I haven’t been as excited for a book release in a long time. You might think I’m talking about the new Harry Potter (which I have already read… *shrug* meh). But, no… I’m talking about Dr. Michael Breus’ The Power of When: Discover Your Chronotype — and the Best Time to Eat Lunch, Ask for a Raise, Have Sex, Write a Novel, Take Your Meds, and More.

I first heard about this book from an interview the Dr. Breus did for Sean Croxton’s The Sessions podcast (a great one btw), and ever since I’ve been waiting to get my hands on it (or at least get it downloaded to my iPad).

Dr. Breus is a Clinical Psychologist and professional sleep researcher. He’s a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, The Dr. Oz Blog, and Psychology Today, and he’s spent the past 15 years or more studying our circadian rhythms, sleep patterns, and what the pros call “Chronotypes” which I’ll explain in a minute.

The book only came out a few days prior to writing this, and I may need to write a follow-up post once I’ve had a chance to dig in and read further. However, since I know so many of you are struggling with energy management challenges and interested in how you can shift your daily patterns to improve them I didn’t want to wait to clue you in on the amazing concepts in this book.

Specifically, most of us have heard of early birds and night owls, but did you know that there are actually FOUR common chronotypes in the general population? (A Chronotype, according to Dr. Breus, is a classification of the general timing of your biological clock.)

Dr. Breus has pitched out the old model of chronotypes (Larks, Hummingbirds, & Owls) based on his decade or more of research and introduced this new four chronotype system: Dolphins, Lions, Bears, & Wolves.

Let me share just a few highlights of each type as well as few insights about why you should care about identifying your personal chronotype…

The Four Chronotypes

Rather intelligently, I believe, Dr. Breus decided to depart from the old bird-based classifications of chronotypes and chose mammals that typified the traits he saw in each group. Why? Because we’re mammals, duh!

So, here are the headlines for each of the four types which might help you start clueing into which type feels most like you:

1) Dolphins – These are the true insomniacs; intelligent, light sleepers with very low sleep drive (a.k.a. desire for sleep). Real dolphins only sleep with half their brain and are always swimming and looking for predators.
2) Lions – Morning-oriented, driven optimists with a medium sleep drive. Powerful at the beginning of the day, but frequently spin-down and crash energetically earlier.
3) Bears – Strongly solar-based, bears rise with the sun and fade with the sun. Usually good sleepers with a high sleep drive, Bears hunt throughout the day rather than getting the power-charged mornings of the lions.
4) Wolves – Nocturnal hunters, night-oriented, creative extroverts with a medium sleep drive. Wolves start turning on much later in the day, but unlike the Dolphins they do value their sleep… just during different hours than many.

When I first listened to the podcast interview with Dr. Breus I got an immediate ah-ha about my own chronotype. I’m a Bear, and no amount of wishing that I were a Lion will make it true ;).

If you didn’t immediately recognize yourself, then you might at least have recognized one of your parents’ patterns, and your chronotype is actually genetic (determined by the PER3 gene). So, that might help you a bit. However, the best way to find out your chronotype is by taking the Power of When Quiz.

Why Does My Chronotype Matter

Why? Because if you want to leverage and work with your energy flow, then it’s better to know your personal peaks and valleys.

It will directly impact when you are likely to be most creative and productive, how much sleep you need, and even the best times of day for you to eat based on your classic chronotype metabolism.

In other words, if you plan your activities to work with your personal patterns, then you will feel more energized! Isn’t that what we all want?

If your curious about how you can craft your daily rhythms to match your personal chronotype, then you’ll want to grab a copy of Dr. Michael Breus’ book The Power of When.

Then, you’ll want to download my Life Rhythm Map template and sign up for the Master Energy Management mini-course, which can provide you with a framework and specific action steps to put what you discover in the book into action.