How to understand your sleep chronotype to get a better night’s rest

Getting a good night’s rest can make all the difference in a person’s mood and health, but it can also be difficult to create a solid routine without understanding your natural sleeping patterns, explains one sleep expert.

Amanda Jewson explains understanding your sleep chronotype, which is your body’s natural sleeping patterns that make you either wake up early or want to stay up late, can help unlock the full potential of your sleeping habits.

While a person’s circadian rhythm can be trained to adjust to a new sleeping schedule, a person’s sleep chronotype is more of a foundation on which hours of the day they are more active.

“Chronotypes really dictate when we are at our best, doing our best work or, how I like to say, in our zone of genius,” Jewson told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday.

According to Jewson, there are four sleep chronotypes: lion, bear, wolf and dolphin.

People who are naturally lions are early-risers and have no issues waking up extremely early. Bears, which make up most of the population, follow the sun exposure and feel most productive before noon. Their productivity begins to decline into the late afternoon.

Wolves are not morning people, and feel most energized past noon and into the evening. Lastly, dolphins are those who aren’t able to stick to one sleep schedule and tend to be light sleepers and can even struggle with insomnia. 

 Jewson says those who know their sleep chronotype can then use tips like timing their day-to-day tasks around their body’s natural disposition, or monitoring their caffeine intake if necessary, to help boost your productivity and improve their rest.

“If you are a lion, ideally you wake up when you want. You are going to be your most productive before noon and that means we want to avoid big important presentations at 4 p.m.,” she said.

For those dolphins who are struggling to sleep, Jewson says, it’s important to contact your family doctor in case you have a common sleeping disorder like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome. Additionally, anxiety or other cognitive behavioural issues could also be causing disruption in sleep.

If possible, Jewson recommends personalizing your work schedule to beginlater in the day to increase your productivity.

“If this is who you have always been, you might want to find flexible work options that allow you to wake later and start work later,” she said. “You want to make sure that you are limiting your caffeine intake as it’s a stimulant that might be impacting your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.”