stuckincustoms / flickr
Early bird.
Here's a hint: We recently learned that people who stay up late are more likely to be psychopathic.
Now the news is that night owls are late to everything.
In a study recently cited by Christian Jarrett at the Research Digest, German researchers tracked 300 students as they arrived for an 8:15 a.m. lecture.
The students filled out surveys on their personality type, how they got to class, and their "chronotype," or natural sleep schedule, which influences whether they were morning people (also called "larks") or night people (called "owls").
"The students who were larks tended to arrive more punctually for their morning lectures," Jarrett reports. "As an owl myself, I thought it was a bit harsh to gauge punctuality with a morning lecture, but then the researchers did also ask the students about their general punctuality, and again chronotype was the key factor, explaining 12% of the variance."
Surprisingly, this was the first study to investigate the link between chronotypes and punctuality.
Other research regarding punctuality has arrived at startling conclusions, like:
Chronically tardy people experience time differently than punctual people.
Chronically tardy people have different definitions of "on time."
Chronically tardy people have a different personality type.
While it might seem minor, punctuality signals a lot.
According to "No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs" author Dan S. Kennedy, being on time is the single most important habit for becoming a successful entrepreneur, since it signals integrity - and it gives you the right to demand that people respect your time.
Early risers have been shown to have other advantages, too, like being more proactive in their lives, getting better grades, and being more conscientious, which has been found to be the only major personality trait that consistently leads to success.
It seems that early birds really do get the worm.