As the owl walks in, the larks gather around, sneering,

“So where have you been, sleepyhead” they larks said

“Sleeping…” the owls replied

“You are always late, you lazy owl,” the larks said, “You are going to get fired”

No, this is not about animal abuse, it’s about sleeping. Did you know that there are two basic types of sleepers? (Yes that was a very cheesy story)

Larks – early bird gets the worm

Photo by Cyron from Flickr

Larks are sleepers who have the natural ability to go to sleep early and wake up early. Most kids (5 to 10ish) are larks. This is because their days are shorter then an average adults’. Larks are viewed in our society (at the moment that is) as busy, efficient workers.

Owls

Photo by Merec0 from Flickr

Owls are the exact opposite of larks; they wake up late and go to sleep late. Most teens are owls. This is because their days are lengthening. Being the opposite of larks, owls are often seen as lazy, inefficient workers.

Lark is better right?

No. Owls often sleep and work the same hours as larks do. Their schedule is just an hour or two (maybe more in extreme owls) later then a larks. However because the society schedule demands early waking hours, we only see owls getting to work late. We don’t see owls staying up and working all the way into the night. We automatically assume owls go to sleep the same time as larks but they still wake up later.

Larks also have a larger amount of stress hormone in their saliva then owls. Although this is not proven, many owls are much more creative then larks - possible side effect of having less stress

So should I be an owl then?

Well, you should be whatever comes natural for you. You should already know what kind of sleeper you are so just stick with it. If you are a lark, stick with being a lark, if you are an owl, stick with being an owl.

Ending

Larks, please don’t criticize the owls. Modern day society’s obsession with waking up early is hard enough on them already – by ruining their natural sleeping schedule. Just because they wake up late it doesn’t mean they are lazy, they work and sleep the same hours as larks.

I used to hate waking up in the morning. These resources really helped me overcome that and now I wake up at 5:30 in the morning

1. Did you know that pillows are very important? I didn’t. Dr. Micheal J Breus over at sleepbetter.org wrote a enlightening post on pillows.

2. Tim Ferris at fourhourworkweek has 5 very unusual tips on relaxing. It does seem to work well though.

3. C. Simmons from healthassist.net offers some classic tips on getting a better night’s sleep. The article is on dumblittleman.com

4. The very popular “how to become an early riser” written by Steve Pavlina is a must read.

5. Another article written by Steve Pavlina called “how to get up right away when your alarm goes off“. I am using this tip daily.

6. Finally, wired takes a different approach to sleeping: quality not quantity.