A writer for the New York Post describes her attempt to convert from night owl to morning lark. 

In my quest to sleep like a boss (although, I hear actual bosses don’t sleep much) I spoke to Dr. Carmel Harrington, author, researcher and general doyen of doze. She said I’m prone to late nights thanks to my chronotype – a genetic characteristic that determines your “peaks of alertness” – not because I watch “Stranger Things.” I am an “owl,” she explains. “You tend to like the nightlife, you don’t like the mornings, and are slower to get going in the morning.” Nail on the head! “‘Larks’, on the other hand, like the sunrise and naturally get tired at about 9 p.m. They’re happy to go to sleep.”

Regardless of your chronotype, we all have peaks of and dips in alertness in every 24-hour cycle. An owl’s alertness peaks at around 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. “It’s very hard to fall asleep on an increasing tide of alertness. If you’re peaking at 10 p.m., you’ll find it very difficult to go to sleep,” says Harrington.