Some of us are up with the sun and ready to take on the day, while others of us are most productive after the sun goes down. Have you ever wondered why that is? Why are some of us “early birds” while others are “night owls”? Well, there’s actually a biological reason for it called your chronotype. And it has nothing to do with winged creatures.

The science of sleep has been studied for centuries, but it wasn’t until the mid 1970s that someone provided insight into why some of us can wake up easily while others rely on gallons of coffee to get going.

In 1976, Swedish scientist Olov Östberg and his partner J.A. Horne published a “Morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) that is still used today to help determine your predisposition to being a “morning person” or an “evening person”. The MEQ consists of 19 questions pertaining to when you’re typically more awake or sleepy, when you’re hungry, and when you’re most productive.

In 1987,the Circadian Type Questionnaire (CTQ) came on the scene. Based on the principals of the MEQ, this 20-question survey was used to identify people better able to adapt to working the night shift.

After these few mutations of the original MEQ, there were a few more here and there, but let’s get to the one lots of people are talking about here in the 21st century: the chronotype.

A chronotype is basically the kind of circadian rhythm your wired with.

“What’s a circadian rhythm?” you ask?

Your circadian rhythm is your natural 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. To live an optimally healthy life, you want your circadian rhythm to remain in check, which means you have to make sure you get a good   seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep every night.

That goes for everyone. But when are you biologically and genetically predisposed to get that wondrous sleep? Well, according to clinical psychologist Michael J. Breus, PhD, that depends on your animal.

Not your dog. (Although some dogs can seriously disrupt   sleep cycles - speaking from experience.)

According to Dr. Breus, your chronotype is genetically predetermined. So just like your wide feet or slow metabolism, you don’t have a whole lot of say in the matter. Although, he does say your environment and other external factors do have something to do with your chronotype, to some extent.

Dr. Breus, who is a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine, (this man loves to study sleep), determined there aren’t merely two types of people in the world. So you’ve got to think outside of the bird-box - ehem, not the Sandra Bullock flick.

The chronotypes are broken down into four different animal categories, each animal bearing similarities to the characteristics of each type of person associated with them.

1. Lion
2. Bear
3. Wolf
4. Dolphin

You might be singing, 🎵 “One of these things is not like the other”🎵, but there’s a reason he threw a dolphin in there with the three furry land mammals.

*No copyright infringement intended.

That means when they sleep, only half of their brain is actually sleeping while the other half is awake, keeping an eye out for predators.

As if dolphins couldn’t get any cooler.

So dolphin chronotypes tend to suffer from regular  insomnia, lying awake in their beds, yearning for sleep. (So sorry, dolphins.)

A few more dolphin chronotype characteristics:

• 10-15% of the population
• Worry about to-do lists, past regrets, and the future late into the night
• List-makers

It’s not only fun to see what kind of animal you most resemble in terms of sleep. Knowing your sleep chronotype helps you be more productive. At least, according to Dr. Breus. And since he’s such a sleep nerd, I think we can take his word for it.

Knowing your sleep chronotype can help you determine when it’s best to eat, work, sleep, exercise, talk to your boss about a raise, or even have sex.

You’re more than welcome to purchase Dr. Breus’s book, which has been featured on Dr. Oz and several other morning shows. It’s called “The Power of When”, and we recommend you support your local small business and buy it from them.

But if you don’t want to buy a book and read several hundred pages about land and sea-dwelling mammal-types, you can take a chronotype quiz or chronotype test online. One of the best chronotype quizzes is actually the one that started them all - the  MEQ.

And if you want a more detailed animal-like explanation that corresponds directly to Dr. Breus’s book, you can take  this chronotype test.

The best way to get better sleep is to…..drum roll please……

*No copyright infringement intended.

PRIORITIZE SLEEP.

Make getting a good night’s sleep important (over Netflix and Call of Duty). If you put this as an important aspect in your life, like along with eating and drinking, you’ll be on the right track.

But you have to get good, high-quality sleep, not just laying in your bed waking up here or there. How can you do that? Well, here at Weighted Evolution, we know how to help.

When you sleep with a Weighted Evolution weighted blanket, you get the max Deep Pressure Stimulation (DPS) benefits. That means you get to feel a warm, comfy hug on your entire body all night long. That hug helps you enter into sleep faster and stay in deep sleep longer.

So no matter what your sleep chronotype, a weighted blanket from Weighted Evolution can help you sleep better, longer.