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Title: Why morning people rule the world
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URL Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifes ... rning-people-rule-the-world.do
Published: Jul 5, 2010
Author: Philip Delves Broughton
Post Date: 2010-07-05 13:07:31 by Jethro Tull
Keywords: None
Views: 133
Comments: 4
Philip Delves Broughton 05.07.10 We are all morning or evening people. Scientists have established that our genes dictate around half of what they call our “chronotypes” — our natural preference for certain times of the day. Evolution has produced a range of humans capable of being alert to danger at every hour of the day. Our experience confirms these findings. We all know people who love to be at work bright and early, with a cup of coffee to hand and decisions to make, and others who would rather stumble through the day until reaching a state of relaxed clarity around dusk, when their minds are purring. The problem is that those with the genetic gift of “morning-ness” tend to be more highly rewarded. Morning-ness is perceived as a sign of activity and zest, whereas evening-ness implies laziness and loafing. How often did we have to see David Cameron on one of his early-morning runs to get the idea that here was a leader of potency and vigour? How different would it have been if he slunk out of bed to work, then exercised at around 8pm? Could a Prime Minister be elected today who worked like Churchill, reading, writing and thinking in bed before getting out of it at noon? History is full of great bores praising the virtues of early rising, but few have made the case for letting the day drift by until you kick into gear around happy hour. Yet the research continues to mount, arguing that evening people have qualities which should be nurtured. They tend to be more creative, intelligent, humorous and extroverted. They are the balance to morning people, who are said to be more optimistic, proactive and conscientious. Evening and morning are the right and left sides of our brain, the creative and the analytical, both of which we need to organise, process and advance our lives. New research by Christoph Randler, a biology professor at the University of Education at Heidelberg, however, concludes that morning people are more likely to succeed in their careers because they are more proactive than evening people. He surveyed 367 university students, asking them when they were most energetic and willing to change a situation. It was the morning people who were more likely to agree with statements such as “I feel in charge of making things happen” and “I spend time identifying long-range goals for myself.” Discussing his research in the Harvard Business Review, Randler says: “When it comes to business success, morning people hold the important cards. My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which gets them into better colleges, which then leads to better job opportunities. Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimise them. They're proactive.” Christopher Coleridge, the founder of V Water, the fast-growing vitamin-enhanced water brand, has a different view on the advantages of morning-ness. “Morning is always the best time to get people to make decisions because people are full of optimism in the morning. By 9am, nothing really can go wrong. You're full of hope. By 4pm, at least six annoying things will have happened, so by the evening you're slightly annoyed and frustrated. Fortunately, you then have the rest of the evening to pick yourself up.” Earlier in his career, when Coleridge worked in advertising, he found the culture much more focused on the evenings, when conversations over drinks would lead to creative ideas. But as an entrepreneur, he found mornings were the best time to corral people's energies. Evening-ness, he says, can be exploited by companies that are full of young people. But mornings appeal more to people with families who want a schedule which allows them to get in early and leave on time. For the growing army of part-time and freelance workers, tight schedules are just as important. “They tend to be very focused because they are moving from project to project and they don't have time to yack away.” In certain environments, morning-ness is unavoidable. In the City, many of the most significant meetings take place before the markets open. Schools, however, force morning-ness on teenagers at a moment when everything else in their lives — their hormones, their social lives, their working patterns — is drifting towards the evening. But can one change one's chronotype from evening to morning? Randler says “somewhat”, but it can be hard. He cites one study that showed half of school pupils were able permanently to shift the time they woke up by one hour. Chronotypes, however, do evolve over one's life. Adolescents tend towards evening-ness; from the ages of 30 to 50, people are evenly split between morning and evening; and over-50s are more morning types. The challenge for companies, Randler says, is to accept that evening-ness is an inherent trait and, rather than battling against it, find ways to “get the best out from their night owls”.
Why morning people rule the world
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#1. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
From my teens until I was well over 30, I was a vampire/musician, and the booze, drugs and indoor pole vaulting meant that I seldom woke before the crack of noon. Once I stopped playing professionally I started work at 6 AM and crashing by 9-ish at night. I felt much better working days. Then I was rising at 3 AM and reading and sipping coffee, taking delight in the morning quiet time (wifey and kids were asleep) By 6:05 I was on the marsh in chest waders and I'd bag a pair of ducks then return home to hang the birds, thaw my hands and coffee up again. I was on the job by 7:30 and alert, having been awake for 4.5 hrs. Some of the soul bruthas would drag in with their shoelaces untied and sleep in their eyes, yawning, and expecting to be paid while half asleep for the first 90 minutes or so. (It was my view that they were actually hostile to the European work ethic rather than ignorant of it) It's a black thang, you wouldn't understand, ;) (The last P Diddy or NWA "ablum" didn't drop on the turntable until around 3:45!)
As a teen I'd sleep until 11. Now I get up at 5:30 m.
St. Ausgustine on the State: "It was a criminal band that achieved legitimacy not by renouncing aggression, but rather by attaining impunity."
When I worked shift work, the best I could do is sleep in doses of 4 hours at a time, tops. This played havoc on me, especially when I would occasionally go days straight w/o sleep. Now, retired, it's 11PM and it's lights out whether I want to stay up or not. The absolute best thing about retirement is the ability to go to bed at night when I want to :)
Shift work was at best a temporary job for me because I just couldn't rest when I was on graveyard. All it took was a neighborhood lawnmower or a truck running a sewer vacuum machine and my nappy poo was done. About one hour before start of my shift I could have slept great!
#2. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
#3. To: Turtle, HOUNDDAWG (#2)
As a teen I'd sleep until 11. Now I get up at 5:30 m.
#4. To: Jethro Tull (#3)
When I worked shift work, the best I could do is sleep in doses of 4 hours at a time, tops. This played havoc on me, especially when I would occasionally go days straight w/o sleep. Now, retired, it's 11PM and it's lights out whether I want to stay up or not. The absolute best thing about retirement is the ability to go to bed at night when I want to :)
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