Night People Smart, Morning People Happy?
I remember as a kid staying overnight at my grandparents’ house during the summers – the days always seemed to start out with the two of them getting up at (what seemed to me) a ridiculously early hour. They’d sip black coffee and chat and my grandma would fry up some bacon and scramble an egg for my cousin and I when we finally rolled out of bed well after the sun had said it’s good mornings and roosters had crowed their songs.
“The early bird gets the worm!”
they’d say…or
“Early to bed early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
As intelligent as the two of them were and as much as I wish it was a joy for me to get up at 5:00am, this study researching circadian type or “diurnal preference” has left me feeling vindicated, to a degree, regarding my tendency towards late nights and mornings. Indicating the contrary of the old adage, the article seems to say that people who stay up late and sleep in are, in fact, a bit more intelligent. Did you really need proof in the form of a scientific study to show that you that night-owls are smarter? Yah, neither did I.
However, this study does say that “morningness” has a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction and I can definitely agree that I feel better and more productive when I get up early and get my day started with the sun (and a cup of caffeine).
So, what does all that tell us? Not much other than there are lots of studies out there looking into all sorts of things you’d never have expected. Interesting, to be sure – helpful, maybe not?
So, life satisfaction and intelligence-wise, who do you think wins? Night owls or morning glories?
I’d love to stick around and see what you all have to say, but none of your answers will change the fact that it’s 10pm and my alarm is set for 4:45am tomorrow. Wonder what forced early-rising is correlated with? I’m speculating a positive correlation with amount of caffeine consumed prior to 10am.
Image 1: photostock | FreeDigitalPhotos.net