Night Owl or Early Bird: Why Your Internal Clock Actually Matters

You’ve probably heard the old saying about the early bird getting the worm. It's basically a mantra in our productivity-obsessed culture. We lionize the CEO who wakes up at 4:30 AM to hit the gym and answer emails before the sun even thinks about coming up. But if you’re a night owl, that narrative feels less like inspiration and more like a personal attack. Honestly, forcing yourself into a morning person’s schedule when your DNA is screaming for sleep can feel like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops. It’s exhausting. It’s frustrating. And according to a growing body of sleep science, it might actually be bad for your health.

We aren't all wired the same way. This isn't just about being "lazy" or "disciplined." It’s about your chronotype. This is your body’s natural inclination to sleep and wake at certain times. It's dictated by your circadian rhythms—basically a 24-hour internal clock sitting in your brain’s hypothalamus. Specifically, a tiny region called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). For a night owl, that clock runs a bit slower. For an early bird, it’s a bit faster.

Research from the University of Leicester and other institutions has shown that these differences are deeply rooted in our genetics. Specifically, variations in the PER3 gene play a huge role in whether you thrive at dawn or find your stride at midnight. It’s not a choice. You don’t "pick" your chronotype any more than you pick your height.

The Science of Being a Night Owl vs. an Early Bird

Society is built for the morning. School starts early. Offices open early. Even "early bird specials" at restaurants reward the morning-inclined. This creates what researchers call social jetlag. Social jetlag is the discrepancy between your biological clock and your social clock. If you’re a natural night owl forced to wake up at 6 AM for a corporate job, you’re essentially living in a state of permanent jetlag. You're waking up when your brain thinks it's the middle of the night.

Think about how you feel after flying across eight time zones. That brain fog? That irritability? That's what millions of people experience every single Tuesday.

Dr. Till Roenneberg, a professor of chronobiology at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, has spent years studying this. He argues that this mismatch is a major contributor to metabolic issues, depression, and chronic fatigue. When we fight our biology, our biology fights back.

✨ Don't miss: Does Journal of Religion and Health Conduct Studies? What You Should Know Before Submitting

What’s happening inside an Early Bird?

The early bird (or "lark") usually finds their core body temperature peaking earlier in the day. They hit their cognitive ceiling around mid-morning. By the time 9 PM rolls around, their melatonin levels—the hormone that tells your body it’s time to sleep—are already spiking. They wake up feeling refreshed because they’ve actually completed their necessary sleep cycles.

The Night Owl reality

For the night owl, everything is shifted. Their melatonin doesn't start flowing until much later. They often experience a "second wind" around 9 or 10 PM. This is when their focus is sharpest. They aren't staying up late to be rebellious; they’re staying up late because that’s when their brain is finally "on."

However, because the world demands they be awake by 7 AM, they often cut their sleep short. They miss out on vital REM sleep, which happens more frequently in the later hours of the morning. This leads to a massive "sleep debt" that they try to pay off by sleeping until noon on Saturdays.

Why the "Early Bird" Hype is Kinda Overrated

We've been told for decades that "successful people" wake up early. You see the LinkedIn posts. The "morning routines" involving ice baths and meditation. But here’s the thing: productivity isn’t about when you work, it’s about how you work.

A study published in the journal BMJ actually found that night owls—those who stayed up late and woke up late—scored higher on cognitive tests than morning people. They tended to have better "nighttime" stamina and could stay focused on tasks for longer periods without hitting a wall.

• Larks are great at logical, linear tasks in the morning.
• Owls often show higher levels of creativity and "outside the box" thinking.

There’s also an evolutionary theory here. Back in our hunter-gatherer days, it didn't make sense for the whole tribe to sleep at the same time. If everyone was out cold at 2 AM, a predator could easily wipe out the group. Having some "owls" stay up late to watch the fire and some "larks" wake up early to scout was a survival mechanism. We need both.

The Health Risks of Fighting Your Type

This is where it gets serious. If you’re an early bird trying to be a night owl (less common) or vice versa, you’re stressing your system.

Chronic sleep deprivation linked to social jetlag is associated with:

1. Weight Gain: Lack of sleep messes with ghrelin and leptin, the hormones that control hunger.
2. Cardiovascular Issues: Higher blood pressure is common in people who consistently wake up before their body is ready.
3. Mental Health: There is a statistically significant link between being a "misaligned" night owl and higher rates of anxiety and depression.

Dr. Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep, points out that we are the only species that deliberately deprives itself of sleep for no apparent gain. We’ve turned sleep deprivation into a badge of honor. It's weird.

Can You Actually Change Your Chronotype?

The short answer? Not really. Not at a DNA level.

The long answer? You can nudge it. You can use light therapy and strict meal timing to shift your rhythm by maybe an hour or two. But you will never turn a hard-core night owl into a natural early bird. It’s like trying to change your eye color. You can put in contacts, but the underlying reality remains.

If you really want to shift your schedule, you have to be aggressive with light.

📖 Related: Nutrafol for Hair Growth: What the Science Actually Says About Those Gold Bottles

• Morning Birds: Need to avoid bright light in the late afternoon to prevent their clock from resetting even earlier.
• Night Owls: Need immediate, bright sunlight (like, 10,000 lux) the second they wake up to "clamp" their rhythm and tell the brain the day has started.

Finding Your Middle Ground

Most people fall somewhere in the middle. They aren't extreme larks or extreme owls. They're "hummingbirds." But even hummingbirds usually lean one way or the other.

The goal shouldn't be to "fix" your sleep schedule to match a CEO's Twitter feed. The goal should be to align your life with your biology. If you’re a night owl, stop feeling guilty about it. If you have the flexibility, try to schedule your most demanding work for later in the afternoon. If you’re an early bird, don’t feel like a loser because you want to be in bed by 9 PM.

Actionable Steps for Better Alignment

If you’re struggling with your chronotype, try these specific adjustments.

For the Night Owl struggling with a 9-to-5:

• Stop the "Snooze" Cycle: Snoozing creates "sleep inertia," making that morning fog even worse. Set one alarm and put it across the room.
• Light is your lever: Get a SAD lamp or step outside immediately upon waking. This suppresses melatonin.
• Caffeine Cutoff: You might feel like you need coffee at 4 PM to survive, but for owls, this often pushes their sleep onset even later. Stop by 2 PM.
• Blue Light Blocking: Use red-tinted glasses or "night mode" on all devices three hours before you want to be asleep.

For the Early Bird struggling with late-night social life:

• The Afternoon Nap: A 20-minute power nap at 2 PM can help bridge the gap to a late dinner.
• Strategic Light: Keep the lights bright in the evening if you have a late event. It tricks the brain into staying alert.
• Protein-Heavy Dinners: Carbohydrates can trigger sleepiness; staying with protein and veggies for dinner might keep you more alert for social calls.

For Employers and Managers:

• Core Hours: Consider a "10 to 3" core hours policy where everyone must be online, but allow the early birds to start at 7 and the owls to finish at 7. This usually leads to a massive jump in productivity.
• Respect the "Off" Switch: Don't expect an early bird to answer a Slack message at 10 PM, and don't expect a night owl to be "on" during an 8 AM brainstorming session.

At the end of the day, your chronotype is a tool, not a cage. Understanding whether you are a night owl or an early bird allows you to stop fighting your body and start working with it. Stop looking at the clock and start listening to your energy levels. Your brain will thank you for it.

Next Steps to Optimize Your Internal Clock:

1. Track your "Natural" Wake Time: On your next vacation or long weekend, don't set an alarm. See when your body naturally wakes up after 3-4 days of no pressure. That is your true chronotype.
2. Audit Your Energy: For one week, rate your focus on a scale of 1-10 every two hours. You'll likely see a very clear pattern of when your "peak" hours are.
3. Adjust One Meeting: If you’re an owl, move your hardest task of the day to 3 PM instead of 9 AM. See if the quality of your work improves.
4. Fix Your Lighting: Invest in blackout curtains for sleep and a high-quality light box for waking up. Control the light, control the clock.