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It’s no surprise that our mental acuity and mood wax and wane during the day, but it may be surprising that most of us seem to be morning people.
In a study at University College London, researchers analyzed data collected from a dozen surveys of 49,218 respondents between March 2020 and March 2022. According to the report published recently in the British Medical Journal Metal Health, the data showed a trend of people claiming better mental health and wellbeing early in the day. They reported greater life satisfaction, increased happiness, and less severe depressive symptoms. They also reported a greater sense of self-worth earlier in the day. People felt worst around midnight. Mental health and mood were more variable on weekends. Loneliness was more stable throughout the week.
Dr. Feifei Bu, principal research fellow in statistics and epidemiology at University College, said in an email to CNN, “Our study suggests that people’s mental health and wellbeing could fluctuate over time of day. On average people seem to feel best early in the day and worst late at night.”
Research Limitations
Even though a correlation was discovered between morning, better mood, life satisfaction, and self-worth, there may be factors affecting the results not apparent in the research, Dr. Bu says.
How people were feeling may have affected when they filled out the surveys. As with most research, the findings need to be replicated. Studies need to be designed to adjust for or eliminate confounding variables, isolating specific questions as much as possible.
In addition, although mental health and well-being are associated, they are not the same thing. Well-being is a complex medley of mental, emotional, physical, cognitive, psychological, and spiritual factors. According to the World Health Organization, well-being is a positive state determined by social, economic, and environmental conditions that include quality of life and a sense of meaning and purpose.
Mental health is a significant contributor to well-being, but they don’t entirely overlap. Many people with mental health issues also enjoy what they describe as a good quality of life.
Also, while many reported feeling better in the morning, better is relative. When someone feels better in the morning, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they feel good.
In addition, mood is a temporary state; mental health and well-being are more stable conditions.
Do hard work when it’s best for you
Do these results mean to confront problems or do your hardest work first thing in the morning? Or does it mean not to problem-solve in the evening – just go to bed and tackle your issues in the morning? Not all research agrees, but more evidence points to late morning as the most productive time for problem-solving. Studies suggest that mood is more stable in the late morning, making it easier to confront more demanding matters with a cool head and less emotional influence.
Cortisol, an important body-regulating hormone that your adrenal glands produce and release, has a daily rhythm of highs and lows. It can also be secreted in bursts in response to stress. Cortisol tends to be lower in the midafternoon. This time is also associated with dips in mood and “decision fatigue.”
Correlations between mental health and well-being are more strongly associated with times of year than time of day, even though there are physiological ebbs and flows of the body regulating hormones and substances throughout the day.
For people who are night owls – you can safely follow your individual rhythm, rather than rearranging the bulk of your activities, tasks, and problem-solving.
