If you’re anything like me, you’re familiar with Monday-itis. A terrible affliction, with symptoms that usually present at the start of the week. You feel tired and flat and you have to drag yourself out of bed. While you might think that this is simply because you don’t want your weekend to be over, my guest on this podcast episode offers an alternative explanation. You might, in fact, be suffering from something called “Social Jetlag” And it has a lot to do with your sleeping behaviour.
Till Roenneberg from Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich is a leader in the field of chronobiology – the study of our biological rhythms. His research demonstrates that each of us has a different chronotype, or timing of our biological clock. You may be a “lark” who likes to go to bed early and get up early, you may be an “owl” who struggles to get out of bed in the morning, or you may be like the majority of people and perch somewhere in the middle.
You’ll learn why being forced to operate on a social clock that is counterproductive to your natural rhythms might be harming your health. You’re also about to learn why you always want to go to bed earlier when you’re camping and, if you listen to the end, you’ll learn why the bulbs in the lamps in my home now have an orange filter.