is definitely a lazy person, since he sleeps for a long time. In fact, in the body of «owls» the secretion of melatonin is activated later than in «larks», which is why it is much easier for them to stay awake and work productively in the evening and even at night.
Coffee is not an option
How do «owls» get in shape in the morning? Cheer up yourself with large portions of coffee? But the fact is that caffeine does not reduce the body’s need for sleep, says Dr. Charles Czeisler, head of the department of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School: “It’s like an aspirin that you take to bring down the temperature. You are addressing the symptom without addressing the cause of the problem.» Caffeine actually helps to overcome the desire to sleep by blocking the receptors that make you feel sleepy. That is, it simply deceives our body. But only one thing follows from this: it is much healthier to sleep a little longer (if there is such a happy opportunity) than to force yourself to get up early and pump yourself up with “doping” in the form of coffee, tea or energy drinks in order to somehow recover.
Live according to your plan
Office work, children who need to be fed and sent to school … Most of the «owls», alas, have to get up much earlier than their body is ready to wake up. But you can help yourself to have a productive day.
1. Plan tomorrow’s affairs in the evening, taking advantage of the fact that at this time of day you have enough energy. This will help you start your day more efficiently.
2. Observe yourself: in what period of time are you most effective? Afternoon afternoon? In the evening? After midnight? Try to make the most of this time.
3. Protect yourself from interference. The «larks» reasonably argue that in the morning hours work is much better argued, because there is no one or almost no one around them, respectively, no one interferes with them. Actually, the “owls”-night owls can repeat the same thing. But the “owls”, whose productivity peaks in the afternoon or evening, are more difficult in this sense: they are distracted by everyone who is not lazy. Therefore, they need to learn how to set and protect their personal boundaries in order to make the most of their best time.
(1) Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You’re So Tired (Harvard University Press 2012)
Read more «The Hidden Brilliance of Late Risers»,