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Why The 5AM Hustle is Bullshit
Sir Richard Branson wakes up at 5 am every day. Jack Dorsey of Twitter, Square and CashApp fame is up at 5.30 am before walking eight kilometres to the office. About 90 per cent of executives identify as being early risers (some of them might just be signalling).
In reality though, people get into ‘the zone’ at different times.
Science suggests that our preferred sleeping patterns — our chronotypes — are programmed at birth.
People are either night owls or early birds. Astrophysicist Sabrina Stierwalt wrote for Scientific American that ‘our preferences for one or the other are encoded in genes called “clock” or “period” genes that regulate our circadian rhythms, and are linked to our blood pressure, metabolism, body temperature and hormone levels’.
Why The Early Bird Gets the Worm
Sayings like ‘the early bird gets the worm’ and beliefs that successful people are early risers — glorified by the likes of ex-Navy SEAL Jocko Willink (who posts a photo of his wristwatch to Instagram at 4.30 each morning) — might actually have to do with the fact that the standard workday is better suited to early risers.
If the rules of the game are heavily skewed in favour of your biological predispositions, then you’re more likely to win.
Stierwalt said that work days usually start between 7 and 9 am. However, night owls can experience ‘social jetlag’ if they wake up this early — that is, they can feel like they would if they had jetlag after an overnight flight. Early risers are less likely to experience social jetlag, giving them an advantage over night owls.
Studies show that while early risers are more alert in the morning, night owls show stronger focus and longer attention spans 10 hours after waking than their early-bird compatriots.
