About the Afternooner sleep personality
You are an Afternooner if you find it hard to wake up in the morning and really get into your stride after 4pm. This is your sleep type if you often need multiple alarms to wake you up in the morning and crave alone time until at least 11am, so that you can adjust.
You are most productive in the evenings - in fact, you really get into your stride after 4pm - and as a result, you often go to bed later and you enjoy a lie in whenever you get the chance!
The ideal schedule for an Afternooner
Morning
Our brains love a sleep schedule, so try to go to sleep and wake up at around the same time each day. In the mornings, you may find it trickier to wake up, due to your natural preference for the evening hours, so try getting some exercise and plenty of sunlight into your eyes within an hour of waking, to help you wake up.. If you feel the urge to go back to bed, try having a cold - or cooler - shower in the morning, again to help you wake up and kickstart your day!
As your chronotype or body clock is set a little ‘later’ in the day, as a moderate evening type you should consider holding off on having your first cup of coffee until 9.30am.
Afternoon
In the afternoon from 2 - 4pm your energy is likely to dip a little, but your focus and alertness picks up again from 4 - 6pm, when you can tackle demanding work tasks.
Evening
6pm is a good time to do some exercise, followed by time with friends or family from 7-9pm. Start your winddown for bed and bedtime routine at 10pm - consider shutting off screens and reading a book, with the aim to be asleep by 11.30pm to get the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep.
The ideal bedroom for an Afternooner
As an afternooner type, you might consider creating a bedroom that’s dark and relaxing, which will help you to unwind in the evening, after your final burst of energy.
Go for dark and soothing colours that that look good in artificial light. Dark blues, greens and grey tones are all easy on the eye and work particularly well in creating a calming atmosphere. These shades will also keep your room as dark as possible, to help the busy mind of an Afternooner type to unwind and drift off to sleep. If you would like to give the space a little lift, or prefer bolder colours, try using darker jewel tones to inject a little more energy into the space, without overpowering it.
We spend one third of our lives sleeping, so it’s important to select a bed to help you unwind and relax - try an upholstered bed frame in a sumptuous soft velvet, in a soothing shade of dark green, blue or grey.
As part of your bedtime routine, try reading a good book in bed - and placing it on your bedside table so that it is within easy reach, should you wake up during the night and need a little help getting back to sleep.
Think about how you like to use your bedroom during the evening time and style the space to suit. If you wake up with racing thoughts, keep a notebook on a bedside table or dressing table nearby, so that you can sit and jot down your thoughts. If you often wake in the middle of the night and struggle to go back to sleep, a cosy corner with a chair, a couple of favourite books and a warm blanket can be a great addition to your bedroom - giving you space for a relaxing activity to lull you back to sleep.
As a moderate evening type, you may need encouragement to wake up in the morning, so try using a sunrise alarm clock. This slowly turns on fifteen minutes before the alarm time and when the alarm goes off, the lights are at 100% brightness, to mimic the light of the morning sun. This slowly increasing light can help you wake up naturally before the alarm goes off and avoid the jolt of an alarm clock, whilst also providing the essential early morning light needed to wake up fully.
Diffusing bergamot essential oil in a diffuser may be helpful for reducing stress and anxiety. Turn on your diffuser an hour before bedtime and over time your brain will associate that scent with going to bed.
Explore other sleep personality types
The Afternooner type is just one of five distinct sleep personalities, each based on a different sleep chronotype. If you don’t think this quite sums you up - or you’d like to understand a partner or family member’s sleep type a little better - you can take the quiz again, or explore other personality types below.
