Yes some people are more inclined to be alert in the evenings and others in the mornings

“Yes, some people are more inclined to be alert in the evenings and others in the mornings. But to suggest that there is something wrong with them – that they are jet lagged – seems absurd,” he says.In fact, there are advantages to their state, he says “Think of the expression, ‘the early bird catches the worm’. Taking a nap can help, but there’s as much chance that it will make you feel worse. The key for employers, he believes, is to make working hours more flexible overall so that people can have their main sleep when it best suits their body clock.Hopeful larks and owls may have a long wait, however, particularly if their bosses concede to Jim Horne’s views on the subject. The sleep expert from Loughborough University isn’t convinced social jet lag even exists. Meanwhile, a dedicated sleeping lounge has just opened at the top of the Empire State Building in New York to enable executives to catch up on some shut-eye during the working day.But Professor Dijk believes such attempts are misguided when it comes to tackling social jet lag. Some employers have already taken action by encouraging staff to take catnaps in a “ready bed” (a roll-up bed specially designed for use in the office) which is generally placed in a darkened corner of a meeting room.

“There is something to be said for the idea that making school schedules fit in with adolescents’ natural rhythms would make youngsters more productive,” he says.Likewise, making work schedules more flexible could enable bosses to get more out of their employees. “We already know that shift workers – who desynchronise their sleeping patterns more than anyone – smoke more than the average population, so these new findings make absolute sense,” he says.He also agrees with Professor Roenneberg that there may be a solution to social jet lag. “There are clearly other issues like peer pressure and genetics. But if you suffer from social jet lag, you are probably more prone to become a smoker, and if you continue to suffer from social jet lag, you are probably going to find it harder to quit.”Professor Dirk-Jan Dijk, director of the Surrey Sleep Research Centre, agrees. “I’m not saying social jet lag is the only reason people take up smoking,” says Professor Roenneberg. By the time you’ve hit your twilight years and traded in your blond bob for a blue rinse, you’re likely to prefer getting up as early as you did when you were a young child. “It’s no coincidence that most people start smoking between 14 and 20 years old, when the body clock is at its latest ever,” he says.Throughout childhood and adolescence, he explains, the time we head for the bedroom, and get up in the morning, shifts to later, peaking at around age 20 before it starts creeping back again.

We can only conclude that people with social jet lag use smoking as self-medication,” he says.The study also claims to provide enlightenment on why most people take up smoking in their teens. These people tend to opt – usually subconsciously – for the stimulant effect of cigarettes just to get through the day, which carries a whole host of additional health risks.”You could argue that night owls are more likely to smoke because they like being up until late and are therefore more likely to be in places like pubs and clubs, where smoking is commonplace,” he says. Seventy per cent of the night owls in the study were smokers, compared to just 10 per cent of people whose working lives fitted with their body clocks. The outcome of any of these behaviours is that your body isn’t getting the nutrition it needs to function at its best and you are also more prone to illness.”Professor Roenneberg’s study even found that social jet lag can drive people to smoke.