The Benefits of Sleeping Late

One of the worst feelings in the world is waking up late when it is necessary to wake up early. Yet, it is a problem that many of us deal with on a day-to-day basis. It doesn’t matter if it is your mother screaming in your ear or someone from work sending you messages that you are late, it is an experience that starts the day off in a very wrong direction.

The worst part about sleeping late is that it is all but impossible to justify the fact that you did so. You want to tell people that you are just tired, but they are unlikely to understand. Perhaps you had a good reason for staying up, such as teaching yourself a new skill or perhaps reading the perfect book, but it will fall on deaf ears.

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(Image Source: Stocksy/KelliSeegerKim)

You also recognize ahead of time that you are going to be told that staying up until 2 AM is the “wrong thing to do.” It doesn’t matter if it is your mother or your boss, it is going to be heard as an excuse, and they are going to tell you to get it together!

Unfortunately, many people have to deal with this on an ongoing basis and it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you still continue to stay up late at night and sleep in when morning rolls around. Regardless of how bad you feel or how much grief you may get from work, you know that it is going to happen again that night.

In your mind, there is nothing to wake up for and the entire world happens at night. During the nighttime, you have energy, your thoughts seem to flow endlessly and you may feel a degree of peace that you certainly don’t feel when the sun comes up.

What you may not realize is that your sleep habits may actually be behind your intelligence. According to research that was published in The Huffington Post, those who do not stick to a normal sleep schedule are the ones that are more intelligent. This research suggests that those patterns may be more deeply ingrained into humans in comparison with new habits, which have only come about as of recent years.

If you really stop to think about it, it makes perfect sense. After all, individuals who seek change are typically the most intelligent in any society. That fact is backed up by research that was done at the University of Madrid. For that research, 1000 students were analyzed and their sleeping patterns told the tale. Individuals who tended to stay up late and overslept more frequently also were those who scored higher on inductive reasoning tests. Those tests are commonly associated with general intelligence.

Not Denying When You Have a Creative Breakthrough

An additional study was done at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. 120 women and men were asked to fill out a questionnaire in regards to their being a morning or night person.

After filling out the questionnaire, the participants were asked to take 3 tests that are designed to measure creative thinking. The scores were given on a variety of factors, including elaboration, originality, fluidity and flexibility. According to that study, “Evening types aced each test based on these criteria, while morning and intermediate type people struggled to get scores over 50.”

It may not be so much when you are doing it, but rather, what you are doing with the time that you have available. Early birds may have the grasp on productivity but those who sleep in tend to be more creative.

It is thought that those who wake up early are more likely to take care of everyday tasks, such as going to the gym, taking part in a morning ritual and arriving to work early. Late sleepers, on the other hand, take advantage of the time of day when they can be creative and inventive.

Awake during the “Better” Times of the Day

Individuals who wake up at 6 AM are also more likely to fall asleep earlier in the evening. Since they start to say good night by 9 PM, they are usually wiped out by 5 PM.

In other words, early risers are robbing themselves of the second part of the day.

At the University of Legion Belgium, 15 extreme night owls and 15 extreme early risers were used as the basis for another experiment. The brain activity of those individuals was measured when they first woke and again, 10.5 hours later.

Interestingly, both the night owls and the early risers had the same level of productivity when they first woke up. 10 hours later, however, the early birds had brain factors that would be linked to lower attention in comparison with the night owls.

Late Risers Are Ahead and Less Stressed

You really need to examine the entire picture carefully and that involves looking at the cycles. Late risers may be missing out on the morning hours but early risers are missing out on the later hours!

Late risers tend to be ahead of this cycle because they are awake through times in which early risers are usually asleep. Additionally, late risers tend to experience better moods throughout the day.

In Westminster, saliva tests were given to 42 volunteers with different sleep schedules. Those saliva tests were given eight times throughout the day for 2 days. Upon examination of the samples, they found that those who woke up earlier had higher levels of cortisol in comparison with those who slept in. Cortisol is the stress hormone.

Because of having higher levels of cortisol, most of the early risers experienced a higher level of cold symptoms, muscle aches and headaches. Their mood tended to be worse as well!

The researchers of that study felt that waking up early was associated with having greater concentration, being busier and experiencing higher levels of stress through the day. In addition, those who woke up early reported having less energy and more anger at the end of the day. Late workers, however, tended to be less busy and more leisurely.

There is always going to be room for debate when it comes to the issue of sleeping in or waking up early. If you are an individual who tends to stay up late and are taking flak as a result of it, stick to the schedule and don’t feel bad when you miss an alarm from time to time.

When it all comes down to it, people who sleep in tend to be better off as a result of it.

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