Early bird or Night owl?
ARE YOU AN EARLY BIRD, NIGHT OWL OR SOME OTHER CREATURE?
Do you love waking up early in the morning, before anyone else is awake? You relish seeing the sunrise and feel invigorated in the early hours? Is your energy at its peak before noon? Or, is the morning a bit of a struggle but you can happily stay up till midnight with great concentration and a fully alert brain?
Most people have a natural preference for a certain time of the day when they feel higher energy levels and enjoy greater productivity. This is known as your chronotype. It is not something you can change because it is determined by your genetics.
Understanding your chronotype, whether you’re a night owl, an early bird, or somewhere in between, holds significant physiological and metabolic implications, here’s why:
Optimized Productivity and Performance: Knowing your chronotype allows you to align your daily activities with your natural energy peaks and troughs. For example, early birds tend to be most alert and productive in the morning, while night owls may experience peak performance later in the day or in the evening. By scheduling tasks accordingly, you can maximize your efficiency and effectiveness.
Improved Sleep Quality: Your chronotype influences your sleep-wake cycle, which determines the timing and duration of your sleep phases. Understanding your natural tendencies can help you establish a sleep schedule that accommodates and aligns with your specific needs, leading to better sleep quality, improved energy, and overall well-being.
Enhanced Mental Health: Consistent disruptions to your natural sleep-wake cycle can contribute to mood disorders like depression and anxiety. By embracing your chronotype and maintaining a regular sleep schedule aligned with it, you can promote mental health and emotional stability.
Hormone Regulation: Circadian rhythms, which are closely tied to chronotype, play a crucial role in regulating hormone release throughout the day. If these rhythms are disrupted by irregular sleep patterns, you may experience imbalances in hormones like cortisol, insulin, and leptin, potentially increasing your risk of metabolic disorders like high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.
Reduced Risk of Chronic Diseases: Research suggests that people who consistently deviate from their natural chronotype may be at a higher risk of developing chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and certain types of cancer. By honouring your chronotype, you can support your body’s natural regulatory processes and potentially lower your risk of these diseases.
Now, here’s a simple self-administered questionnaire, known as the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), which can help determine your chronotype:
Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ):
Please indicate your preference for each of the following activities:
Waking up in the morning:
Definitely prefer to wake up early (score 4)
Somewhat prefer to wake up early (score 3)
Somewhat prefer to wake up late (score 2)
Definitely prefer to wake up late (score 1)
Having meals:
Definitely prefer to have meals early (score 4)
Somewhat prefer to have meals early (score 3)
Somewhat prefer to have meals late (score 2)
Definitely prefer to have meals late (score 1)
Physical activity:
Definitely prefer to engage in physical activity early (score 4)
Somewhat prefer to engage in physical activity early (score 3)
Somewhat prefer to engage in physical activity late (score 2)
Definitely prefer to engage in physical activity late (score 1)
Feeling most alert and productive:
Most alert and productive in the morning (score 4)
Somewhat more alert and productive in the morning (score 3)
Somewhat more alert and productive in the evening (score 2)
Most alert and productive in the evening (score 1)
Add up your scores for all questions:
Total score of 16-20: Indicates a strong preference for morningness (early bird). You function better and with more enthusiasm in the early hours of the day.
Total score of 11-15: Indicates an intermediate preference. You don’t have a definite preference to a specific time of the day, which means you can likely function fairly well at all times, but there may be certain tasks you prefer to do and do better at specific times of the day. Pay attention to your preferences, alertness and energy levels to optimise your performance for specific activities.
Total score of 6-10: Indicates a strong preference for eveningness (night owl). You function better in the evening and at night. It is probably best not to schedule energy-draining tasks and activities requiring extreme levels of focus or concentration in the early hours. You are likely to need your coffee to get going in the morning!
This questionnaire can provide valuable insights into your chronotype, helping you tailor your daily routines and habits to better suit your natural biological rhythms.
Timing your meals according to your chronotype:
If you are an early bird, you will burn most energy early in the day and you should consider eating larger meals at breakfast and lunch, and not have a heavy evening meal. If you are a night owl and you are most active at night, then you will probably prefer a larger lunch and dinner and not relish a large breakfast.
If you practice intermittent fasting, it is usually best to adjust your fasting window according to your chronotype. Night owls will do better by skipping breakfast, while early birds will have greater success by missing the evening meal.
Timing your physical activity according to your chronotype: If you are an early bird, you will feel energised by early-morning exercise and it is best for you to train in the morning and early afternoon. As a night owl will suffer in the gym early in the morning, but will enjoy exercise later in the day. Regardless of your chronotype, it is best not to do any vigorous exercise at least 2 hours before you plan to go to bed.
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