Morning Lark or Night Owl? How Our Body Clocks Affect Our Mental and Physical Performance

Our most productive time can be strongly affected by our most wakeful hours

A recent study found that the performance of “night owls” and “morning larks” varied considerably on both cognitive and physical tasks. file404/ Shutterstock

Whether you’re a morning person or love burning the midnight oil, we’re all controlled by so-called “body clocks.” These body clocks regulate your circadian rhythms and are inside almost every cell in the body. They control when we feel awake and tired during a 24-hour period.

But as it turns out, our latest study found that our body clocks have a much bigger impact on us than we previously realized. In fact, our body clocks actually affect how well a person performs on both mental and physical tasks.