How do you know which yours is? By tuning into when you naturally feel wakeful or sleepy. You can also measure sleep onset (what time you tend to feel sleepy), sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep) and your natural night-time temperature dip – the point at which your body is coldest – by using a sleep tracker such as a Fitbit or Oura ring.
This is how the four common chronotypes inspired by the animal kingdom could shape your ideal schedule.
Bear
About half of us identify with this animal – and that includes me. Broadly speaking, bear chronotypes have a sleep and wake cycle that follows the sun, and theyโre most alert in the late morning and the early afternoon. Bears typically need seven to eight hours of sleep a night, sleep fairly soundly and may also take a short nap in the afternoon.
According to Breus, bears find their energy levels peaking around 10am, which means late morning can be a good time to crack on with work while your mind is sharpest. My mood should peak between 3pm and 6pm (debatable: thatโs school pick-up time) and I should be hitting the hay no later than around 11pm, which all sounds about right.
Lion
Lions are early risers. Unfortunately for me, my husband is 100 per cent lion: a man who has no problem getting up at 5am to go to the gym and is happy to go to bed around 8.15pm (unless he falls asleep on the sofa). This does not make for a peaceful bedroom, not least because his early bedtime messes with my night-time routine that requires having the bedside light on for at least an hour while I moisturise, read, drink my herbal tea and faff around before I shut my eyes.
โItโs rare to see a lion push bedtime past 10pm,โ Breus agrees (my husband reminds me regularly that nothing good happens after 10pm – heโs wrong). I guess I should count myself lucky that he is not an โextreme lionโ, whose natural melatonin levels can wake them up around 4am.
How to marry our sleep schedules? โItโs about finding the middle ground,โ says Dr Mithu Storoni, a neuroscience researcher and the author of Hyperefficient: Optimise Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work. โThe key thing is to avoid getting up really early during the week and having a lie-in at the weekend to readjust.โ She advises I handle mornings that start earlier than Iโd like with heat, light, movement and food – all of which can help to get me going when Iโm feeling groggy. This is also a useful checklist if youโre travelling across different time zones. Luckily, my big cat spouse can sleep quite happily with a bedside light on, so if Iโm quiet I can read while he slumbers.
Wolf
Just 15 per cent of the population identifies with the wolf chronotype. These wild dogs prefer to go to bed late, which is not compatible with the regular working world/school schedule/having small children. Wolves are most productive in the evening and may not feel tired until midnight or later. Iโm still trying to work out if my son is a wolf or just a teenager.
Wolves should avoid sleeping in too late, says Breus, who also recommends they set two alarms: one to wake up and the other to signal the end of their slow drift into consciousness. Naps are not recommended for wolves, who have an energy peak in the afternoon – a doze at this time will only push bedtime even later.
Being a wolf could affect your career, Storoni says. A role that requires an 8am start may also see you consuming far too much caffeine to get going, which will then interfere with your ability to sleep later on, โa vicious circle that could end up with sleep deprivation, poor performance and mood issuesโ.
Dolphin
Dolphins are light sleepers that are easily disturbed by noise, movement and temperature changes; they wake frequently and often get less than eight hoursโ sleep a night. This is the rarest chronotype, although I suspect any woman who has had a child or is hitting perimenopause may find herself feeling rather dolphinish.
Dolphins are most productive from late morning to early afternoon. I had a dolphin boss once – he had a ferocious work ethic, despite the lack of sleep.
If you are one, focus on good sleep hygiene: donโt eat food or watch TV in bed, instil a proper bedtime routine and make sure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet. Storoni cites a Japanese study from 2018, which found that if youโre trying to fall asleep but not feeling sleepy, wear warm socks while keeping your torso as cool as possible. Having warm feet can lower your core temperature, which should help you to fall asleep faster.
Written by: Lucy Denyer
ยฉ The Times of London