As if it were the ebb and flow of the tide, the level of energy and alertness of our body rises and falls throughout the day . The patterns are not universal, but depend on circadian rhythms: physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle, and that respond mainly to light and dark in the environment.
Circadian rhythms also change throughout life : for example, babies sleep for many random periods of the night and day for a total of up to sixteen hours. Only after the first six months of life does the baby begin to sleep more at night.
Adolescence is another period of our life in which circadian rhythms undergo a major change: they become out of adjustment for about three hours, and for that reason adolescents tend to stay up late at night and have more difficulty getting up early. . For that reason, 80% of all American students between the ages of thirteen and fourteen, for example, do not get enough sleep .
Chronotypes and personalities
The variations that our circadian rhythms experience is defined as a chronotype . That is, the chronotype is the natural predisposition that each person has at a specific moment in their life to experience energy peaks or moments of rest depending on the time of day. Genes are essential in determining chronotype .
In this sense, the so-called “larks” are people who tend to get up early naturally. The “owls” those who get up later. We are all swinging towards one of these extremes, and over time we are changing the trend. As teenagers, for example, we are more owls; however, as we age, we tend to be more larks than owls .
Scientists have developed a number of ways to measure individual owl-lark tendencies, including monitoring body temperature and blood melatonin levels, although these are generally based on direct surveys. Depending on the answers, the range of possibilities is divided into:
- Extreme lark.
- Moderate lark.
- Neither owl nor lark.
- Moderate owl.
- Extreme owl.
Richard Wiseman , in his book Night School , makes some considerations of each of these possibilities:
“As far as sleep is concerned, it is not strange that extreme larks like to be in bed around 10 at night and get up around 6 in the morning, they rarely need an alarm clock, and do not usually sleep during the day Extreme owls, on the other hand, prefer to go to bed around 1 in the morning and get up around 9 o’clock, they usually set several alarm clocks and enjoy naps during the day. “
The alert peak of larks, that is, the time of day when they are most productive and have the most reflexes, is around noon. When they feel best : between 9 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon.
Owls are most productive around 6 in the afternoon, and when they are best: between 1 in the afternoon and 10 at night.
“There is a controversial debate about the relationship between the chronotype of the person and his personality, but in general the larks tend to be introverted, logical and trustworthy people, and the owls are more outgoing, emotionally stable, hedonistic and creative.”
