Morning people better positioned for career success: study
Are you the first one into work on Monday morning? Well, perhaps you should be.
Recent research by Christoph Randler, a professor at the University of Education in Heidelberg, suggests that those who prefer mornings are better positioned for career success.
Randler quizzed university students, a notoriously sleepy bunch, asking them when they were most energetic and willing to change a situation. It was the morning people who were more likely to agree with statements such as “I feel in charge of making things happen” and “I spend time identifying long-range goals for myself.”
Discussing his research in the Harvard Business Review, Randler says that when it comes to business success at least, morning people hold the important cards.
“My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which gets them into better colleges, which then leads to better job opportunities. Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimise them. They're proactive.”
Not that late risers are necessarily life's losers: They're smarter and more creative, and have a better sense of humour, other studies have shown.
“Throughout the world, people who sleep late are too often assumed to be lazy. The result is that the vast majority of school and work schedules are tailored to morning types,” Randler explains, suggesting that the late-to-rise crowd get short shrift.
One way for nighthawks that are seeking to kick-start their careers could be to try to gradually shift their body clocks by simply going to bed earlier, he suggests.
You see, your mother was right after all.
Are you an early riser? Do you think it's had any impact on your career?
By Gordon Powers, MSN Money
Posted by: Steve | Sep 22, 2021 10:01:02 AM
"One way for nighthawks that are seeking to kick-start their careers could be to try to gradually shift their body clocks by simply going to bed earlier, he suggests."
It is a shame that most people are required to hand in their brains when they become Professors such as Mr. Randler. Am I the only one who thinks it odd that his "solution" involves changing the unchangeable? If you are a morning person you can't change into a night owl & vice-versa. To suggest such a thing shows breathtaking stupidity. Do we ask women to change their gender to overcome gender discrimination? If organizations are unable to be structured to fully utilize staff's differing circadian rhythms then they lose out. Ever wonder why the hugely profitable tech companies don’t force all their staff to work 8AM-4PM Monday to Friday? Adapt to your staff & your company will flourish, but demand rigid structure & you will find that you have Government workers level of productivity in a private firm.
Posted by: Bredgette | Sep 22, 2021 8:58:50 PM
Instead of hating those cheery morning people who get up singing at the ... about a recent study that reveals that people whose performance peaks in the morning are better positioned for career success because they're applying the articles in this site..
http://tips-for-better-sleep.com/
Posted by: Jane Doe | Sep 23, 2021 2:18:23 PM
My partner in life is up at 5:30 AM on weekdays & has been for the past 40 or so years.
However, he is also snoring away by 7:30PM weeknights (falls asleep in front of the TV).
Yes, he has been successful in his work life.
However, the truth of the matter is I am the one who has carried most of the workload from dinner and then on into the evening. I have to wonder how bright & chirper these early risers would be if they didn't have partners attending to the homelife.
In essence, an early risers sucess cannot be attributed to just an early start, but to the hard work & extended working hours (second shift) that their partners are putting in on the homefront.
Posted by: John Chow | Sep 25, 2021 5:33:30 PM
I am a late night person since my college days. I was extremely successful @ college. I work darm hard a anyone. I find it that I could get a lot of things done late night than anyone who shows up early in the office. I don't run with the mug to coffee machine or drive to Tim Horton, don't smoke, no water cooler time waste, or crusing web at work. This is where a lot of time get wasted.
Posted by: William | Sep 25, 2021 6:22:41 PM
I am not a morning person. I am a night owl. I am also very, very successful. My company, which employs over 100,000 people, used to be very anal about coming to work at exactly 8:00 AM and not leaving before 4:30 PM. Over the years, they eventually adopted flexible work schedules for the professional staff. Now I work out of my home, and set my own hours. I like to sleep in and work late. I set my own work hours, and as long as I meet the demands of my position, my manager is happy. Most of my customers are located in different time zones, so setting rigid work hours is meaningless. My company expects results (and their expectations are very high), and I always deliver. This is quite the change from 25 years ago.