"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Right? Wrong! I came across a blog post about how this old adage may just be a myth (and another one confirming his point). Granted, I don't know the validity of these claims, but they make sense and it sure does give me hope, being the night owl that I am.
It turns out that people's biological clocks are genetically influenced to be different chronotypes, which means people have different preferences for when they are most active during the day. For some, it's early in the day (lucky them - it fits in well with societal boundaries) and for others, it's late in the day (which does not bode well for those of us going to school or working). Although getting up early may seem to make us better off (more daylight hours spent getting stuff done), it doesn't work as well for those whose bodies naturally feel more energized in the evening and nighttime.
If it's as hard for you to get up in the morning as it is for me, you know what the drawbacks are: feeling tired throughout the day, not working as productively, losing out on sleep, maybe even crashing during the day... Sometimes you can't fall asleep earlier at night, so you're screwed when it comes to trying to drag yourself out of bed the next morning, with drowsiness haunting you throughout the day. Not getting enough sleep means your body didn't a chance to fully recover for the busy day ahead of you. The quality of sleep can also suffer because you're sleeping at times that are unnatural to your body.
This is not to say that getting up early is harmful (though it could be for certain people). In fact, a study cited in the first article link found no correlation between sleeping habits and income, education level, or mortality rate! The point is to listen to what your body is telling you. You should sleep when you're sleepy and wake up when you're refreshed (although the range should be 8-10 hours - if you're nearing 12 then you'll end up feeling more exhausted). Some people love to get up as soon as the sun is rising and others can't stand to sleep until dawn is creeping up on them. Typically, people have no choice but to get up early - for school, for work, and other obligations. However, if you're working from home, have flexible hours, are unemployed, or on extended vacation, it wouldn't hurt to follow your circadian rhythmn.
Now I don't have to feel guilty about my sleeping habits!
0 Comments
I was reading an article today about Travis, a chimpanzee who viciously attacked his owner's friend and had to be shot dead by police and I couldn't help but question the way people would view this story. First, the back story: I decided to take advantage of President's Day sales today by going to Kohl's to buy myself a young working woman's wardrobe. I have only ever held two jobs that required professional attire - one was an internship that I went to twice a week and one was a summer job that had business casual days two or three times a week. This job in Singapore will be the first time that I need enough fancy clothes to wear five or six days a week for many long hours!
I have feared this shopping trip for far too long and it's nice to finally get it out of the way. I always knew it was coming, but I never really needed to stock up, so I never had the patience to spend so much time sorting through what I wanted and what I didn't. Why did I fear it? Because "business casual" is a very hard term to define nowadays. Traditionally it was business formal attire minus the outer jacket, but with trends influencing what we wear, there are my nice button-up shirts that are also inappropriate for the office. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between what adds a nice stylish flair to your outfit and what gives off the entirely wrong impression. It's a fine line to walk. I have spent a couple hours playing this game on Addicting Games after Panda introduced me to it. I don't know why it is so addicting... guess it really does belong on this site. Try to beat my high score - 629! I mentioned before that I was going to take the opportunity to go work in Singapore. Well, I am on my final two weeks here and we just booked the ticket! I'll be flying out March 1st on Singapore Air, which I'm excited for - I hear it's a posh airline. It's not really sinking in that I'm leaving yet, but by the time I get back in six months, things will be drastically different. In the spirit of sharing, I thought I'd include a cute thing Panda and I came across today as we were wandering the windy roads of Bel Air and driving up and down Mulholland Drive trying to find the best scenic overlooks. The plane continued on to spell something like Mio, but we lost sight of it, so I never did figure it out. As for my post-Valentine's Day report, all in all it was a most splendid day, starting at the painfully early hour of 8 and lasting until midnight. We got a delicious dim sum brunch before wandering the roads and discovering some random places. We hung out for a bit before heading out to Santa Monica, where we were going to have dinner. At first we tried Benihana's, but the wait was two hours! -___- So, we went over to Buddha's Belly instead, where they told us it was a 45-minute wait, but we got seating in no more than 20. Now that I look at this picture, I realize I should have taken a panoramic picture to share the immensity of this valley. This is the view from the Bel Air Presbyterian Church, looking out on the San Fernando Valley. When I got home, I found an e-mail from Katana, outlining her contrasting experience: after painstakingly preparing gifts for her boyfriend to present today, she got the ultimate letdown when he didn't even remember the occasion. It's a sad thing when one person cares so much and the other puts in no effort. For such a memorable day, my Valentine's was nearly just as dismal. Love it or hate it, Valentine's Day has arrived! I'm stoked because this is my first time spending it with someone special. Not that my friends aren't special and I didn't have fun going out with them, but... you know. And though I'm not into the whole gift-giving thing (nor do I expect Panda to pay for my meals), I do like this holiday in the sense that it is supposed to be a celebration of love and loved ones. Granted, this holiday has undergone a fair share of commercialization, but when it boils down to it, I hope people realize that it's really another time to appreciate the people you care about. Would it hurt to do it in a cheesy, gaudy way occasionally? Well, well, well, if it isn't Friday the 13th again. I usually don't realize that it's coming until the day before, or usually the day of. I never did understand why people seemed to be so afraid of the day, or even of the number 13. They even have a term for fear of this day: paraskavedekatriaphobia. Try saying that fast! Perhaps I don't get it because I'm not a superstitious person - I'd gladly stay on the 13th floor of a hotel or work on the 13th level of an office building. I love it when black cats (or any cats, really) cross my path and I don't mind if a mirror cracks. I'll even air out my umbrellas inside - *gasp*! I like to be funny. One of the greatest joys in life is bringing a smile to someone's face and laughter to their life. I admire the comedians out there who can do so on a regular basis through various forms of media. However, my type of comedy works on a more personal level, which doesn't translate well to stand-up acts or videoed skits. In developing this blog, I have spent a lot of time researching online and reading up on other people's blogs. One thing I found was that what I was most interested in was reading their bios and trying to find a picture of them. For some reason I was fascinated by learning about these people. |
laelene My philosophy is simple: things change. Therefore, we are all on a lifelong journey of discovery. We should be flexible, questioning, learning, adapting, and growing. Always. Archives
May 2009
Categories
All
|