April 2015: Early Birds v. Night Owls

Hey birders, and welcome to Caitlin’s Corner! Do you classify yourself as an early bird or a night owl? Well, this month I will be comparing the idea of how people can be one or the other, depending if one wakes up early or goes to bed late.

If you are an early bird or a night owl really depends on your internal clock, which is the times when you get tired or more awake that coincide with how light it is outside. If yours is short, you might get up earlier, and vice versa. Also, staying up later or going to bed earlier is genetically passed down to some extent…thanks mom and dad!

Don’t worry if you can’t figure out which one you may be, because it is normal for one’s sleeping patterns to change a lot before reaching adulthood.

Here are some differences between early birds and night owls:

Early Birds

· They are generally healthier, because more early birds tend to exercise when they wake up in the morning and spend less time playing video games into the wee hours of the night

· For students in college, studies have shown that the ones who are early birds receive better grades overall

· These people tend to be happier most of the time

Night Owls

· Here is an interesting idea based on studies: people who stay up later and wake up later are wealthier than early birds

· Night owls tend to have a better focus once they wake up to last them throughout the day

· These people tend to be more creative and may be high risk takers

So does the early bird catch the worm, if the worm is an advantage? Not really, because both night owls and early birds tend to not be better than one another, but just different. Being either has its perks, but generally, it matters most how much sleep you get every night. Make sure that you get at least eight, even if video games, schoolwork, or other commitments are calling your name. Now, whatever worm you may catch, I hope it is a good one!

For more information, check out this pretty short, awesome video with some of the ideas from this article in it:

“Early Birds vs Night Owls” by AsapSCIENCE