A noted sleep expert says employers should integrate greater flexibility in work hours because the time people actually "wake up" is highly related to their age.
Dr. Paul Kelley, an Oxford University professor, says that the traditional 9-to-5 workday really only works for those 55 years old and older. Everyone else is essentially fighting their natural biorhythms by working during those hours.
As related in an article in The Guardian, Kelley was conducting research to find out when school-age children actually experienced true body awakening. His objective was to see if the hours most schools required children to attend was optimal for most students.
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He identified the following body wake-up times for young people:
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Up to age 10: 6:30 a.m.
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10-16: 8 a.m.
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16-18: 9 a.m.
Then, the Guardian said, Kelley took his findings a step further and estimated body wake-up times for adults. He found that, up to about age 55, adults tend to lose sleep during the night and thus don't truly awaken until later. But once folks hit their mid-50s, they revert back to 10-year-old awakening patterns.
Thus, he concluded, 9-to-5 is great for older workers, who are often the bosses who get to set the workday schedule. But they aren't ideal for others. An employer that wants the utmost efficiency from the staff should have the 50-somethings start around 8 a.m., with those in their 30s coming in around 10 a.m., and the millennials at 11 a.m.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
