What Time Would You Like Your Work Day to Start?

Do we get enough sleep at night? Are we going to work way to early? I would argue that there are early birds and night owls. Look what I found out!

I don't know about you, but I would love to start my work day at about 10 or 11 am, and apparently I would be correct. According to the Telegraph, our body clocks are very messed up. Oxford University agrees. For people under the age of 55, we need to change our work hours:

The circadian rhythms of adults are completely out of sync with normal 9-to-5 working hours, which poses a "serious threat" to performance, mood and mental health.

 

When it comes to kids, it looks like we are starting them too early as well:

Experiments studying circadian rhythms have shown that the average 10-year-old will not start focusing properly for academic work before 8.30am. Similarly, a 16-year-old should start at 10am for best results and university students should start at 11am.

 

The study goes on to say that if work and school times were adjusted, that grades would increase by 10-percent and that productivity for adults would increase. All from simply moving sleeping patterns by just a few hours!

So what happens if we don't sleep properly??

Sleep deprivation has been shown to have major impacts on health. Just one week with less that six hours' sleep each night leads to 711 changes in how genes function. Lack of sleep impacts performance, attention, long-term memory and encourages drug and alcohol use. It also leads to exhaustion, anxiety, frustration, anger, impulsive behavior, weight gain, risk-taking, high blood pressure, lower immunity, stress and a raft of mental health conditions.

 

So when would be the ideal time for you to start your work or school day? It looks my dream of sleeping in may just come true! I know for sure that I do not want to turn into a crazy person (more than I already am).