The time for going to bed and waking up varies widely from person to person. Some people are early birds, while others neither prefer early sleeping nor are they interested in early rising. Have you ever thought about why it happens? Well, it may seem like a mere personal habit or choice to you. But it’s your chronotype that determines this sleep-wake cycle.
What is Chronotype?
Chronotype covers many things beyond the sleep pattern you prefer. It actually dictates various biological processes that take place inside your body. Apart from body temperature change and cortisol production, it also directs your day-to-day rest-activity cycle. This is why we feel energetic at a specific time of the day and lazy at some other time.
How is Chronotype Related to Circadian Rhythm?
Circadian rhythm is the internal clock to influence all your biological processes. The process includes sleeping, waking, eating, and all other daily activities. Certainly, these processes don’t take place at the same time for different human beings. Chronotype or circadian typology factors here.
According to a study, it is related to individual circadian rhythmicity, like sleep cycle and physical activity patterns, including exercise and diet. It also considers personality traits while determining preferences regarding the circadian phase. For instance, early birds (people who wake up early) are associated with agreeableness positively.
So, your circadian rhythm determines what happens to you during daytime and night, whereas chronotype is responsible for when it occurs.
Another major difference between the two lies in their malleability. Various external and internal things can change the circadian clock or keep it on track. But your circadian rhythm is not pliable beyond a certain degree. On the other side, genetic dice heavily influence changes in chronotypes. The morning chronotype itself includes association with 351 genetic variants, represented a study.
The circadian clock gene of morning types differs from that of the evening types. That is why a night owl (people who sleep and wake up lately) can’t easily change to an early bird. This switching, being too hard, demands a continuous process of investing time and effort.
Types of Chronotypes
Scientists usually classify two chronotypes based on the sleep chronotype. Those are morningness or morning larks or early birds, and eveningness or night owls. Those who don’t fall into either category are intermediate or hummingbirds.
However, covering the wide variations in animals’ sleep patterns involves four chronotypes.
Some scientists describe the four types as larks, owls, swifts, and woodcocks. Others prefer the classifications to be called bear, wolf, lion, and dolphin chronotypes.
Bear Chronotype
The bear chronotype generally sleeps through the night and wakes up easily in the morning. It follows the solar cycle and remains most active in the morning. These chronotypes struggle to maintain the spirit after lunch.
A bear chronotype schedule usually looks like this:
Wake up- 7 a.m. – 8 a.m.
10 a.m.- 2 p.m.- work with full energy
2 p.m. – 4 p.m. – work on a lighter mode
4 p.m. – 10 p.m. – relax
10 p.m. – 11 p.m. – ready for bed
Sleep – 11 p.m. – 7 a.m.
55% of the total world population follows this cycle. If they sleep less at night, they find it hard to focus on work throughout the day and may sleep earlier than usual. Bear chronotypes are typically extroverts and energetic in conversations.
If you find a resemblance in your sleep pattern with the bear chronotype, remember to complete your sleep to remain energetic.
Wolf Chronotype
Wolf chronotypes are primarily productive at night and take time to gather energy in the morning. Their creative energy bursts at two times of the day, one is around noon, and the second is around evening.
Much like the night owls, wolf chronotypes can’t wake up naturally early in the morning or get going until sunset. They happily go to bed past midnight.
Wolf chronotype schedule
Wake up – 7.30 a.m. – 9 a.m.
10 a.m.- 12 p.m.- work on a lighter mode
12p.m. – 2 p.m. – creative work with full concentration
2 p.m. – 5 p.m. – perform less intense tasks
5 p.m. – 9 p.m. – creative tasks
9 p.m. – 10 p.m. – unwind
10 p.m. – 12 a.m. – prepare for going to bed
Sleep – 12 p.m. – 7.30 a.m.
15% of the total population identify as wolf chronotypes. These people are introverted and reserved.
Lion Chronotype
Just like a lion, people possessing these chronotypes feel most lively in the morning. They complete most of their daily work before lunchtime.
Similarly, lions gain energy in the morning faster and lose it after midday. This group finds it difficult to manage the afternoon slump and often needs a power nap. The evening is the unwinding time for the lions and their chronotypes before going to bed early. Eight hours of sleep keep them energetic since early morning.
Lion chronotype schedule
Wake up- 6 a.m. – 7 a.m.
8 a.m.- 12 p.m.- deep work
12 p.m. – 4 p.m. – lighter work
4 p.m. – 9 p.m. – relax and unwind
9 p.m. – 10 p.m. – ready to go to bed
Sleep – 10 p.m. – 6 a.m.
Lion chronotype also includes 15% of the population. People around you who you see exercising in the morning and arriving at the office first are lion chronotypes. They prefer working their best at prime hours.
Dolphin Chronotype
Dolphins are insomniac creatures of the water. Therefore, a dolphin chronotype is much more different than other chronotypes in its sleep-wake cycle. They are late-starters and get the pace with time. Mid-morning is the time when their productivity reaches its peak.
This sleeping behavior with the brain partially active while sleeping keeps the dolphins tired constantly. They hardly fall asleep fast and have a deep sleep through the night. A power nap is ideal for them to get going throughout the daytime. They sleep because their body needs to, not because they want to. Their sleep quality is often poor.
Dolphin Chronotype Schedule
Wake up 6.30 a.m. – 7.30 a.m.
8 a.m. – 10 a.m. – engaged in lighter work
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. – deep work
12 p.m. – 4 p.m. – less intense work
4 p.m. – 10 p.m. – unwind and relax
10 p.m. – 12 p.m. – prepare for going to bed
Sleep – 12 p.m. – 6.30 a.m.
Only 10% of the population matches the dolphin chronotype schedule. Dolphin types are brilliant and engage in thoughts of success and failure while lying in bed. They often distance themselves from social interactions.
What is My Chronotype?
If you aren’t sure about your chronotype to date, you must be eager to know it.
Think about when you prefer to wake up, what time of the day seems the best time to work for you, and when you go to bed. The standard method to find out your chronotype is the Morning Evening Questionnaire or MEQ. It utilizes data for self-assessment like sleep timing, daytime sleepiness, and alertness.
The Munich Chronotype Questionnaire, or MCTQ, is also helpful. MEQ and MCTQ are quizzes that you can take online too.
Finding out your chronotype is not so easy, despite knowing the schedules in detail. You may just find your sleep and work pattern matching multiple types. Moreover, everything varies from person to person. Sometimes, you may just want a thing and have to go for another. You can read books on the topic and take those online quizzes to identify your hours of productivity and ideal sleep cycle.
Final Words
To conclude, finding your chronotype is essential to work with for the best function. It improves the quality of your sleep as well as your life.
