6 Curiosities About Night Owls

Do you hate getting up early? Do you feel more active and productive at night? Do you tend to do your routine tasks when most of the population is already sleeping? If so, it is likely that throughout your life you have felt a bit judged by your environment, and you have even witnessed how they have labeled you as lazy, chaotic or disorganized, since we are all expected to adapt to a daytime schedule. . However, maybe it’s time to learn more about night owls.

It is estimated that about 20% of people have this chronotype. That is, they reach their maximum energy points after dark and experience serious difficulties to function first thing in the morning. They spend their lives fighting their own inclinations to conform to the rhythm of society and can be seen as misfits. However, what do we really know about this group of individuals? We will tell you!

Being a night owl is not a whim

Many people think that night owls choose to have sleep schedules that are out of step with the social rhythm. They think they lack the will to go to sleep and get up early; however, this is not so straightforward.

Several investigations have shown that the chronotype is, to a large extent, genetically determined. Thus, these people are already born with an important predisposition to manifest this nocturnal tendency.

In addition, some studies have found that there is even a genetic mutation that has strong effects on sleep patterns. In this way, in those who present it, the cycle lengthens causing the person to not be able to fall asleep until well into the morning and suffer when their body asks them to wake up earlier than expected. Ultimately, it is not a voluntary choice but a biological determination.

Are diagnosed with delayed sleep phase syndrome

The fact that the chronotype varies from person to person may have been an evolutionary advantage in ancient times. And it is that when humans lived in small tribes they made sure that there was always someone awake and alert at every moment of the day and night. However, currently society follows a marked daytime rhythm, so night owls cannot adapt and suffer serious consequences.

This is why they are generally diagnosed with the so-called delayed sleep phase syndrome. That is, they need to fall asleep and get up several hours later than would be desirable based on social convention.

Actually, when these people are allowed to choose their sleep schedule, they enjoy adequate rest in quantity and quality; but, having to go against their natural tendency, they suffer discomfort and difficulties that have reached the condition of disorder.

They can stay mentally alert for longer

We generally tend to think of early risers as more energetic and productive, but this is not entirely true.

If we talk about the number of hours that an individual can remain alert and mentally agile, the night owls win. And it is that some studies have found that, after 10 hours of wakefulness, the lovers of the night present a greater cerebral activation in the regions related to the attention.

They obtain better scores in intelligence tests

For a long time we have all known that intelligences are multiple and that the capacities of each individual vary from one to another. However, it has been found that, in tests that measure general intelligence (the so-called G factor), night owls obtain higher scores than their morning counterparts.

However, despite this advantage in intelligence and that their inductive reasoning capacity seems to be superior, nocturnal people tend to obtain a worse academic and work performance.

The reason is that they are forced to perform in their hours of less operation, in addition to dragging a significant sleep deprivation that prevents them from acting optimally.

Night owls are more creative

In addition to the above, night owls seem to be more creative people, since they use lateral thinking more than morning ones. These people who live while others sleep show an advantage when it comes to finding alternative solutions and applying different and original points of view to the approaches.

They are more likely to get sick

However, not everything is positive, and it is that various studies have found that night owls are more prone to diabetes, obesity, stress, psychological and neurological disorders. They are even 10% more likely to die earlier than early risers. Again, this is closely related to the inability to adjust to schedules, leading to insufficient and poor-quality sleep, poor diet, and worse lifestyle habits.

Despite all the above, we cannot forget that individual differences exist. The findings presented are generalities that do not determine the qualities or performance of all people. Not all early risers are less creative and not all nocturnal ones will get sick; it all depends on individual circumstances at the genetic and environmental level.

However, perhaps the previous results will help us to rethink the need to respect each person’s chronotypes, without judging each other and trying to make society more flexible so that each individual can reach their maximum development.