What kind of people are called larks. Who has an easier life? Mixed types of daily activity

In everyday life we often use such concepts as "owl" or "lark" in order to explain the dependence of our fatigue or vice versa, performance, on the time of day. Of course, we do not mean birds, but human chronotypes.

The chronological type of a person, or chronotype, is determined by the peaks of activity of the nervous system depending on the time of day. The life of any living organism on Earth is subject to certain rhythms. A peak is inevitably followed by a decline, during which the energy needed for the next peak is accumulated. The study of chronotypes began in the 70s of the twentieth century, and at first it was accepted rather skeptically. However, in the course of observations, it turned out that this has not only scientific, but also practical significance, since the coincidence or mismatch of working hours with peaks and valleys of human activity determines the quality of his activity, which on a global scale affects both the economy and other spheres of society .

Determining a person's chronotype: who are you, an owl or a lark?

The chronological type of a person is determined by the peaks and troughs of his performance. So, larks are those people whose peak occurs in the morning hours and extends throughout the first half of the day. With the onset of twilight, such people begin to decline, and until midnight they usually sleep sweetly, so that the next day they wake up again with the sunrise.

Owls are a type of people whose peak activity occurs in the afternoon and persists into the evening. Owl people wake up much later than sunrise, usually at 10-11 am, or even by noon. Before lunch, their performance is low, and by 15 o'clock it begins to gain momentum, reaching a peak after sunset. For owls, midnight is a “childish” time, and when the larks are sniffing sweetly, owls are quite capable of completing important work.

Sometimes a third type of people is also distinguished, they are called arrhythmics. Arrhythmics are those whose performance does not depend on the time of day, who are equally productive both in the morning and in the evening. Many believe that this is ideal, but observations show that such people are more likely to suffer from neurosis and depression. Doctors explain this by the lack of necessary downturns, when the body needs to rest and gain strength.

According to Western experts, at present, owls make up about 45% of people, larks - 25%, and about 30% of people either consider themselves arrhythmics or have not decided.

Invented owls?

Chronobiology, scientists involved in the study of temporal rhythms in living beings, have established for certain that it is larks that live by the natural biological rhythm. All life on Earth obeys the solar rhythm, and man is no exception. Throughout a long historical period, but what is there, almost all of its history, man was directly dependent on the sun. People simply could not afford to get up late, because one way or another, all the main activities fell on daylight hours. Those who get up early and work hard go to bed early too, and exceptions only confirm the general rule. At present, people living in a tribal way in corners remote from civilization spend their whole lives in the rhythm of a lark, focusing on the world around them.

However, owls are by no means fiction, as statistics say, they represent the majority of the inhabitants of the countries of Western civilization. The owl chronotype arose with the advent of electricity. Of course, night revelers existed before, but then they were just idle people, a small stratum, as they would say now, majors. As human activities developed that did not depend on sunlight, the number of owls increased.

Changing chronotype

Does this mean that a person's chronotype can change? Undoubtedly. A small child is usually a lark, because this is how his parents organize his life. When a person has a free choice, he can change his sleep and wake patterns - often this happens after graduation. Finally, a person discovers the liberties of a free life, and one of the attributes of the freedom gained from parents is precisely the schedule shifted to the "owl" side. When small children appear, life becomes lark again, then, if the need for early rising disappears, the person returns to the comfortable lifestyle of an owl, and in old age, most people like to wake up early, returning to the lark. Thus, the human chronotype is not something once and for all certain, and if circumstances so require, it can always be rebuilt.

The world of owls is made for larks

Surprisingly, despite the fact that the vast majority of people of active, able-bodied age are owls, the way of social life is designed specifically for larks. State institutions, kindergartens, schools, shops, clinics - everything works in the rhythm of a lark, but that's bad luck, owls work there as well. Many experts, not without reason, believe that this is one of the reasons that a modern resident is so prone to stress, because chronic stress is provided by constant time pressure. However, unfortunately, they have not yet figured out how to make it comfortable for both.

What is healthier - being an owl or a lark?

The fact that being a lark is more natural, and therefore useful, is beyond doubt. A person who lives in the same rhythm not only with nature, but also with society, of course, is in a winning position. As for owls, opinions are divided here. Many specialists, including psychologists, do not find anything wrong with such a lifestyle, as long as the person himself is comfortable living like this. However, few owls manage to build their lives in such a way that they really feel comfortable, because, willy-nilly, they have to adapt if they attend the same educational institution, for example.

Often people consider themselves owls not because of the chronotype, but for the banal reason that they do not know how to organize their time. As a rule, they go to bed late not at all because such a lifestyle suits them, but because they are unable to tear themselves away from the TV, their favorite computer toy, or simply surfing the Internet. Such people hardly get up in the morning, skip couples at the institute, are always late for work, are in prostration until lunch, and finally gather their strength in the evening, in order to then repeat the pathological cycle all over again. When the day off comes, they sleep off for all the weekly suffering, explaining to others and to themselves such a way of life with the chronological type of an owl.

This lifestyle is a direct path to nervous disorders caused by chronic lack of sleep and stress. Its consequence is constant overwork, psycho-emotional stress, and, as a result, insomnia, chronic fatigue syndrome, neuroses and depression. It must be said that the objections of doctors against owls are based precisely on this, but strictly speaking, such people are not owls, they are victims of their own inability to organize life reasonably.

Despite the fact that we are forced to live in daylight hours that are convenient for larks (people who get up in the morning without much effort, cheerful and energetic at work in the afternoon and getting ready for bed in the evening), there are more owls in the world (those who are knocked out by early awakening out of the rut, and the peak of performance falls on the night hours).

The division into owls and larks is determined by the biorhythms inherited. Which of these types is in a more advantageous position?

Studies show that of all people living in the world, about 20% are owls. They struggle to wake up early in the morning, sway towards the middle of the day, and are most active at night.

About 10% of people belong to larks, who easily get up in the morning, are most efficient in the first half of the day, and feel tired in the evening.

Who are the rest?

70% are an intermediate type, the so-called pigeons: they go to bed late without any problems and waking up in the morning is not a problem for them. True, it is difficult for the universal type to decide what time of day is most productive for him, but, having absorbed the features of both the early and late chronotypes (the dependence of biorhythms on the time of day), unlike inveterate owls and larks, he has fewer problems in life due to his versatility and adaptability.

Scientists have found that owls, as a rule, connect their lives with intellectual loads: they are independent, engage in science and creativity, quickly switch between tasks, easily make non-standard, creative decisions and have a greater craving for novelty.

Larks are physically hardy (there are many athletes among them), the most driven, easily put up with the fact that they work for someone, are more persistent and prefer cooperation when doing work.

Both owls and larks experience discomfort due to biorhythms determined at birth. If you do not sleep the way nature told you, you will always feel out of place, and this can affect your psychological state.

For example, owls are not to blame for the fact that they do not like to get up early in the morning, but they are still known as lazy people in society, putting their whims above the interests of others. But owls are more resistant to stress compared to larks. This was shown by the low level of the "stress hormone" - cortisol - in their blood.

However, not everything is so smooth: the unnatural rhythm for owls, in which you have to get up early (most institutions, whatever one may say, work in the morning), but go to bed early due to the chronotype, leads to the fact that among them there are more smokers and people who abuse alcohol.

Which chronotype is better is a difficult question. No study will answer it. The main thing is not to get up and go to bed on time, but to get enough sleep and not fight the biological regime given by nature.

Although people have been living by the charter of larks for millennia, the reality is that owls still need to try to adjust their work schedule as much as possible and choose professions in which the result is important, and not what time of day it is achieved.

However, note that scientists from the University of Toronto believe that those who get up early are at least ... a little happier, because, after interviewing almost 800 respondents from 17 to 79 years old, the researchers found that larks invariably receive more positive emotions. This cannot unambiguously indicate that they are happier, but they still get a little more joy from life.

"Owls" and "larks": Human biological rhythms

According to biological rhythms, people are divided into "larks" and "owls".

"Larks" are called those people who wake up and get up at dawn. And they get up easily and without any fatigue and lack of sleep. And they go to bed early too.
People - "owls" are nocturnal. In the morning they prefer to sleep longer. In the morning, people - "owls" are usually sleepy and sleepy. Closer to dinner, they begin to show activity. They go to bed late.
Approximately 23 years ago, scientists conducted a study of human biorhythms. They conducted an experiment in which it turned out that if you shine a spot of bright light on the surface of the leg behind the knee, then the rhythm of sleep and the human biological clock go astray.

Scientists still cannot explain why this happens. There is no consensus among researchers about why people are divided into "owls" and larks."

Some scientists argue that the habit of waking up sooner or later is inherent in a person genetically and is regulated by genes. And the biological rhythm cannot be corrected. Others say that it will not be difficult for a person to turn from an “owl” into a “lark”.

And the majority tends to the second version.

Today biological rhythms are studied by chronobiology. But the Eastern scientists dealt with the problem of time inside living organisms in ancient times. Human biological rhythms can interact with each other, as well as with the rhythms of the environment.

Some experts in this field argue that belonging to a group of “owls” or “larks” is a habit laid down from childhood.

If parents are used to going to bed early, then the child will also go to bed early. And this habit is likely to continue in the future. Unless, of course, he gets carried away by nightly watching TV or surfing the Internet around the clock.

In the modern world, it is difficult to completely obey your biological rhythm. In most cases, the working day starts early in the morning, and people - "owls" are not allowed to sleep until lunch. You have to adapt to the circumstances.

One way or another, a person is quite capable of independently adjusting his sleep rhythm. But you can't change in one day. This can have a very adverse effect on the body - you will earn insomnia or headaches.

It takes at least two weeks for the body to get used to the new schedule. You need to gradually shift your rhythm for 15 minutes.

Go to bed earlier than this time. And you should also wake up earlier. First for 15 minutes, then for 20, and so on.

You need to take care of the melody for the alarm clock. A loud unexpected sound irritates the psyche, and you will feel sleepy all day. It is better to wake up to light soft music.

Doctors and psychologists say that a healthy sleep schedule is 8 hours. That is how much time a person needs to feel vigorous all day.

The ideal sleep schedule for a person is from 10 pm to 6 am. People who adhere to such a schedule are called "pigeons". They easily fall asleep in the evening and also easily get up in the morning without experiencing any discomfort. Such people are distinguished by excellent health.

Many scientists say that the main cause of sleep disorders is round-the-clock Internet access from computers and phones. Bright light from the screens "deceives" the brain, creating the effect of daylight in the dark. Those who like to sit at the computer at night in the morning experience severe overwork.

By the way, even a slight light from an electronic clock can disrupt sleep. This light "turns off" the sleep mode in the brain and causes a decrease in the concentration of the hormone melatonin, which stimulates sleep. Therefore, it is better to replace the electronic clock in the bedroom with a regular one that will not be a source of light.

According to doctors, people - "owls" are at greater risk of getting cancer than "larks".

The fact is that a sufficient amount of melatonin in the body is a reliable prevention and cure for dangerous diseases. And for the production of this hormone, one condition must be met - darkness. In daylight or artificial light, melatonin is not produced. Therefore, a night's rest enables the body to overcome all pathological processes and disorders that have arisen in it for any reason. In addition, the correct mode of sleep at night prolongs youth.

It should be remembered that it is best to fall asleep in a quiet room, since the noise in the room where a person sleeps can reduce the immune properties of the body.

This happens even if the person is not woken up by the noise. Noise is especially dangerous at the moment you just fell asleep and in the last two hours of sleep, it can cause a sleep disorder.

Our lives are governed by internal biological rhythms. They determine the activity of a person at different times of the day. And it is very important to know what clock our body works in order to live in harmony with ourselves.

Depending on the chronotype, all people can be divided into three categories: “owls”, “larks” and “doves”. And one in five of us, as it is believed, refers to the "owls". In the morning, their psychophysiological functions are inhibited, then during the day the activity gradually increases, and the peak of their performance falls on the evening and night. As a rule, such people are distinguished by inertia, prudence, validity of conclusions, a tendency to logical reflection, abstract generalizations.

About 30% of people are "larks". They work better in the morning with a “fresh head”, but by the end of the day they become less energetic, they endure evening and night shifts with great difficulty. Often "larks" are enthusiasts, idea generators or daring creators. The remaining half of all people belong to the "pigeons", or arrhythmics. They easily adapt to any mode of work, that is, cheerful at any time of the day.

Who is who?

Determining which “pack” you belong to is not always easy. It often happens that the conditions of life force us to adapt to the daily routine that is not characteristic of our nature. But if a person breaks his biorhythms, for example, struggles with insomnia or, conversely, with sleep, this can lead to bad consequences.

"Owls" are richer than "larks". V them better memory, thinking, better health. Such results were obtained by British researchers based on a survey of 3,000 people over 50 years old.
It is clear that "owls" appeared after the electric light bulb was invented, before that all people lived "according to the sun": they went to bed early and got up early.
According to research by American scientists, the number of "larks" is currently decreasing.
It is curious that among people 18-30 years old, almost half are “owls”. At the age of 30-50, there are already about 30% of them. And after 50 years, only a few continue to be “owls”.
Among the "owls" there are many representatives of creative professions. They, as a rule, have figurative thinking - these are people with the leading right hemisphere of the brain. "Larks" are distinguished by an analytical mindset, for which the left hemisphere is responsible. They often become mathematicians, physicists.

Horn-Ostberg questionnaire (abbreviated version)

Do you find it difficult to get up early in the morning?

yes, almost always - 3 points;
sometimes - 2 points;
rarely - 1 point;
extremely rare - 0 points.

If you had a choice, what time would you go to bed at night?

after one in the morning - 3 points;
from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. - 2 points;
from 10 pm to 11 pm - 1 point;
until 22:00 - 0 points.

What breakfast do you prefer within the first hour after waking up?

dense - 0 points;
less dense - 1 point;
you can limit yourself to a boiled egg - 2 points;
a cup of tea or coffee is enough - 3 points.

If you recall all your recent disagreements with households and colleagues, at what time of the day do they mostly occur?

in the first half of the day - 1 point;
in the afternoon - 0 points.

What would be easier for you to give up?

from morning tea or coffee - 2 points;
from evening tea - 0 points.

less than a minute - 0 points;
more than a minute - 2 points.

How easy is it for you to change your eating habits while on vacation or traveling?

very easy - 0 points;
easy - 1 point;
difficult - 2 points;
do not change - 3 points.

If you have important things to do early in the morning, how much earlier do you go to bed?

more than 2 hours - 3 points;
for an hour or two - 2 points;
less than an hour - 1 point;
as usual - 0 points.

Score points for all questions.

Sum 0 to 7 indicates belonging to the "larks";
8 to 13- to "pigeons";
from 14 to 20- to "owls".

To better understand yourself and then draw the appropriate conclusions, pay attention to the advice of experts. Firstly, there is an opinion that the internal biorhythms of a person determines the time of birth. Those who were born between 4 and 11 am are “larks”, and those born between 4 pm and midnight are “owls”. The rest are pigeons. If you do not know the hour of your birth, use the following method - physiological. This test was invented by the German professor Günter Hildebrandt. In the morning, immediately after waking up, measure your heart rate and breaths per minute. If their ratio is somewhere around 4:1, then you are a “dove”, if it is 5:1 or 6:1, then you are a “lark”. An increase in the frequency of breaths and a ratio of 3:1 or less is typical for typical "owls". To check which type you belong to, you can also use the questionnaire of the Swedish scientists Horn and Ostberg.

Where to lay straws?

"Larks" are more prone to diabetes, obesity, circulatory diseases, migraines, asthma, and are more sensitive to weather changes.

"Owls" are more likely to lie in wait for a stomach ulcer, hypertension, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris. There is a scientific explanation for this. Back in the 1950s, the British geneticist and microbiologist Francis Rick found that the daily release of hormones in "owls" is 1.5 times higher than in "larks", due to which they are so active in the evening and at night.

Even the sages of ancient Greece noticed that some people work more in the morning, and some in the evening, so the former were called "larks", the latter - "owls". Doctors and psychologists believe that one sixth (33%) of all people are “larks”, a third (17%) are “owls”. The remaining (50%) do not obey the daily rhythm (). Their body works smoothly, without wave fluctuations. Such people are called "jays", "pigeons" or arrhythmics. A lot of people belong to intermediate chronotypes and are not bright representatives of "owls", "larks" or "doves".

famous owls

Among the famous historical figures "owls" were the ancient Roman statesman and politician, commander Gaius Julius Caesar, the Swedish king Charles XII, the English naturalist and traveler Charles Robert Darwin, the great English writer of the 18th century Samuel Johnson.

famous larks

The first all-Russian emperor Peter I the Great and the great Russian commander, one of the founders of Russian military art Alexander Suvorov were "larks".

Professions of owls, larks and doves

It has been noticed that “owls” predominate among knowledge workers, while almost half of the people engaged in manual labor are “doves”. It is important to consider your chronobiological stereotype when choosing a job, especially when choosing professions that require night shifts or frequent business trips with changing time zones. Let's consider these aspects in more detail.

"Larks": biorhythms and physique

"Larks" are people whose circadian rhythm shifts forward, that is, those who have advanced sleep phase syndrome. They have a period of fluctuation of circadian rhythms less than 24 hours. This is the "morning" type of people. They wake up on their own and quite early, feel rested after sleep, vigorous and efficient in the morning, feel sleepy in the evening and, if possible, go to bed early. Quickly restore strength, but also quickly get tired. It is better for them to go to bed no later than 11 pm, otherwise they will feel tired the next day. Evening and night shifts are not for early risers. Larks are better at adjusting to jet lag than owls and rarely suffer from the associated insomnia.

"Larks" react strongly and quickly to external influences, they are prone to hobbies. These people are big enthusiasts. In science, they are the creators of new ideas. They point new paths, leaving the development of details to the "owls", because by the time the work is completed, the "larks" often lose interest in it or they do not have enough strength. They react to all stimuli faster and more sharply than "owls". "Larks" are more often owners of a picnic body type, by the type of temperament they are pronounced choleric or sanguine.

Perhaps the fact that a person is born a "lark" is to blame heredity. American scientists conducted research in families in which the need to go to bed early and get up early exists for several generations. Members of these families found a defect in a particular gene. This gene was implanted in experimental mice - and they turned into "larks", implanted in fruit flies - and they became ... "owls". So perhaps a central component of the mammalian biological clock has been found.

Biorhythms of "owls", temperament of owls

These are people who have a sleep phase lag. They have a period of fluctuations in circadian rhythms of more than 24 hours, or the so-called delayed sleep phase syndrome. It has been established that people of the evening type are easier to adapt to work on the night shift and three-shift work. Owls have better control over their sleep-wake rhythm than other humans. “Owls” fall asleep long after midnight, wake up late, get up with difficulty, since they have the deepest period of sleep before morning. The peak of performance falls on the second half of the day and lasts until late at night. Naturally, owls are better off going to bed later and waking up later.

"Owls" are distinguished by a slow and weak reaction to stimuli. These are calm, reasonable people who are in no hurry to draw conclusions and try to justify them enough, sometimes pedants, taxonomists, prone to logical thinking, mathematics, abstract generalizations, inert, expectant, closed. They are distinguished by good self-control, prudence, excessive severity and despotism. Passive and indecisive in new undertakings, they hesitate for a long time before getting involved in the work, but, having begun, they bring the matter to the end. More often these are people of the asthenic body type, according to the type of temperament - phlegmatic or melancholic.

Biorhythms of "pigeons"

The combination of a person's passive and active temperaments creates indefinite biorhythm of working capacity. A more detailed analysis nevertheless reveals some tendency to one or another pole of efficiency, depending on which temperament prevails. The period of the best mental and physical activity in "pigeons" is observed from 10 to 18 hours.

How doves travel

When changing time zones in "pigeons", the biological clock may fail. Thus, moving to the west can lengthen the biorhythms of the “pigeons”, and flying to the east can shorten it. If the time difference is more than 4 hours, then the development of a new pattern of sleep and wakefulness will occur in "pigeons" only after 7-14 days, and the level of steroid hormones will normalize after 2-3 months. Moving to the east "pigeons" endure more easily than to the west. This information will be useful to those people who love to travel long distances and, especially, who prefer to spend their short (7-10 days) vacation away from their native places.

"Larks" and "owls" get sick in different ways

« Larks» are more prone to diabetes, obesity, circulatory diseases, migraines, asthma, more sensitive to weather changes.

« owls"more often than "larks", they suffer from stomach ulcers, myocardial infarction, oncological diseases, in acute diseases the body temperature does not rise sharply and recovery is slow.

"Owls" have generally better health than "larks", they have better memory and thinking. And (this, of course, does not apply to health, but very interesting!) "owls" are often richer than "larks".

"Owls" and "larks" are differently distributed around the globe −

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