The research finds our internal clocks are influenced by genes and are incredibly difficult to change. If you’re just not a morning person, it’s likely you’ll never be, at least until the effects of aging kick in. As we get older, our clocks nudge us to wake up earlier and earlier. Why being a night owl may lead to earlier death, VoxAs a result, those who aren’t genetically predisposed to be early risers often have to fight their chronobiology to adapt to societal expectations, creating a perpetual social jetlag. This presents a problem for rigid employers: many of their employees simply aren’t working when they are at their most productive, alert and creative. In addition, the health implications of fighting one’s chronobiology include heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety – even an earlier death. There’s also evidence that social jetlag contributes to an increased consumption of stimulants (caffeine, nicotine and alcohol) among those with late chronotypes. But some employers are embracing the science and making changes to better accommodate their employees.
Among the companies seeking to remedy the problem is Southwest Airlines, which allows pilots to choose between morning and evening flight schedules. The United States Navy recently traded an 18-hour submarine shift schedule for a 24-hour one that more closely matches sailors’ biological rhythms. And at some pharmaceutical, software and financial companies, managers expect employees to come to the office for only a few hours in the middle of the day — or to work off site entirely. New office hours aim for well rested, more productive workers, The New York TimesAnother pharmaceutical company, AbbVie in Denmark, allows its employees to craft their own schedules based on their chronotypes. The process goes beyond choosing work hours; employees go through a training program to understand how their chronotype influences their analytical and creative skills throughout the day. Empowered with this knowledge, employees can plan their workday so that they can tackle more complex tasks when they are at their cognitive peak. In addition to the conversation around accommodation, there’s also a conversation to be had around the stigma associated with having a late chronotype. Night owls, for example, are often pigeonholed as lazy simply because they don’t thrive on the 8 to-4 or 9-to-5 schedule imposed upon them. Accommodating these employees can be as simple as allowing them to shift their schedule by a few hours and scheduling meetings at a times that work for both morning larks and night owls.
Camilla Kring is the founder of the B-society, an international advocacy group calling for increased acceptance of the evening-oriented. “I actually think we have a lot of discrimination in our society against late chronotypes,” she said. Meetings at the beginning of workdays favor early risers (whose mental sharpness peaks earlier as well). In a world where an internet connection makes working whenever, wherever possible, she argues, companies ought to allow workers to set more flexible schedules around their ideal sleep time. According to Kring, small changes could make a huge impact. “Just by changing your schedule by an hour or two, it can result in having more sleep, higher productivity,” she says. In this view, workplaces ought to be more accommodating of chronotypes. Late sleepers are tired of being discriminated against. And science has their back, VoxThe labour movement has a long history of advocating and fighting for flexible work arrangements. Empowering workers with greater control over their work hours not only gives them better work-life balance, it also helps them come to work at their most productive. A 2016 Employment and Social Development Canada survey found that 80% of employers offer flexible work arrangements, either through informal practice, workplace policy or a collective agreement.