Strategically Communicating

Three American researchers won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering how body clocks make us tick. The study, done over decades, explained how life on Earth naturally adapts to the 24-hour cycle, controlling factors such as deep sleep, high alertness, reaction time, and hormonal changes.

The researchers studied human behavior that was controlled in a dark room with no clocks or any platforms to help tell time. They concluded that most living organisms have a circadian rhythm, and determined several important elements that were impacted by the duration of deep sleep.

Most intriguing in this study, however, was the discovery of 1-2% of population diagnosed with a gene mutation (CRY1), which makes those individuals experience a 24 hour and 39 minute cycle. Those are our night owls, whose bodies always play catch-up with the rest.

I retold this story to a coworker, my best friend living overseas, a friend living in the States and my mom. Texting seems to have had the most engagement, followed by face to face and lastly over the phone.

The reactions were pretty similar in the sense that all of them are convinced I have this gene mutation because of my consistent issues of running slightly off time. One was somewhat offended that the gene mutation was pointed towards night owls versus early birds.

The four audiences found my interest in this story amusing, and unanimously attacked my time management issues.