Different people require different approaches to health. The perfect diet for you is unlikely to be the perfect one for your neighbour, and a 6am run will probably not be enjoyed by an evening gym-goer. Sleep habits are no exception.
According to the idea of the four sleep chronotypes, we all typically fall under one sleep category and understanding your category can help you optimise your sleep and get the most out of your days.
Sleep specialist Michael J. Breus, Ph.D. shares his tips on how each of the four chronotypes can make the most of each day.
The bear chronotype
A bear’s sleep schedule is synced with the sun, and they tend to feel most productive in the morning.
“The entire world operates on a bear’s schedule,” says Dr Breus, noting that this seems to be the most common chronotype. About 55 per cent of people, based on the 1.5 million people who have taken the chronotype quiz online, are the bear chronotype.
Bears are characterised by waking and sleeping with the sun, so they’re definitely not night owls, preferring to wake up relatively early.
Dr Breus told mindbodygreen that the quiz has identified a handful of key personality traits for bears: cautiousness, a tendency for extroversion, friendliness, being easy to talk to, and open-mindedness. “Some of the behaviours they appear to endorse,” he adds, “include avoiding conflict, hoping to be healthy (and often falling short), prioritising happiness, and not liking a lot of change.”
A simple way to figure out your ideal bedtime is by looking at the number of sleep cycles you need. Bear types typically need five full (90-minute) sleep cycles in one night, and they wake up around 7am. Subtract 450 minutes (plus another 20 for the time it takes you to actually fall asleep) and you’ll get the optimal bedtime of 11:10pm.
Since bears are most productive in the morning, it’s better to avoid scheduling bigger tasks in the afternoon where you might hit a midday slump.
How to thrive as a bear chronotype
Dr Breus says the best time to exercise is in the morning, at least before noon. “If they do not exercise before noon, they just can’t seem to get motivated to do it,” he says.
The best time to eat breakfast is between 7.30 and 8am, but make sure you fill up on protein and limit carbs. Dr Breus says it’s best to hold off on the coffee until 10am and have a medium-sized lunch at midday.
If you’re struggling with sleep, sticking to the same sleep and wake time every day can really help.
The lion chronotype
These are morning people who like to wake up early and are most productive in the morning.
A lion is a true morning person; he/she can easily wake up at the crack of dawn and feel full of energy. Five sleep cycles are ideal for lions and their typical wake-up time is 6am. This makes their optimal bedtime 10.10pm.
Lions can be prone to sluggishness as the afternoon progresses, so try getting some light exposure later in the day if you need to find a second wind. With that in mind, lions are also most productive in the morning and ideally should avoid important tasks in the afternoon when possible.
How to thrive as a lion chronotype
Lions tend to do their best work between 8am and midday so schedule this time for deep focus work, then take a break for lunch. After lunch, schedule easier tasks that don’t require so much energy and focus.
It’s important for lions to have an evening wind-down routine to help them decompress from the day, before calling it an early night around 10pm.
The wolf chronotype
Unlike bears, those who fall into the wolf chronotype usually sleep only for four full sleep cycles (which comes out to 360 minutes), and they can take up to 40 minutes to fall asleep. Given that wolves like to wake up around 7am, subtract those 400 minutes in bed and you get a bedtime of roughly midnight.
Wolves can struggle with grogginess in the morning so hydrate as soon as possible to make yourself feel more alert. Getting some exposure to light nice and early can also signal to your body that it’s time to wake up.
This chronotype tends to be the most productive later in the day, so they do best with calm, slow mornings, and bigger tasks late in the day – even as late as after dinner.
How to thrive as a wolf chronotype
If you struggle with morning grogginess, you’ll want to prioritise hydrating and getting sunlight first thing.
Wolves often see their peak performance at around 6pm so later in the afternoon is a great time to exercise. Dr Breus says: “By this time, wolves’ hand-eye coordination has peaked (until 9pm), as have their fat-burning abilities.”
If you enjoy yoga, you can do it three hours after waking and again before dinner or to relax before bed.
Dr Breus says wolves should avoid drinking coffee before 11am as drinking it too soon after you wake up can make you jittery. Often those who are classed as the wolf chronotype prefer to eat a later dinner.
The dolphin chronotype
The rarest sleep chronotype is the dolphin, thought to make up roughly 10 per cent of the population. Dolphins often struggle with falling asleep and waking up, but their optimal wake-up time is 6.30am. Dolphin chronotypes need four sleep cycles and can take up to 40 minutes to fall asleep. So their ideal bedtime is 11.50pm.
Trouble sleeping and staying asleep can make it difficult to stick to a consistent sleep and wake schedule though.
Dolphins are most focused and productive from the mid-afternoon and through the evening so it’s a good idea to keep morning tasks light and get into the heavier stuff later in the day.
How to thrive as a dolphin chronotype
Try to stick to the dolphin’s optimal bedtime of 11.50pm to get enough sleep. If you find yourself worrying about the future or ruminating about the past when your head hits the pillow, try keeping a worry journal.
Writing down your worries or even your to-do list for the next day can help quieten your mind.
Which sleep type are you? Do the general characteristics hold true? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Also read: Sleep symptoms to see your doctor about immediately
