5 reasons to (finally) become a morning person

It all sounds so easy: set your alarm, don't hit snooze, have a positive mindset... In a perfect world, we would all be morning people. We would wake up at 6am, ready to face the day with a slightly sickly smile on our face. The reality though, is that that 6am alarm is just too much to bare. That, and the fact that we consider it a triumph if we're up, ready and make it to work for 9am with no coffee stains. But whilst there are some benefits to being a night owl, it turns out that the early risers might just be getting more than the proverbial worm. Discover 5 reasons to (finally) become a morning person and we promise, you'll forget that snooze button ever existed!

First the good news, for those who don't consider themselves a 'morning person', it turns out that our internal body clocks are in part, determined by our genetics. A recent study conducted by Wall Street Journal concluded that sleep is regulated by our 'dirunal prefernce' which in short, means whether we prefer to stay up late or get up early in the morning. So if there's nothing more annoying to you than the sound of chirping birds in the morning, don't worry - you're just wired that way!

Now for the bad news... it turns out, our sleeping patterns not only affect our social lives but they also affect our health.

1. A 2012 study found that there is a definite correlation between 'morningness' and self-reported happiness.

2. Among adolescents, night owls showed correlation with increased depression or depressive symptoms.

3. Early birds were linked to having lower BMI's after a study of 90,000 people was conducted by genetic-testing company, 23andme.

4. Night owls suffer from insomnia at a greater rate (40% compared to 20% of early risers)

5. Morning people are more proactive and therefore better positioned to succeed acording to to the studies of biologist Christoph Randler and this advantage had a postiive domino effect: early risers get better grades, resulting in better job opportunities.

While it appears that the early risers are coming out on top; take heart night owls as according to studies - you are smarter and more creative! You win some, you lose some...