7 simple changes that can help you thrive as a night owl with a 9-to-5 job, from a Harvard sleep expert (2024)

If you're anything like me, hearing that you need to be somewhere before 10 a.m. is a jump scare — and if it's not an obligation, you probably won't be there.

Us late-risers, who are typically referred to as night owls, get bursts of energy at random times of the day, including when our early-bird counterparts are getting ready for bed or already sleeping.

"We all have a slight genetic orientation to one of two types, either being a morning person or an evening person," says Rebecca Robbins, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine and a sleep expert to Sonesta Hotels.

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"We think of this as evolutionary in nature, in that, roll the tape back hundreds of thousands of years and our ancestors had to protect themselves on the desert floor from predators. The village would protect itself by [having] a smaller group of individuals staying up to protect the others while the rest of the village sleeps. Then that shift would end, they would go to sleep and the morning shift would start."

As time went on, "we still have remnants of that today," Robbins tells CNBC Make It. The scientific name for these orientations is "chronotypes," and our chronotypes are partly genetic, she says.

While the typical 9-to-5 work schedule aligns with the early bird chronotype, that just isn't the case for night owls, which can sometimes feel like a burden.

Thankfully, chronotypes are also partly behavioral, so there are ways that night owls can boost their energy in the morning and excel as 9-to-5 employees, says Robbins. Here are a few.

1. Go outside and soak up the sun: "Exposure to natural sunlight is going to be really the best way to help you shift to a morning person's schedule," says Robbins. Carve out time in your morning for a walk or run outside, she suggests. "Even if you live in NYC for instance, you can walk an extra subway stop," she says.
2. Use blue light devices: "They're kind of colloquially referred to as 'happy lights.' If you use one of those, put it on your desk at your workplace," says Robbins. Exposure to blue light can give you a boost of energy, she notes.
3. Avoid caffeine in the afternoon: "An evening person will likely be struggling on a morning person's schedule, but try not to rely on stimulants, caffeine or sugary beverages with caffeine, later in the afternoon because then that will keep you up later," she says, which can affect your sleep.
4. Ensure that you're getting a good night's sleep: Regardless of chronotype, your sleep quality and quantity the night before is critical for your productivity, says Robbins. You should also aim to go to sleep and wake up around the same time, which researchers have recently discovered is extremely important, she notes.
5. Exercise in the morning: "This is probably torture to a night owl," because most night owls say they prefer to work out at night, says Robbins. But working out in the morning, especially outdoors, would be a great way to increase your energy at the top of the day, she says.
6. Advocate for rearranging your work schedule: "For many who do have the option to work remotely, having a candid conversation with your boss, to say 'From 9 to 11 [a.m.] I would like to be sleeping or doing whatever, and I'm going to be plugging in 5 to 8 [p.m.] and maybe seeing if that works for your boss, to structure your work hours accordingly," says Robbins.
7. Use the evening hours to get stuff done: Your boss may not be on board with shifting your work hours around, but you can optimize the times when you're most productive to work on your passion projects offline. "A night owl [should] protect as best they can those evening hours when they become alive," says Robbins.

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