Your Sleep Persona - The Lark

The Lark

The Riser

Larks naturally wake up in the early hours of the morning. They are most energetic and productive well before the sun rises and are exceptionally good sleepers. Their early schedules can often help them plan the day better, but also achieve more in the early hours of the morning while others are asleep. But these early starts can also be a curse; with nobody around, social isolation is common and late nights can cause havoc with their habitual early start.

Your ideal schedule

Your best time for problem solving 6am - 10am
Where creative inspiration strikes 12pm - 5pm
Ideal time to wind down 7pm - 9pm
Ideal time to sleep 9pm onwards

Your Body Clock

We all have a natural master body clock in our brain that triggers our "sleep-wake circadian rhythm". This circadian rhythm is designed to regulate feelings of sleepiness and wakefulness over a 24-hour period. This means feeling sleepy or awake is a biological experience, determined by our genetics!

Every person has a different circadian rhythm and your SLEEP PERSONA has been based on your own unique rhythm of sleepiness and wakefulness. Understanding your SLEEP PERSONA helps you get the most out of your day.

10% of the population have a very similar sleep persona to you

Your Performance

As a Lark, your master body clock has been set so that you feel more alert during the early hours of the day. This means your morning period from 6am to 10am is when you have your greatest focus and energy. ANALYTICAL tasks that require logical and critical thinking, and in turn needs a lot of attention to detail, focus and very few distractions, are best completed during this time period.

After an intense period of focus, a good time to take a short break will be around 11am. This helps your brain re-organise itself.

During the afternoon period from 12pm to 5pm your energy levels may be lower (compared to the morning) and you might find it hard to remain vigilant. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get anything productive done. The afternoon is a great time for CREATIVE tasks. Tasks which require innovative, out of the box thinking, where you need to generate new ideas and solutions, (commonly done in teams) may be attractive.

Starting the day a few hours ahead of friends and colleagues mean that by early evening larks are generally tired and avoid evening commitments. Larks actively look for social opportunities early afternoon, but are generally disappointed as friends and companions are busy at work. So plan ahead!

Your Wind Down & Sleep

Larks are naturally good sleepers. But an early start to the day means early to bed too. The best time to sleep is 9pm onwards and it’s recommended that you find a specific time close to this that works to your lifestyle. Once you know your time, keep to it, even on weekends and days off from work. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself experiencing an uncomfortable rebound effect come Monday.

A wind down routine will also help you get better sleep. 7pm - 9pm is a great window this. Allocate 30 to 60 minutes before bed and do something that relaxes you (whether that's taking a warm bath or listening to a meditation or breathing exercise). Experiment and find something that works, but once you have, stick to it regularly.

Naturally as the world works on a later schedule to you, late nights can be a huge problem for your energy the next day. Where possible, identify these days in advance and plan an afternoon nap beforehand. This will help you tackle these late nights temporarily.