Thanks the the work of Russian biologist Arcady Putilov we can now say more definitively that night owls, those who are naturally inclined to stay up late and sleep in, are not lazy birds. That distinction is now a tongue-in-cheek way to classify a third category, or chronotype, of sleep-wake cyclers. Lazy birds tend to feel lethargic morning and night. The fourth category, according to the Russian research group, are perhaps the more enviable of them all: hummingbirds. Their energy is pretty constant morning, noon, and night. And of course, we're all familiar with those annoying, sometimes enviable, early to bed, early to rise, morning people, also known as larks. Read more about the four chronotypes, HERE.
This CBT psychologist proposes, however, that we come up with a less disparaging name to label our more laid back, low energy chronotype. Suggestions for a relaxed bird?
--Sandy Andrews, PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Austin, TX
