The 3:30 AM Club

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Jill Wiltfong

Hi, I'm Jill Wiltfong, Chief Marketing Officer for Korn Ferry, and this is Briefings, our deep dive into topics that corporate leaders need to care about.

What are you doing at 3:30 AM? For most of you, I'm guessing you're fast asleep, deep in dream world. But what if I told you that's exactly the time when more than one in ten people are doing their best work?

One study found about 15% of the workforce does their strongest work in the wee hours between midnight and sunrise. Some are late-night keyboard warriors—night owls—while others are extreme early risers, or larks, who naturally wake up at 3 AM or earlier. It’s the result of people’s circadian rhythms—chronotypes—falling into this bucket.

The only problem? We work in a world rooted in a nine-to-five culture. Some struggle through long days. Others sneak in naps. Either way, experts say these very people often have great ideas that could help their businesses.

But how should firms handle this? Can they handle it?

Today, let’s understand what it’s like to live and work with these outlier chronotypes—and what leaders can do to support members of the 3:30 AM club.

Before we start, if you're watching on YouTube, please like, subscribe, and leave a comment. You can also read more about this topic in our Briefings magazine, available at airports and online.

With us now is a member of this late-night crew: Dr. Christopher Kaufman, founder of Human Complex Systems, a boutique consulting firm that helps organizations leverage learning science. As an avowed night owl with more than 30 years of experience training executive teams, he brings both personal and leadership-development insight to this discussion.

Jill Wiltfong

Christopher, it's really good to have you on the show.

Dr. Christopher Kaufman

It's great to be here. Thank you so much.

Jill Wiltfong

So Christopher, in our Briefings feature we have a fascinating chart of your typical workday—or work night. Can you talk us through it? What does a normal 24 hours look like for you?

Dr. Christopher Kaufman

I'm much better creatively after the sun goes down. In the morning, I can do set routines if necessary, but I won’t give my creative side much work because it simply isn’t effective during daylight hours.

As a night owl, my peak hits around 8 PM and continues easily until midnight. But from a leadership standpoint, that means organizations may be missing out on the best work from people who don’t peak on a nine-to-five schedule.

Jill Wiltfong

You once worked in a traditional nine-to-five structure and said it felt like you were being emotionally brutalized. What is that experience like for people like you?

Dr. Christopher Kaufman

It’s brutal because you want to give your best, but during those hours, parts of your brain simply aren’t functioning. The best metaphor is not getting much sleep and then having to take a long drive—you’re committed, but you know you’re not prepared. You’re hoping nothing unexpected happens that causes you to falter. You push through, but you’re not operating at your true capacity.

Jill Wiltfong

That’s from The Matrix, featuring a character who’s likely a night owl but forced into a rigid nine-to-five schedule.

Some real-life companies take a similar stance—even though larks and night owls can be just as productive. One study found that late workers can actually have superior cognitive functioning.

So Christopher, if you had a megaphone to all leaders right now, what’s the best way to manage employees with a night-owl chronotype?

Dr. Christopher Kaufman

First: You pay rent for 24 hours—so use the office for 24 hours.

Second: There’s a viral memo from a major telecom about returning to work. That company exists to serve people needing mobile tech 24/7, yet it wants its workers on a totally different schedule from its customers. Leaders should make sure the internal culture matches the customer culture.

Third: Trust the technology—dashboards, Slack, digital touchpoints. With intelligent management, you should always be able to understand what’s happening, no matter the hour.

Jill Wiltfong

So of course, many bosses say the downside to giving employees to much flexibility when they work is the collaboration suffers, because night owls and larks aren’t always available when team workers are working. What’s your advice to a night owl or lark in that situation?

Dr. Christopher Kaufman

If you’re producing good work but never utilizing your peak capability, you may want to move on. Or you can shift easier, low-level work to nine-to-five hours and “park” your high-value tasks for your peak time. But that means unpaid hours—which raises the question: are you in the right role?

Jill Wiltfong

Many bosses argue that too much flexibility hurts collaboration. What’s the solution?

Dr. Christopher Kaufman

I recommend the Four P’s:

1. Pulse – Check in: Are you okay? Is workload manageable? Monthly in-person gut checks help.
2. Process – Use process-tracking tools; everyone should follow the same digital touchpoints.
3. Product – Are deliverables being met on time? If not, collaboration may need in-person adjustments.
4. Panorama – A dashboard that shows whether teams, customers, and workflows are syncing.

Jill Wiltfong

Christopher, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. Lots of actionable steps here. And at midday, no less—when you should probably be sleeping!

Dr. Christopher Kaufman

My pleasure. Thank you so much.

Jill Wiltfong

We’ve looked at the first-person experience of having a different chronotype. After the break, we’ll explore evolutionary and biological reasons for this trait—and more tips for leaders. Stay with us.

BREAK

Jill Wiltfong

We’re back talking about how more than one in ten workers are either night owls or larks—and how leaders can better manage them.

With us now is Ariane Cohen, a longtime member of the Korn Ferry writing team and author of a deeply insightful piece on this topic for Briefings Magazine. Ariane, thanks for being here.

Arianne Cohen

Thank you for having me.

Jill Wiltfong

You found that there’s actually an evolutionary reason humans aren’t all on the same schedule. Tell us about that.

Arianne Cohen

When we were hunter-gatherers, someone had to stay up at night to watch for predators. Night-owl genes were beneficial to survival. People kept fires burning and ensured children stayed safe. It’s always been beneficial to have 15% of the population up very late or very early.

That continues today—16% of employees work evening or night shifts. They monitor electrical grids, air travel safety, and more. Night owls can proudly say their ancestors protected the tribe.

Jill Wiltfong

You also discovered that atypical chronotypes have different “clock genes.” What does that mean?

Arianne Cohen

Clock genes regulate circadian rhythms—metabolism, sleep timing, alignment with sunrise, biological cycles. We all get melatonin at night and cortisol in the morning. But:

• Larks get a strong cortisol surge early.
• Night owls get a weaker surge that comes much later.

So early mornings can feel physiologically impossible for night owls—they're still under the effects of melatonin from just a few hours before.

Jill Wiltfong

You wrote that night owls often get two to three hours less sleep than typical adults. You spoke with sleep experts and developed a list of tips for improving sleep. Can you walk us through them?

Arianne Cohen

Of course.

1. Eat to support your circadian rhythm — Breakfast, lunch, and dinner within a 12-hour window; no eating within 3 hours of bedtime.
2. Consistency — What derails night-shift workers is not the night shift, but flipping their schedule on off-days.
3. Educate coworkers — Unusual sleep schedules work only if colleagues don’t call or email during your sleep hours.

Jill Wiltfong

You also talked about “serial work.” What does that mean?

Arianne Cohen

Leaders who excel at this are often extreme chronotypes themselves.

• Night owls work during the night,
• Hand off to larks in the early morning,
• Who pass work to daytime workers.

Work progresses continuously. The biggest disruptor? Team meetings. The best cross-chronotype meeting time is early afternoon, around 1 PM in the afternoon.

Jill Wiltfong

Ariane, fantastic having you here again. I learn something new every time.

Arianne Cohen

Thank you so much for having me.

Jill Wiltfong

The executive producer of Briefings is Jonathan Dahl. Today’s episode was produced by Rupak Bhattacharyya and Zachary Dore, and it was edited by Jaren Henry McRae.

It contains reporting by Russell Pearlman, Ariane Cohen, Peter Lauria, and Meghan Walsh. Our video segment contains original artwork by Fraser Milton, Haley Kennel, Jonathan Pink, and Sasha Kotzek.

Don’t forget to read our magazine—available at newsstands and at kornferry.com/briefings.

That’s it for Korn Ferry Briefings. I’m Jill Wiltfong. See you next time.