(Extracts taken from Internal Time: The Science of Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You’re So Tired)
“The disconnect between our internal, biological time and social time — defined by our work schedules and social engagements — leads to what Roenneberg calls social jet lag, a kind of chronic exhaustion resembling the symptoms of jet lag and comparable to having to work for a company a few time zones to the east of your home.”
The scientist explains that we compress our sleep patterns around a variety of external cues, ranging from light to work / school / shift patterns. He explores various ways our sleep patterns are disrupted by the way the world works, from teenagers going to school at 7am, to freelance designers working well into the night for their clients.
“Adolescent students’ attendance rate, their performance, their motivation, even their eating habits all improve significantly if school times are delayed.”
The conflict between biological needs and societal expectations (which are in favour of early risers) has been linked to various problems – for example, those suffering from social jetlag are more likely to be smokers. There are ways, however to counteract the worst effects of social jetlag, even if you work the 9-5 rhythm.
- Do walk at lunch time – not for the exercise but for the light, which will help you regulate your sleep patterns in a healthy way.
- Purchase a daylight lamp.
- If you can, wake up and go to sleep naturally.
- Track when you are at your most alert, and schedule complex / important tasks to co-incide with that.
- Formulate a marketing plan that you can follow even when exhausted. That will minimise silly mistakes or moments of ‘inspiration’.
- Don’t try to’push through’; that’s when you text Twitter with your personal phone number, or produce a page of work that looks like a drunk spider wandering on a keyboard.
- Double check your work, or get someone else to do it. There’s no shame in making mistakes, but publishing poor work can be damaging to your reputation.
Ultimately, Roenneberg makes a powerful case against many of the social expectations we have around sleep and productivity:
“I am often asked whether we cannot get used to given working hours merely through discipline and by confining our sleep habits to certain times. The assumption inherent in this question is that the human body clock can synchronize to social cues. I tend to find that any such questioner, who usually also displays a somewhat disdainful tone towards the weakness of late chronotypes, is an early type — someone who has never experienced the problems associated with the [desynchronized] sleep-wake behavior of late chronotypes.”
