It’s officially great to be a night owl

I always love seeing the new issue of Wired in the mailbox. This month’s issue (Jan. 2009 – I’m always intrigued by the fact that mags are always delivered from the future) was particularly satisfying, though, because of one little sidebar. I tried to find a copy online to link it, but they don’t have it on the site. I’ll keep checking back.

To summarize, Wired lists “three smart things about sleeping late”:

1. People who got 8 hours of sleep and thought they were well-rested did better with 2 hours more. Until Edison, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. I get about 6. Guess I need 4 more. Would that the little children would allow it.
2. One study (they didn’t provide details) said that ” ‘evening people’ almost universally slam-dunked a standardized creativity test” (is a standardized creativity test an oxymoron?), and “early-bird brethren struggled for passing scores.” My creativity now has scientific backing. Just what I always wanted.
3. Cortisol, the stress hormone, peaks in blood about 7am, so people who wake up then may have more tension. I know if I wake up at 7am, people around me experience tension until about 10.

Now that I’m officially sanctioned by Wired, I will continue my night owl existence and not worry about being conformed to the pattern of this world, which teaches “early to bed, early to rise…” you know the cliché. It’s wrong. Well, maybe not wrong. Just boring and unscientific.