Those Who Sleep & Wake Up Late Have Trouble Working 9 to 5
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We wake up early every day, go to work, and go home by 5pm or 6pm. But some companies provide a flexible schedule so their employees can come in and go home later. But no matter how normalised this 9 to 5 schedule is, it is directly opposed to something more powerful: biology.
In a new research, scientists found that people whose internal body clock dictates that they go to bed and wake up very late (with an average bedtime of 2:30am and wake-up time of 10:15am) have lower resting brain connectivity in many of the brain regions that are linked to the maintenance of consciousness.
'Early bird gets the worm'
This lower brain connectivity is related to poorer attention, slower reactions and increased sleepiness throughout the hours of a usual day at the office.
During the experiment, the scientists evaluated the brain function of 38 people while they slept. They were asked to report on their levels of sleepiness, and when during the day they felt most alert.
This is what they found:
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Morning larks (those who sleep and wake up early) are reported to be least sleepy and had their fastest reaction time during the early morning tests, which was significantly better than night owls.
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Night owls (those who sleep and wake up later) were least sleepy and had their fastest reaction time at 8pm in the evening, but not significantly better than the morning larks.
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Night owls are most disadvantaged in the morning.
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Morning larks have better performance and lower sleepiness at all times.
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Night owls is impaired throughout the whole day (8am-8pm)
Digging deeper
Lead author Elise Facer-Childs, Ph.D. said “We all know that some of us are better in the morning and some of us love burning that midnight oil, but people don’t tend to think about why and how.”
“Our research is looking at an area of science that is so relevant to every single one of us, which makes it so accessible. I believe that accounting for individual differences in sleep patterns and body clocks could open up a relatively untapped source, could contribute to being at our best, both mentally and physically.”
Breaking the habit
The research also hints that “night owls” are less compatible to the 9-to-5 work day than people who naturally wake up earlier. It’s theorised that lower levels of brain connectivity cause “night owls” to have poorer attention, slower reactions, and increased sleepiness throughout the hours of a typical work day.
Facer-Childs believes this study and others suggest that the rigid 9-to-5 schedule might need to change.
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Source: Inverse
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