What Time You Should Fall Asleep & Wake Up According to Your Chronotype

Because let’s face it, not everyone can be a morning person.

For anyone who’s ever forced themselves to be a morning person and felt the wrath of a midday slump, or tried to stay up late to finish a project only to be met with unintelligible work the following day, it’s not that you’re not trying hard enough – you’re just not working within the means of your chronotype.

As much as some of us would like to be the first ones to witness the sun rise every morning, or one of those people working deep into the night, the way our bodies and biological clocks are wired make it hard for us to be productive outside of our optimum hours of performance. The reason for this is due to something called our chronotype.

Below, we learn more about what a chronotype is, and the optimum sleep and wake times for the four different chronotypes so we can make the most of each day without feeling bad about getting up earlier or staying up later.

What is a chronotype?

The term ‘chronotype’ refers to the natural inclination of an individual's body to sleep (and wake) at a particular time during a 24-hour period. This inclination is influenced by various factors, including genetics, age, lifestyle, and environment. Understanding your chronotype can help optimise your daily schedule for better productivity, alertness, and overall wellbeing.

There are four different chronotypes: bear, lion, wolf, and dolphin. With bears being the most common among the global population, and dolphins being the rarest. To learn more about the different types and attributes of these four chronotypes, and to find out which one you are, read here.

Bear

Wake: 7-8 am
Sleep: before 11 pm

Making up roughly 55% of the population, bear chronotypes tend to follow the sun for their sleep and wake cycle. The optimum amount of sleep for a bear is eight hours, with their common wake up time being around 7-8 am and their sleep time no later than 11 pm, so they can get an adequate amount of rest to tackle the following day.

Lion

Wake: 5:30-6:30 am
Sleep: 9-10 pm

The natural early risers, lions are the first to wake up among the four chronotypes with a natural waking time between 5:30-6:30 am. Seizing the day early, lion’s also wrap their days up early and hit the hay between 9-10 pm, so they can continue to conquer their days before everyone else.

Wolf

Wake: 7:30-9 am
Sleep: before midnight

Commonly referred to as the “night owls” of the chronotype world, wolves start their days around 7:30-9 am. These late risers are happy to go on about their daily tasks deep into the night, falling asleep usually just before midnight so they can still get eight hours of rest.

Dolphin

Wake: Flexible
Sleep: before Flexible

The least common of the four chronotypes, dolphins make up only 10% of the population. Also known as the ‘insomniacs’, dolphins are incredibly light sleepers and have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Due to their unfortunate propensity for poor sleep, dolphins don’t have set sleep and wake times, but should prioritise rest and small breaks throughout their day to avoid burnout and exhaustion.