On average, the American worker will arrive at work from 5- 7:45 a.m 5 days a week, and then use the weekend to regain sleep loss. For students this is even worse, waking up at 5:30-6 a.m and going to sleep earlier to make sure that they have enough sleep.
It is said that there are four types of sleepers based on energy throughout the day. According to SleepFoundation.org, only 15% of people are early birds. These people are energetic in the morning and are early to bed and early to rise. These people also often tend to have more conscientiousness and agreeableness. 55% are bears, who tend to sleep around sunset and sunrise. These people also tend to be most energetic during 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Bears also tend to be social in the evening, but struggle with an afternoon slump around 3-4 p.m.
15% are wolves (or common night owls), who are most energetic from 1-5 p.m. Wolves also tend to be creative thinkers and have a more open mind. These people like to go to bed later and wake up later. The most rare chronotype is the dolphin, making up only 10% of people; dolphins are known for their ability to stay alert while asleep. Humans with these traits are known as insomniacs who have fragmented sleep patterns and rarely keep a regular schedule.
Bears who make up 55% of people sleep around the sunrise and sunset. As an estimate, you can estimate a normal sleep time from 8-10 p.m., with a wake time of 7-8 a.m.
For students, this can be hard to achieve, no matter what chronotype they are. Starting the school day at 7 a.m., waking up at 5 to get the bus at 6 – on top of this early morning schedule. Students have to keep social life, school work, extracurriculars, and many more in balance. All within the hours of 2:30 to whatever time they find to sleep.
Lots of students complain about how early they wake up, or how little sleep they get. On days with two-hour delays, they talk about how productive they were in the morning times from 9-11 (bear chronotype’s most productive hours). If students were able to wake up later, maybe they could be more productive and therefore balance all other things more successfully.
An earlier sleep schedule might benefit others for their own reasons. However, for students and working running on low sleep doesn’t benefit them or the work they are doing