Why You Want to Sleep When You Have to Work: The Human Biological Clock

Each person has their own comfortable time for work, rest, and bedtime, and most of us follow a 24-hour rhythm based on the length of day on our planet. In the morning we wake up, we get up, we put ourselves in order, then we go about our business, we get tired in the evening, we slow down and go to bed – and with one variant or another it happens to everyone . And not just people – plants and animals have their own rhythms. These rhythms are called circadians, from the Latin words circa (circle) and dies (day), and they govern all the biological processes in our body. Based on these rhythms, our mood, behavior and physical condition change. In turn, circadian rhythms are controlled by the body’s biological clock – a group of molecules found in all of its tissues. These groups have a single center located in the brain and made up of about 20,000 neurons. It is he who dictates to us when to want to sleep, eat, communicate and much more.

Until recently, almost nothing was known about the biological clock of the human body, despite the fact that mankind had lived on the same diet for centuries and millennia, and this could hardly be called a coincidence. However, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, three scientists (Geoffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young) were finally able to identify the specific molecular mechanisms that govern our internal rhythms. For this they received the Nobel Prize in 2017. Among other things, scientists have discovered that the biological clock has its own “input device” – and that, of course, our eyes. They are able to distinguish the smallest changes in lighting and, accordingly, based on these changes, the biological clock can be rebuilt, ordering us to fall asleep earlier and wake up later. It doesn’t happen immediately – that’s why we suffer from jet lag if we’re in a time zone that’s very different from our own. The watch takes time to adapt to the new mode.

In general, the job of the biological clock is to prepare the body in advance for a new day. Shortly before the expected dawn, they give the command to get up: the blood begins to flow faster, a more active metabolism begins, after waking up there is a feeling of hunger, during the day the working capacity increases, at night it falls, and when it gets dark outside, the “sensors” in the eyes monitor that and they tell the control center it’s time to go to watering procedures and then sleep. In some people, the processes begin earlier than in others, and in some people later, this explains the existence of larks and owls. But even larks and owls can switch to a different mode – another question is that they will need time for this. Lack of routine, in turn, can knock the clock, then a person may have problems falling asleep, getting up, eating – the body simply will not know when to activate certain functions.

Also, if the internal clock is running too slow or too fast, circadian rhythms are disrupted. This leads to the development of various chronic diseases: for example, sleep disorders, obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder.

If the biological clock is not slowed down by violations of the regime, jet lag or something else, the daily routine may look like this (larks can subtract an hour or two from the indicated times, owls can add):

In accordance with these schedules, you can plan not only the working day, but also meals. There is a special diet that takes into account circadian rhythms, it is believed that eating at a certain time contributes to better digestion and helps control weight. Moreover, even some medications recommend drinking at certain specific times, as this further increases their effectiveness.

It turns out that everything comes from within, the biological clock determines when and what to do, and external stimuli only help to reconfigure the system when necessary. In order to maximize the efficiency of your work, sports and other activities, you can try using a simple life hack – record periods of your own activity for, say, a week or two, then analyze the data and try either adjusting the actual activity to them or tweaking the mode slightly so the energy highs and lows happen at the right time.

For example, you noticed that you work best at 11-13 and 17-20 hours, and in the period from 14 to 16 it is better not to touch yourself. If possible, it is better to start the working day at 10-10.30 a.m. in order to have time for a coffee before the main period of activity, and to plan lunch for 2-4 p.m. and no important meetings. Let them wait until 5 p.m. And at 22, in this case, you can easily have dinner, take a walk, take a shower and go to bed – then by 11 a.m. you will be fully armed.