The Sleep-Wake Cycle
A chronotype is what a person's sleep cycle calls under, whether they're a night owl, an early bird, or somewhere in between.
One's chronotype is determined by a combination of nature and nurture. Respectively, one's genes determine whether one prefers to be awake late at night or early in the morning; whereas nurture is how we choose our lifestyle.
MORE IDEAS FROM THE ARTICLE
- Make the change gradually. Don't let your body go into shock. It is preferred if you set your alarm 15-20 mins earlier for the past several weeks until your adjusted to your ideal schedule.
- Consistency is key.
- Limit exposure to light an hour before bed because it blocks the body's production of melatonin.
- Avoid stimulating activities during the time you should be asleep.
What you participate in or what your daily activities are are usually what reinforces your chronotype.
RELATED IDEAS
All individuals possess what is called 'an internal clock', which has as main purpose to schedule sleep and wakefulness within one entire day of 24 hours.
Now comes the difference in regards to how the 'clock' works for each person: there are people who wake up earlier and go to bed earlier as well - for them the cycle is shorter and there are also people who, on the other hand wake up later and go to sleep later. It all depends, in fact, on what is known as 'zeitgebers', which translates by external signals necessary in order to synchronize the 'clock'.
Around 30 to 50 percent of people sleep between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am. Another 40 percents are either slightly morning people or slightly evening people.
To understand why some people are early birds while others are night owls, we have to take into consideration the body's circadian system.
Long days can leave us tired and exhausted. But, our days would be less hard and exhausting if we weren't so tired through them.
Most night owls have to wake a similar time to other people. It means they are forced to sleep five or six hours instead of sleeping for seven or eight hours. Consequently, they feel tired all the rime.