Key Benefits of Why “Night Owls” Sleep Late
Are You A Late-Night Sleeper? Here’s why? Is your favourite time usually when you stay up into the late hours? You’re probably also not an early morning riser. Like many others, you’re just someone who prefers to sleep later. “You’re likely what we call a night owl,” says sleep scientist Dr Dale Rae. “Our body clocks are naturally predisposed to sleeping and waking at times that feel right for us. For some people, natural bedtimes and rise times are early, but for others these times are much later.” It’s important to know your own body clock, and be okay with that. And know the advantages of allowing yourself to sleep and wake later.
When Sleep Is Better, Later.
“There is nothing wrong with being a late sleeper,” Dr Rae adds. Many people find that they are more focused and productive when they are alone and undisturbed in the middle of the night and the small hours of the morning. If your life commitments and work schedule don’t require you to be up first thing in the morning, then, by all means, keep the hours that work best for you. It is still important, however, that you afford yourself the right amount of sleep, which means that if you go to bed later you will likely wake up later as well.
Late Sleepers Can Be More Productive at Night.
If you’re working on a project and really need to give it some dedicated attention, the late hours of the evening and early morning are likely when you’ll be able to concentrate without interruption. There’ll be no work calls, no text messaging, no emails and, if you have a family, the kids will be fast asleep, hopefully.
Eureka moments don’t usually happen during meetings. They’re more likely to occur when there’s an opportunity for more focused thinking. For “night owl” type sleepers, later hours in the evening can afford more focused quiet time. This is usually the night owl’s time for being more productive, problem solving or creative thinking.
Do Late Sleepers Get a Bad Rap?
With work and school hours beginning relatively early in the morning, especially for commuters, late sleepers are not always at their best first thing. Working and educational norms can be biased towards an early-bird mindset. However, with the increase in remote working, as well as working across time zones, later sleepers may likely find it easier to adapt to corresponding schedules. Just as the quality of sleep is important for our wellbeing, regardless of when we sleep, so too is focus important for productivity, no matter when we happen to be at our most efficient.
Sleeping Late vs Sleeping In.
“A word of caution,” Dr Rae reminds us. Staying up all hours, and not getting the right amount of sleep you need every day, will eventually become counter-productive. “Regularly getting less sleep than you need leads to a build-up of what we call ‘sleep debt’. This sleep debt will inevitably need to be paid back at some point and so, for example,
you may find yourself sleeping much longer on weekends. It’s better to instead prioritise consistently getting sufficient sleep from night to night as best you can.” If you’re naturally a late sleeper, but still need to keep normal work hours, you’ll likely need to slightly alter your sleeping and waking hours to accommodate the proper amount of sleep you need to function at your best. But if you have the freedom to manage your own time, why not sleep as and when it suits your natural body clock?
