Summary of The Simple Truth About Why You Struggle to Wake Up

00:00:00 - 00:10:00

This video discusses the differences between morning people and night owls, and explains why night owls have a harder time waking up in the morning. It also discusses the health risks associated with not getting enough sleep.

• 00:00:00 In 1670 John Ray coined the phrase "The early bird catches the worm" and in 1962 French geologist Michel Siffre spent two months deep underground in a cave where he found that his circadian rhythm was able to keep his sleep-wake routine accurate to around 24 hours, but it would often overshoot by up to half an hour. All creatures on Earth, with lifespans longer than a few days, are subject to a circadian rhythm, in Latin "circa" meaning "around" and "diēm" for "day." Our suprachiasmatic nucleus synchronizes itself and thus our circadian rhythm with the sun. Interestingly, however, if you were to, hypothetically, live in a permanently dark environment, with no sun, such as your mother's basement, and perhaps you do, then your circadian rhythm would sync itself to any other consistency that happens on a repeating 24-hour cycle, such as temperature fluctuations or remarkably, even your daily morning coffee. These time aligning events are called Zeitgebers, literally "time giver." After this sleep pressure builds up to extreme levels, we can no longer fight off sleep. A power nap is in order.
• 00:05:00 This video explains that there is a natural circadian rhythm that determines when people are inclined to sleep, and that people who are night owls have a genetic predisposition to this. It also explains that the brain of a night owl functions best in the evening, and that when they wake up their prefrontal cortex is still "offline." This makes it difficult for night owls to wake up, and they often experience a crash in energy when they finally do wake up.
• 00:10:00 The video discusses the chronotype, which is the term used to describe the way an individual's body and brain function in the morning and the evening. Morning people are generally more efficient in the morning, while night owls are more efficient in the evening. The video discusses the findings of several studies that have found that people who don't get enough sleep are more likely to have health problems, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia. However, morning larks are generally happier and more cooperative than morning laggards. The video also discusses the author's new book, which is crowdfunding and is aimed at night owls. If you're a night owl and want to learn more about your chronotype, the video is a good place to start.