Great news for those of us who perk up in the evening and generally can’t get to sleep until late, thereby enduring scorn for not being “up and at ‘em” like the rest of the world — research shows it’s genetic. A recent New York Times column cites multiple studies indicating that night owls and morning larks are simply wired with different internal clocks.

According to the column, 70-80% of people are hummingbirds, which means they respond to a normal, light-driven internal clock. For the rest of the population, more extreme alert and sleepy times exist, making it more difficult to run on the rest of the world’s schedule.

Larks are charged in the morning, of course, and tend to be most alert around noon. A lark’s best hours are roughly 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Afternoons for the owl are similar to mornings for the lark. An owl’s best time is late in the day and peak awareness typically occurs after 6:00 p.m., with most owls turning in well after midnight.

As a night owl myself, I find these studies both intriguing and relieving. Being an owl makes living in this society pretty difficult since daily life tends to start at a fairly early time. I’m disposed to running up big sleep deficits because I can’t get to sleep at night. That’s when I’m the most awake, yet I have to get up early in the morning to get the kids off to school. I stumble out of bed in the morning, shortly before 7:00 a.m., barely conscious and groggy, yet by the time 10:00 p.m. rolls around, I’m completely alert and guaranteed to be up for at least two or three more hours. The whole cycle starts itself over again the next morning, after I’ve had roughly 5 or 6 hours of sleep, which is not even close to enough for me.

If you’re not an owl, you can’t possibly understand what it’s like to be labeled as lazy and void of willpower. My favorite line in the column is this one: “…those early-rising larks I have known have often seemed to my bleary early-morning eye to adopt a smug moral superiority… .” Larks are seen as driven, responsible and energetic simply because they’re up with the sun, while owls are typically branded in unflattering terms like unproductive, irresponsible and lackadaisical.

I struggled with this problem as a child as well. I’d go to bed and read in the dark until I couldn’t possibly see anymore and then I’d lie there for a long time trying, unsuccessfully, to turn the thoughts in my head off so I could get some shut-eye. It was not to be. I was tired a lot as a child and teenager. Unfortunately, you can’t convince an early-rising mother that getting up before 8:00 a.m. on the weekends is really not helpful for your sleep-deprivation.

When the kids are all in school this fall, I will probably stay up late and work, get up and shuttle them off to school and then go back to bed for awhile.  After all, why should I squelch my peak working hours if I have a choice? It’d be like telling a lark that she must do most of her work in the late afternoon to evening. It just goes against the internal clock. It’s rather unfortunate, but I’ve found that I sleep the best mid to late morning.

For those of you who are not owls, the next time you’re tempted to judge one, just remember that studies show that not only are owls just as productive and healthy as larks and hummingbirds, they are actually wealthier. Owls don’t decide to be this way, it’s how our bodies are wired. If I could choose, I would happily be on a schedule with the rest of the world.

My life would sure be a heckuva lot easier.

Are you a lark, hummingbird or owl? How about your kids? If you and your kids are different, how do you handle it?

Tags: children, family, genes, hummingbird, kids, mom, morning lark, night owl, parenting