Characteristics of Night Owls

Is wanting to wake up late in the morning just a lazy person's excuse? Not necessarily.

Many people think that sleeping late and waking up late is simply due to a lack of willpower or laziness. However, in reality, it may be due to differences in your innate biological clock.

Night Owls Do Exist

Everyone's biological clock is different. This is called a Chronotype. Generally, they can be divided into:

• Morning larks
• Intermediate types
• Evening owls

Evening owls generally feel sleepy later, experience higher focus at night, and tend to wake up later.

Sleep research has confirmed that preferred bedtime and wake-up times differ among individuals. This is referred to as a chronotype, and some people are genetically predisposed to sleeping late and waking up late. In other words, not everyone is designed to fall asleep and wake up at the same time.

Why is it Easier to Focus at Night?

People with strong evening tendencies exhibit the following traits:

• Sleepiness arrives later
• Focus rises later
• Wake-up time is later

This is not a matter of willpower, but a difference in the biological clock. Some people find that their heads become clearer and their focus peaks as night falls. Conversely, morning larks experience high focus early in the day and feel sleepy quickly at night.

Indeed, the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for research on the genes that build the biological clock. Researchers discovered through experiments on fruit flies that an internal biological clock of approximately 24 hours exists in living organisms. This study played a critical role in understanding the biological basis for differing sleep and wake rhythms in humans. In other words, evening tendencies are not a simple habit issue, but a characteristic related to the biological clock.

But Reality is Different

The problem is that society operates mostly on a morning-oriented timetable. Schools, companies, and public institutions are mostly designed based on morning activities. Consequently, people with evening tendencies are prone to chronic sleep deprivation. This is called Social Jetlag.

Social jetlag is a sleep research concept referring to the discrepancy between the biological clock and social timetables. For instance, your body wants to wake up at 9:00 AM, but you must wake up at 6:00 AM for work or school. Studies show that the more this jetlag repeats, the higher the likelihood of experiencing fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and lower sleep quality. In particular, people with large differences in sleep patterns between weekdays and weekends are known to be highly susceptible to social jetlag.