The Psychology of Night Owls

Today's society is mostly geared towards early birds. School starts, on average, by 8:00 am. Most jobs begin by 9:00 am. A lot businesses, especially in small towns, close early. There's a cultural preference for early risers: "The early bird gets the worm." Because of this, night owls are often made to feel lazy, inefficient, and discredited.

This wasn't always the case. In prehistoric times, night owls could keep watch and protect their tribes from nocturnal predators, and in ancient times, they could protect their cities from conquerors trying to sneak in at night. There was an evolutionary benefit to having both morning larks and night owls within our species. But in modern times, this gene mutation can cause a lot of physical and psychological problems.

If you're a night owl, your circadian rhythm is set to have your body produce melatonin to help you fall asleep later in the night, and you wake up later as well, especially since your circadian rhythm is longer. Because you're not fully awake in the morning, your cognitive abilities and productivity are low. Night owls are much more productive later in the day.

As a night owl myself, I'm really tired of articles claiming there's hope for me to change my sleep cycle and become a morning person. I can't change my biology, and forcing night owls to regularly wake up earlier has been shown to negatively affect their brains. Night owls suffer from social jetlag, a "misalignment of biological and social time," which loosens the integrity of white matter in the brain. White matter helps nerve cells communicate, and a diminished integrity is linked to depression and cognitive function issues.

Night owls often suffer from depression, fatigue, difficulty focusing, and physical discomfort, and they're prone to addiction or obsessive behaviors. They're also more likely to suffer from insomnia, sleep apnea, and obesity. To function in the morning, many night owls rely on caffeine, which creates its own set of problems. Amanda Ruggeri at BBC has a great article on why night owls shouldn't try to be early birds.

Ideally, it would be great if society as a whole could see the stress it's putting on night people (Night owls are not lazy, and it shouldn't be their responsibility to change who they are), and if employers could accommodate for varying chronotypes. But for now, the healthiest ways for night owls to manage are to develop a specific nighttime routine that lets your body know it's time for bed, and to use bright lights in the morning to help you wake up. Light plays a huge role in managing your circadian rhythm. I like to sleep with the shades up to let a lot of sunlight in in the morning, and I check my phone first thing in the morning for a little burst of light. It's really hard to wake up if it's too dark in the room.

And, to end on a positive note, here are some of the benefits of being a night owl:

• A 1998 study showed that night owls had larger incomes than morning larks.

• In a 1999 study, owls performed slightly better than larks on most intelligence measures.

• A 2006 study showed that night owls are more creative.

• A 2009 study showed that night owls remain mentally alert for longer throughout the day.

• Another 2009 study showed that night owl students were more intelligent.

• And yet another 2009 study found that night owls experience a burst of physical strength in the evening.

There are benefits to being both a morning lark and a night owl, and it would be really great if both groups could use their strengths and weaknesses to complement each other and work together.