Night Owls May Have a Harder Time Leaving Work Behind

The Late Shift: Some people can’t help but rerun the day’s work meeting while making dinner, or reply to one more email after the dishes are done. So why do some people seem to have the enviable ability to clock out both physically and mentally? Well, it’s not necessarily because they have a better mindset or are less busy. A new analysis of more than 2,000 working adults in Finland found that night owls have a harder time leaving work behind.

The Study: Researchers asked adults ages 20 to 65 to rate themselves from morning person to full night owl, then asked whether work ate into their personal downtime. The more of a night owl someone was, the less likely they were to feel fully recovered before the next workday. Evening types also reported more anxiety and depression.

The Takeaway: If you get a second wind after 5 p.m., notice whether it turns into more work instead of an actual break.

Keep in Mind: This study can’t prove being a night owl causes anxiety, since it’s observational and based on self-reports. Still, the tie between recovery and overworking held up across all the chronotypes.