Hi, I'm Dr. Michael Breus.
Some of you may know me as The Sleep Doctor.
I've spent the last 19 years seeing patients, doing research,
and educating everyone on the benefits of a good night's sleep.
You may have seen me on TV shows like Dr. Oz, Oprah, and the Today show.
I've also had the good fortune to write three bestselling books
which all address sleep but in very unique ways.
Everybody needs sleep.
We all know that.
But what a lot of people didn't realize is that everybody's sleep
needs are different.
The concept of needing 8 hours of sleep every night is a myth.
Just look at the map.
We know that the average sleep cycle is approximately 90 minutes
and the average person has five of these cycles.
If you look closely, you'll see that this equation leads to only
seven and a half hours of sleep.
Personally, I sleep from midnight to about 6:30, and I've been this way
my entire adult life.
Let's bust that myth today.
Everybody's sleep need is different.
Another aspect of your sleep that is personalized is your chronotype.
Everyone has different chronotypes.
You may not know this word, but you probably understand the concept.
Think about somebody being called an early bird or a night owl.
Those are chronotypes.
Chronotypes are our internal rhythms that are biologically set,
and it's your unique wiring, known as your sleep chronotype,
that determines what your most energetic times of the day will be.
Using this example, some people are early birds.
They rise early and are very active during the early morning hours.
Other of us are night owls.
We sleep late and are much more active in the evenings and late at night.
There's been some fascinating studies done on the these different types of people.
For example, a study showed that night owls tend to be more intelligent even when
tested in the early morning hours.
And night owls also have the tendency to have more sex, although that's probably
because we're up late at night.
They handle caffeine much better than early birds.
Early birds have a much harder time sleeping when they've consumed caffeine
throughout the day.
But before you decide I'm just a night owl fan, you should also know that night owls
are much more likely to engage in substance abuse like alcohol and smoking
than early birds.
Night owls also tend to be less happy.
They're also the biggest risk takers which can lead to some severe problems.
Early birds are often what many people claim to be, when in fact,
they're really not.
Only 15% of people are true early birds, and they tend to be very successful.
They're often managers or in management and they are very healthy and
health-conscious and extremely productive.
Now, I don't call them night owls, I call them wolves.
And I don't call them early birds, I call them lions.
I've broken up the chronotypes into four separate categories and given them animals
that mimic the closest behaviors to those types.
The bear. Bears' internal clocks rise and fall with the sun.
They usually need a full eight hours of sleep at night.
It's the majority of the population.
The wolf, and that's me, have a hard time waking up in the morning
and are most active at night.
The lion. The lion tends to wake up really early with lots of energy,
but they're exhausted by early evening.
And the dolphin. These are my light sleepers
who are often diagnosed with insomnia.
Now, each chronotype affects how much sleep you need, your optimal routine,
and what time you're most productive, among many other factors.
If you want to learn to sleep like a champion and optimize your sleep
for increased energy and productivity, sign up to my upcoming
masterclass with Mindvalley.
You'll be sleeping like a baby in no time.
See you at the masterclass.
♪ [music] ♪