A study by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Groningue (Netherlands) analyzed sleep habits and followed the level of health of 24,000 people for ten years. And if you are one of the people who go to bed late, these results may seem worrying. According to the study, published in the journal The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, people who go to bed late present an average cognitive decline than those who get up early.
One element, however, to qualify these results: less a person who sets late has studied, the less they seem to undergo this same level of cognitive decline, reports the online media Fast Company.
Ana Wenzler, a specialist in epidemiology at the University of Groningue (Netherlands), advances several hypotheses regarding these results. At first, people who are used to sleeping late have less physical activity than lift. The second explanation is that people who go to bed early avoid the moments when our harmful attitudes reappear, like smoking a cigarette before sleeping or eating a little something.
Finally, the link between a higher level of instruction and a more marked cognitive decline lies in the fact that, statistically, more educated strokes tend to follow day schedules, although their biological clock does not necessarily lend itself to it.
Professional environments to develop
As the specialist explains in a press release, this problem is certainly linked to their sleep of sleep. These people who tend to start the work early in the morning can tend not to sleep enough, which does not leave the brain time to rest enough.
“We think that people who are not or moderately graduated occupy jobs with atypical schedules, as in catering or night trades, which allows them to better respect their natural rhythm”she adds. When this recovery time is not possible and the brain runs out, it is then that bad habits settled.
Ana Wenzler concludes his remarks by evoking the fact that companies must take into account this factor towards their employees who go to bed late, but who have the imperative to start early. By offering them for example suitable hours as well as the possibility of starting later. This is where an optimistic note takes shape, because even if the study was carried out over ten years, the standards in terms of working conditions have progressed well.
The results of this study question the adaptation of professional environments to the various biological profiles. Today, some professions offer more flexibility in terms of timetables with telework, freelance or the possibility of using landscaped schedules. Leaving this possibility to the knockdown would thus help to preserve their cognitive health and to respect their chronotype (that is to say their own biological rhythm).
This context could nevertheless offer a strategic advantage to companies wishing to adopt a more flexible approach. By leaving employees the possibility of adapting to their biological pace, it would be possible to improve their general well-being, while promoting the maintenance of their cognitive faculties in the long term. Anyway, the good talents exist in all types of chronotypes, whether they are a tard peak or the highlight. Adapting the working environment in the face of these specific needs could well become a competition advantage for everyone.