If you are still awake at times others would only dream of, but feel tortured as the alarm clock goes off in the morning; you are a night owl. The reason is not laziness; it is in your genes
Stacey Jackson, 18, a Green River Student majoring in Business Management is a night owl. Normally he finds his bed between 2:30-3:30 in the morning explaining that he feels like he's missing out if he goes to bed early.
Early birds on the other hand, get drawn to their bed no later than 10 in the evening whether they want to or not; waking up ready and alert the next morning. Most people will find themselves some where in between the two extremes: So what causes this big span of daily rhythms?
The answer is a gene called Per3. It was discovered by Dr. Simon N. Archer, University of Surrey, that this gene determines when the body wants to sleep. The longer the gene is, the earlier the body tends to wake up.
Those born with a short Per3 gene are destined for the life of a night owl. What's interesting about this gene is that it sets the body's biological clock. Everybody knows that a day lasts for 24 hours, but your body might be set for living life in bulks of 26 hours: Again, it depends on how short your Per3gene is.
With Jackson as an example: When most people will fall asleep, he will not be able to for another two hours because his biological clock keeps telling him the day is not over. Having a body that naturally extends the day combined with early classes gives a perfectly logic explanation for why early mornings never was your thing and why you always have to sleep in on weekends.
Even though night owl Jackson goes to bed late, he only needs about 6 hours of sleep. Night owl or early bird: How much sleep is depending on how long it takes for the body to get into the crucial Deep Sleep Mode and the duration of that stage. Interestingly enough, females necessitate an average of 20 more minutes of sleep a day than males do.
"Sometimes I don't want to move at all" Jackson complains when explaining how it feels to wake up between 6 and 8 in the morning. He is probably not the only one with that experience. Luckily, there are steps to take if your biological clock doesn't work with your schedule.
Go to sleep and wake up at the same time, even on weekends. If this is challenging for you, sunlight might be the solution. Sunlight will help your biological clock to reset itself each day. Try, therefore, to not wake up until the sun does. A "Sunrise" alarm clock might be an option if you can't wait for the real sun.
Exercising will make your body tired at night. Working out right before bedtime will have the opposite effect.
Avid using your bed for anything else than sleeping; like watching TV, eating, doing homework etc. Spending hours awake in bed will make it harder sleeping when you lie down. If you try to sleep, but can't, don't stay in bed. Get up and do something like reading by your desk until you get tired. Lying in bed bright awake will only lead to frustration.
If you are a night owl like Stacey Jackson, perhaps you should consider registering for night classes next quarter. Your body might thank you.
Early birds
- Wake up two hours earlier than the rest of the population
- Ready for bed between 8pm and 10pm
- Most alert around noon
- 10 to 15 percent of the population in the United States are early birds*
Night Owls
- Wake up two hours later than the rest of the population
- Become sleepy typically between midnight and 2 am
- Most productive late mornings and late evenings
- 15 to 25 percent of the population in the United States are night owls*
Green River Student
- Believe they need an average of 7.4 hours of sleep
- 15 percent consider themselves early birds
- 46.7 percent say they are night owls
- 38.3 percent think they are somewhere in between
*According to a research carried out at the University of Carolina
**60 Green River Students (33 males, 27 females) answered the survey
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