Circadian Rhythms: What you should know
You will thank yourself for building healthier sleeping habits
Good morning and happy Sunday!
Did you struggle to fall asleep last night?
When you do struggle to fall asleep, do you turn on your phone or watch TV until you get sleepy?
If you’re guilty of the above, then you’re likely sabotaging your sleep because you’re messing with your circadian rhythm.
Look below to see how bright and blue light messes with your body, and why you should own being either a morning or night person.
Bright, blue light before bedtime is a trick on your brain
The circadian rhythm governs our sleep cycle and keeps us on a 24-hour clock. Our circadian rhythm impacts when we feel sleepy, feel alive and awake, hungry, and more.
The circadian rhythm uses external triggers to regulate itself, and perhaps its most essential trigger is morning sunlight.
Humans are diurnal, and the arrival of daytime in the form of bright morning sunlight triggers our body to awaken.
This natural reaction to light has long kept us in sync with our environment, but recently, Thomas Edison gave us access to light whenever we wanted it with the flip of a switch.
Then, Steve Jobs gave us the gift of small, bright screens giving off blue light at the click of a button.
Historically, it is unnatural to take in bright light after the sun sets. Our circadian rhythm has not caught up to our advancement in technology. Bright, blue light looks quite a bit like sunlight.
Looking at a bright phone or TV screen right before bed sends the message to your brain that it’s morning time, and your circadian rhythm is thrown out of wack.
One way to combat this is to avoid screens at least one hour before bedtime. In addition to this, you should check your devices’ settings and see if it has some sort of night mode.
Here are three tips to not trick your circadian rhythm with light:
Avoid screens at least one hour before bedtime. Reading a book or other activities that avoid directly looking at light sources are better wind-down activities before bed.
Activate night mode. Many devices have settings that will dull the light output and turn off the blue light they give off at certain times. You could have night mode turn on automatically at 6 PM and not look at screens that are quite as bright.
Invest in blue-light glasses. If there is a television on or you are needing to look at screens, blue-light glasses will filter out the bright, blue light. It will also help you protect your eyes from straining themselves.
Bonus tip: if you have trouble waking up in the morning, use bright lights! Exposing yourself to sunlight (or other sources of bright light if you’re waking before sunrise) will help you escape the groggy state of waking up.
Night Owl or Morning Lark? Own it.
“The early bird gets the worm.”
–Everyone’s grandparents
Many people genuinely are naturally partial to either the morning or evening.
Night owls tend to naturally fall asleep at a later time in the evening and are often most productive later in the day. This is when they do their best thinking and best work. Early wake-ups are terrible, and mornings are often unproductive.
Morning larks tend to naturally wake up much earlier. They go to bed earlier and are ready to hit the ground running come morning time. Early meetings and classes are great, and most of what they are going to accomplish in the day is finished before lunchtime.
The differences in these two chronotypes are due to the fact that not every circadian rhythm is the same. Almost everyone’s body will naturally sleep for about eight hours; however, the natural hours in which that sleep occurs are variable. Some peoples’ circadian rhythm leads them to stay awake later, and some peoples’ circadian rhythm leads them to go to bed early.
As social creatures, humans have always naturally lived in tribes, and it is hypothesized that the reason for the disparity in circadian rhythms is to protect the group. Consider 2 scenarios:
Everyone naturally falls asleep at 10 PM and awakens at 6 AM. The tribe is left vulnerable for eight hours.
Some of the group falls asleep at 8 PM and awakens at 4 AM. Some of the group falls asleep at 10 PM and awakens at 6 AM. Some of the group falls asleep at 12 AM and awakens at 8 AM. The tribe is only vulnerable for four hours.
Even though variability in circadian rhythm is natural, modern society is heavily slanted in favor of the morning lark. Sleeping in is often considered to be “lazy”. Work begins early. Start times for schools seem to get earlier every year. Long story short, it is difficult to be a night owl today and get a healthy amount of sleep.
It’s not always possible to control when you have to be at work, but when possible, you should strive to make your schedule match your natural sleep schedule. If your body naturally wants you to fall asleep at 2 AM and wake up at 10 AM, then that’s okay.
Sometimes, cases of insomnia are explained by the person being an extreme night owl. When your circadian rhythm wants you to fall asleep at 1 AM, but you try to get in bed at 10 PM, it shouldn’t be surprising if you are lying in bed for a few hours before falling asleep.
Here are your tips for this section:
Be in touch with your natural bedtime. Do not be ashamed of it, and don’t try to fix it.
When it is in your control, make your schedule around your bedtime. If you are in charge of employees and it is possible in your line of work, allow them to be flexible in the hours that they work. You might find that some of them will be more productive and successful when the hours that they put in are later than the day!
Avoid hosting important early-morning team meetings if possible. A sizable chunk of your team may not be fully functioning at that time of the day.
TL;DR
Circadian rhythms are our brains’ way of regulating when to be awake, when to be asleep, when to be energetic, when to be hungry, etc.
Avoid bright light before bed, or you will trick your brain into thinking that it is actually morning time when you are trying to fall asleep.
Additionally, it would serve you well to be in touch with how your natural timing, and be conscious of the differences in the natural timing of others.
If you found this lesson valuable then please forward it to a friend! This is one of the many invaluable lessons about sleep health that I got from Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker.
This book may be the most informative scientific book that I’ve read because everything in it is so applicable to our lives. Sleep is a cornerstone of our health, and forming good sleep habits may be the easiest way to live healthier lives.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
Cooper