Why are we either night owls or early birds and is change possible?
Ever since as far back as I can remember I’ve been a night owl – far more focussed, energetic and motivated during the late evenings.
This was back when I had a forced routine of going to bed ‘early’ to wake up for school.
Even in adult life where I’ve both had a choice or been forced into a routine of waking up at early hours due to a job I’ve found that hasn’t changed. I function better at night, no matter what routine I get into.
Is there a reason for this and is change possible? Are there also ‘Mid day people’?
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Staying up extremely late is GENERALLY a learned behavior and it takes time to manipulate a normal sleep pattern to be an overnight one. Is it genetic at some level? Of course all traits are but for other people it is more environmental and needs to be learned and so people with normal sleep schedules can change theirs over time but it usually takes a while and people can’t typically or easily (without behavioral/ emotional consequences) switch from night owls to early birding.
Sometimes, it is normal for people to have late sleeping schedules, say they have a sleep schedule where they get naturally tired at 7pm and then 11pm. If a person with those natural sleep times stays up past those times it may be extremely difficult for them to sleep after those periods because those are the times the body’s chemical mixture is just right for the brain to fall asleep and it can be very hard to sleep and easier to stay awake one you “pass” or stay up later than your natural cycle.
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