Does Your Body Clock Affect Your Productivity? Thoughts from a Night Owl

Recently, I have found myself fascinated with sleep.

It began when I was discussing circadian cycles with my brother (as one does). We were assessing the different dynamics in our family.

My brother is a morning person. He wakes up insanely early, meditates for an hour, and engages with a whole lot of other routine-based habits that make him the stereotype of the modern successful person. (I have looked up to him for a long time, in awe of these habits).

And then there’s me. For as long as I could remember, I have enjoyed a good sleep in. More than that, though, we still laugh about how my brother and I may visit my parents for dinner, and right when everyone is starting to wind down for the night, my energy levels are rapidly increasing.

I will often find myself trying to sleep at a ‘reasonable hour’, only to end up working in deep focus in the middle of the night. Of course, with work, I am accustomed to waking up early when needed, to make an early flight or start a 7.30am training session. But when I am left to my own devices for too long, I inevitably fall back into late nights and have to retrain myself for early mornings. Certifiably, were we to use the common categories for body clocks, my brother is a “morning lark” and I am a “night owl”.

This morning lark first introduced me to an evolutionary theory about why people with similar genetics may have such different circadian…