Mar 10 2013  Owls and Larks: The Importance of Sleep Chronotypes
Elizabeth Kolbert reviews a couple of recent books on the
science of sleep and hits on something that increasingly
fascinates me, which is how different people have very different
sleep patterns. One of those books discusses how those distinct
patterns can put one quite out of step with normal society.
I’m an owl and I have always been one. I was that way before I
was born, according to my mother, and remain that way today. I
can force myself to fit into a normal work schedule, but if I
don’t have to (and I no longer do), I will revert back to my
normal pattern very quickly. When my job with the American
Independent News Network ended in November, 2011, I was back to
my normal pattern within a week (it probably helped that I was
leaving for Vegas immediately after being told we were all being
laid off).  With individuals having such differences, I don’t
know how we can design things for both school and work that
would allow each student or