Why "Night Owls" Are Just as Productive as "Morning Larks"

Many prominent people claim an early start to their day is the key to their success. CEOs, world leaders, and influential figures often tout routines involving early mornings. Hustle culture echoes this sentiment, making bold claims about the life-changing benefits of waking up at 4 a.m., even if that means surviving on just four hours of sleep and several cups of coffee. This perspective, however, tends to be shortsighted. Here’s why.

Good Sleep Is About Duration and Quality, Not Bedtimes And Waketimes

Sleep plays a vital role in our cognitive, biological, and psychological functioning. While it’s true that the requirement for sleep decreases as we age, the CDC recommends getting a minimum of seven hours of sleep every 24 hours, even for adults.

So, why is this number important? A 2020 study conducted on 8,698 adults and published in Sleep Medicine observed that when participants deviated from the recommended seven to eight hours, their quality of life dropped. While this drop was found both in participants who slept more and those who slept less, it was especially significant for the latter group. The study also found that deviating from the recommended sleep duration (by either sleeping more or less) led to depressive symptoms.

Beyond the hours we sleep, the quality of our sleep plays a crucial role in our mental health. A 2021 meta-analysis (of 65 trials involving over 8,600 participants) published in Sleep Medicine Reviews looked into whether improving sleep quality could boost mental health. It found that when sleep improved, so did depression, anxiety and rumination. There were also improvements in stress levels and even positive effects on symptoms of psychosis. To top it off, the more sleep quality improved, the better the participants’ mental health became, meaning that a causal link between sleep quality and mental health is likely.

All of this is to say that if you want to be at your best, you need to prioritize sleep. But the question remains:

Who Sleeps Better: A Night Owl or an Early Lark?

As long as you feel rested the following day, it doesn’t matter which camp you fall into. Some of us are naturally programmed to fall asleep later, while others may have a predisposition to go to bed early and rise early. Both are perfectly okay.

Early larks may have a slight edge in terms of experiencing more positive emotions compared to night owls, according to a 2012 study published in Emotion. But a lot of this has to do with how our society follows a “standard daytime.”

To put it in perspective, think about the average person who has to show up to work at nine in the morning. If this person is a night owl, there’s a chance they haven’t got their seven hours of sleep, which can cascade into low mood as the day progresses. In contrast, an early lark is likely to be well-rested and ready to start the day by, say, six in the morning.

Understanding this is just the first step. The next crucial aspect is how we can apply this knowledge to improve our sleep quality. Here are some tips on how we can adapt our habits to achieve better sleep, regardless of whether we’re night owls or early larks.

• Engage in some form of outdoor exercise every day, preferably in the sun. This helps regulate your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, known as the circadian rhythm, and can improve your sleep quality by boosting the production of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone, in the evening.
• Avoid looking at screens at least an hour prior to bedtime. The blue light emitted by screens can interfere with the production of melatonin, making it harder for your brain to recognize it’s time to wind down and sleep, which can disrupt your natural sleep cycle.
• Pick a bedtime that allows you to sleep for seven hours and stick to it every night. Consistently going to bed and waking up at the same time each day helps stabilize your internal clock, improving both the quality and efficiency of your sleep. Irregular sleep patterns can lead to poor sleep quality and drowsiness.