Waking Up or Sleeping In?

If you haven’t figured it out by now, you are either one of two things: a morning person or a night owl. This characteristic is a good determination of the kind of person you are. It may sound silly, to judge a person by how late, or early they prefer to get up. But a person's sleeping habits can show a lot about their personality. It is a common assumption that morning people are automatically more proactive because they start their day earlier, but that’s not necessarily true. A morning person is a morning person because that is when they like to get things done, but a night owl is a night owl because that is when they prefer to get things done. It isn't about the time of day a person wakes, its about what a person does with that time they have.

A study performed by Spanish researchers shows that the personality traits of night owls and morning larks prove to be very different. For example, a morning person is thought of to be very logical and analytical. They are seen as proactive, always hoping to accomplish something before the clock strikes noon. A late sleeper usually carries imaginative and more intuitive traits. They are usually more creative.  I don’t want to get into it, but there is actually a lot more science behind what determines a night owl or a morning person, having to deal with hormones and the peak of a person’s sleep cycle.

Depending on the type of person, the time of day has a great impact on productivity level of employees or students. In high school, there is not much of a choice on whether you are a night owl or a morning person. You are expected to perform your best, whether it be nearing the end of the day, or at the ungodly hour of 7am. It is like that in the real world. Night owls must conform to a morning person’s schedule, and vise versa.

We all know everybody is unique. There are many ways a person is different from the next, and the 
separation between morning people and night owls is very real. Their productivity levels vary throughout the day, which can be backed up by scientific facts. Personality traits have been known to change depending on the time of day you find yourself working at full capacity. It is important to note these differences, and realize that everyone performs differently at different points in the day.