Sophia: Alright, Laura, pop quiz. What do a dolphin, a lion, a bear, and a wolf have in common? Laura: Uh… they're all animals you shouldn't try to hug at a petting zoo? Sophia: Close! According to our book today, one of them is your secret biological identity, and knowing which one could change everything from when you should ask for a raise to when you should have sex. Laura: That's a perfect way to get into it. We're talking about The Power of When by Dr. Michael Breus. Sophia: The Sleep Doctor! I’ve heard of him. He’s all over the place talking about sleep. Laura: Exactly. And he's not just some wellness guru; he's a clinical psychologist and one of only about 160 people in his field with a board certification in sleep medicine. He became one of the youngest ever to pass the board. He wrote this book because he realized that for years, we've been obsessed with what to do and how to do it, but we’ve completely ignored the most important question: when. Sophia: Okay, I'm intrigued. The idea that timing is everything isn't new, but it sounds like he's taking it to a biological level. Laura: He absolutely is. The central idea is that most of us are living with a kind of permanent, low-grade jet lag. And we can trace the start of this problem back to one specific invention.

Sophia: Don't tell me it's the smartphone. I feel like the smartphone gets blamed for everything. Laura: It's a culprit, for sure, but Dr. Breus goes back further. He points to Thomas Edison and the invention of the long-lasting incandescent lightbulb in 1879. That was the moment night became optional. Sophia: Wow. So he basically invented the 24/7 work culture and, by extension, burnout? Laura: In a way, yes. Edison himself was famously anti-sleep. He called it a "bad habit" and a waste of time. He once said, "Everything which decreases the sum total of man’s sleep increases the sum total of man’s capabilities." Sophia: That is such a classic, industrial-age, productivity-at-all-costs mindset. And it’s a terrible idea! Laura: A demonstrably terrible idea. Because our bodies have these internal clocks, these circadian rhythms, that have been honed by millennia of living by the sun. The main one is a tiny cluster of nerves in our brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN. Sophia: Hold on, that’s a mouthful. Suprachiasmatic nucleus. What is that, like a tiny Rolex embedded in your skull? Laura: That’s a perfect analogy! It’s the body’s master clock. It tells you when to feel sleepy, when to feel hungry, when your body temperature should rise and fall. It controls the flow of hormones. And for most of human history, it was synced perfectly with the sun. Then Edison flipped a switch, and we all started living in a state Dr. Breus calls "chrono-misalignment." Sophia: Chrono-misalignment. I love that term. It sounds so much more scientific than just "I'm tired all the time." But what does that misalignment actually do to us? Laura: It’s not just about feeling groggy. The book cites studies linking it to serious health issues: mood disorders, heart disease, diabetes, obesity. For example, one study he mentions from the University of Murcia in Spain took two groups of people on the exact same 1,400-calorie diet. The only difference was when they ate their main meal. Sophia: Let me guess. The early eaters did better. Laura: Dramatically better. The group that ate their main meal before 3:00 p.m. lost 25% more weight than the group that ate after 3:00 p.m. Same calories, same exercise. The only variable was timing. Sophia: That's wild. It’s like your metabolism has business hours, and if you show up with a big meal after closing time, it just gets stored in the warehouse. Laura: Exactly. And this applies to everything. There are better times to fight illness, better times to learn, even better times for cancer drugs to be effective because our cells' repair mechanisms run on a schedule. Sophia: Okay, but we can't just go back to living by candlelight. We have jobs, we have social lives, we have Netflix. How is this practical for anyone living in the 21st century? Laura: That's the million-dollar question, and it’s where the book gets really interesting. Dr. Breus says we can't turn back the clock on society, but we can understand our own personal biological programming. And to do that, he moves beyond the simple 'early bird' or 'night owl' model.

Sophia: Right, because I feel like I've heard that a million times. I'm a night owl, my partner's an early bird, we fight over the thermostat. What's new here? Laura: What’s new is that he argues those categories are too simplistic. They only look at sleep-wake times. Breus introduces a new system based on four chronotypes, which he names after mammals to capture their personality and sleep drives. He says about 10% of people are Lions, 10-20% are Wolves, 10% are Dolphins, and the rest, about 50-55%, are Bears. Sophia: Okay, I'm already trying to diagnose all my friends. Break these down for me. What's a Lion? Laura: Lions are the classic early risers. The go-getters, the CEOs, the people who wake up at 5 a.m. without an alarm, ready to conquer the world. They're optimistic and driven, but their energy crashes hard in the evening. A Lion's idea of a wild Friday night is being in bed by 9:30. Sophia: I know that person. They make you feel lazy just by existing before 7 a.m. What about Bears? Laura: Bears are the most common type. Their body clock follows the sun. They're the 9-to-5ers, the social glue of society. They're generally good sleepers, feel most productive mid-day, and have steady energy. They're your reliable friends, the ones who get things done. The book says our society is largely built around the Bear schedule. Sophia: That makes sense. So what about the night owls? The Wolves? Laura: Wolves are the opposite of Lions. They struggle to wake up in the morning, hitting the snooze button multiple times. They don't feel truly awake until the afternoon, and their peak creative energy hits in the evening. They're often introverted, creative types—artists, writers, musicians. They're the ones sending emails at 11 p.m. Sophia: And finally, the Dolphin. That one sounds the most mysterious. Laura: The Dolphin is the most challenging chronotype. They are named after the real animal, which sleeps with only half its brain at a time. These are light, anxious sleepers, often diagnosed with insomnia. They're intelligent, neurotic, perfectionistic, but they're constantly "tired but wired." They lie in bed at night with their brain going a mile a minute. Sophia: Oh, the Dolphin sounds… rough. I feel like I have some Dolphin tendencies when I'm stressed. This is a fun framework, but how scientific is it, really? I've seen some reader reviews that suggest it's a bit pop-psychology. Laura: That's a fair question, and one the book addresses. Dr. Breus grounds this in genetics, specifically a gene called PER3. The length of your PER3 gene influences whether you need more or less sleep and your preference for morning or evening. But he also developed these archetypes from over 15 years of clinical practice. He found that just telling someone they were a "night owl" wasn't enough. Adding the personality traits of a "Wolf" helped them understand their whole biological profile—why they might be more impulsive or creative, for instance. Sophia: So the animal names are like a helpful shorthand for a more complex biological and psychological profile. Laura: Precisely. And the goal isn't to label you, but to empower you. He tells a great story about a friend who was a successful business owner. He took the quiz and was disappointed to find out he was a Bear. He said, "I want to be a Lion! Lions are the leaders!" Sophia: That's hilarious. He had 'Lion Envy.' Laura: Totally! But Breus explained that every type has its strengths and weaknesses. Lions are great leaders, but they can be poor in social situations because they're exhausted by the evening. Wolves might struggle with 9-to-5 jobs, but they have incredible creative peaks when everyone else is winding down. The point is to stop wishing you were another type and start building a life that works for your type.

Sophia: That's a really powerful reframe. It shifts the focus from "what's wrong with me?" to "what's wrong with my schedule?" So, if someone listening can only change one thing after hearing this, what's the single biggest takeaway? Laura: I think it's about giving yourself permission to stop fighting your own biology. We live in a world that is largely designed by Lions, for Bears. That leaves Dolphins and Wolves feeling perpetually broken or lazy. Sophia: Right. The Wolf who can't function in a 9 a.m. meeting isn't lazy; they're a Wolf. The Dolphin who can't sleep isn't a failure; they're a Dolphin. Laura: Exactly. The book's real power is that first step of self-awareness. Just knowing you're a Wolf trying to function on a Lion's schedule is liberating. It reframes the problem from a personal failing to a simple, solvable scheduling mismatch. It’s a form of biological self-acceptance. Sophia: I love that. It's self-compassion, but backed by science. I'm so curious what our listeners think they are. I feel like I'm mostly a Bear with some Wolf tendencies. Laura: I'm definitely a Lion. Which explains why I'm so cheerful right now and will be useless in about eight hours. Sophia: Ha! Well, we want to hear from our Aibrary community. Head over to our social channels and tell us—are you a Dolphin, a Lion, a Bear, or a Wolf? We want to see the Aibrary animal kingdom. Laura: This is Aibrary, signing off.