10 Reasons Why Staying Up at Night is a Good Habit

“A man who wakes up early gets all their work done.” You've probably heard this a million times, and there's some truth to it. We've always thought that if someone wakes up late, they'll be the laziest person in the world, but if we accept that there are differences between humans, that may not always be true.

It is said that people who wake up early are more proactive in performing tasks, committed to doing them, and do not rush to do anything. Moreover , waking up early is an excellent time to exercise and find your inspiration, and because some people are still sleeping, you are more productive.

It's no wonder that successful individuals like Ben Franklin, Tim Cook, and Michelle Obama wake up early before sunrise. As such, there's a belief that if you want to move forward, you have to follow in their footsteps, but here's the problem: Not everyone wakes up early because of genetic stuff.

Robert Matchock, assistant professor of psychology at Fast Company, said: “There are biological differences between people who wake up early and people who stay up late at night, as the hormone melatonin, which reduces concentration when increased, decreases late in the morning in the body of people who stay up late at night”.

These people, too, “experience a rise in normal body temperature in the afternoon, which can be a sign of increased energy at that time,” he said. So, instead of blaming yourself, acknowledge that you are someone who prefers to stay up at night. When you admit it, you may discover that your productivity will improve.

10 Reasons Why Staying Up at Night is a Good Habit:

1. You don't have to rely on the alarm clock:

Professor Russell Foster, director of the Institute of Sleep and Surgical Neuroscience at Oxford University, said: “If you rely on an alarm clock to get out of bed, you're not getting enough sleep.”

Dr. Neil Stanley, an independent sleep expert, says: “In an ideal world, no one uses an alarm clock; we will all wake up naturally after getting enough of the sleep we need.” He adds, “Using an alarm means that you are likely to wake up when you are not used to getting up.”

Dr. Foster explains that you're disrupting your circadian clock in addition to waking up tired. As a result, “your body will trigger a response to this stress to wake you up, increasing your heart rate and blood pressure,” which is certainly not good for your health.

If you use your smartphone as an alarm clock to wake you up, you're likely to be busier with it -meaning that once you wake up, you'll be browsing social media or responding to emails, which is no way to start the day.

When you follow your daily routine, you do not need to rely on the use of an alarm clock, and the reason for this is that you are committed to the periods allocated for your sleep and wake-up time.

2. You are a hardworking worker:

There is a misconception that people who stay up late at night don't get as much work done as their counterparts who wake up early in the morning. When you're still asleep, some people wake up early in the morning and have a long day. However, researchers from the University of Liege in Belgium disagree with this belief.

As Sharon Begley explains in Newsweek, scientists Christina Schmidt and Philipe Piegneux studied early-morning and late-night sleepers. “15 people who stay up late at night and 16 who get up early in the morning spent two nights in a laboratory designated for sleep experiments. The two groups were separated by four hours of their sleep schedule.”

So, if people who wake up early in the morning feel happy because they wake up at 7 am, then people who stay up at night sleep until 11 am. Knowing that people who wake up early can sleep until 11 am, and those who stay up at night have no problem staying up until 3 am.

“An hour and a half after everyone woke up, and again 10.5 hours after they woke up, their brain activity was measured by functional MRI while they did a simple test that tested the reaction to their ability to maintain their attention,” says Begley. “Where both people who woke up early in the morning and those who stayed up at night slept and woke up whenever they wanted rather than following an artificial schedule.”

What does that mean? The experiment results showed that people who stay up at night stay more alert for more extended periods after waking up.

3. Have unique sources and amounts of energy:

If you love to wake up early in the morning, it is normal to consume your energy throughout the day. So, if you are at the peak of your activity in the afternoon, you will be exhausted at the end of the day. This is not the case with people who stay up at night.

According to one study, the boredom that afflicts people at night begins in the evening, which is interesting and occurs naturally. This means that people who stay up at night get a second source of energy because their energy is recharged, and they are ready to communicate.

4. Possess a higher IQ:

A study conducted at the London School of Economics and Political Science showed that people who stay up at night are more intelligent than their counterparts who wake up early. And it shows that “Smarter children are more likely to prefer to stay up at night and go to bed late, waking up late on weekdays and weekends when they grow up and become adults”.

A separate study by the University of Madrid found that people who stay up at night “tend to score higher on inductive reasoning than people who wake up early in the morning,” often “as an appreciation of general intelligence and a strong indicator of academic performance that sets them apart from their peers.”

5. Be more creative:

Researchers from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan found that people who stay up at night are more creative and thoughtful. The study's lead author, Marina Giampietro, hypothesized that “the types of people who stay up at night often face this condition, where they can find alternative and innovative solutions.” Sometimes creativity is the best tool for solving problems.

6. Be more successful:

Back in the 1970s, a study in Great Britain found that compared to people who woke up early, people who stayed up at night “had a very high average income and were more likely to be able to buy a car,” but was that still possible?

Plenty of people who stay up at night have thrived, including politician Winston Churchill, US President Barack Obama, Alex Ohanian, founder of Reddit, and CEOs like Aaron Levie, founder of Box, and Jonah Peretti, founder of Buzzfeed.

The BBC notes, "Although people who do morning activities may achieve better academic results, people who stay up at night tend to perform better on measures of memory, processing speed, and cognitive ability, even when they have to perform those tasks in the morning. People who stay up at night are also more open to new experiences and seek them out more.”

7. Exposure to fewer interruptions:

Just like people who wake up early, people who stay up late at night don't have to worry about noise and distractions. For example, if your maximum production hours are between 5 pm and 8 pm, it's likely that all employees have finished their work for the day and left the office.

What if you work remotely? Since these are off-duty hours, you don't have to worry about meetings or work-related emails - the usual workday for most people is over,  so a few hurdles may hinder your progress.

8. You are more qualified for entrepreneurship:

Did you know that people who stay up at night are more likely to take risks? Taking  planned risks is a familiar sign that you may be an entrepreneur.

9. Be better able to build a real network of relationships:

I have a friend in the family who works as a VIP client, and his primary responsibility is to have dinner with prominent clients. He has the energy and stamina to book a late dinner and wander around the city afterward, which is why he's perfect for the job because he works at night. In fact, that's a common trait for those people who stay up late at night.

While people who wake up early in the morning fall asleep quickly, people who stay up late at night have more opportunities for socializing after work and still have time to follow an evening routine before bed because they wake up late.

10. Be more flexible:

You're free. You're not restricted to midday meetings or a traditional eight-hour work schedule, but what if you need to change your plan? It turns out that people who stay up at night may be better able to adapt to any change because they don't need as many hours of sleep as their counterparts who wake up early in the morning.