Most people think of ADHD as a problem of attention, impulse control, or restless energy. And for practical purposes, it is.

Those are the symptoms that show up in classrooms, offices, and family dinners. But underneath all of that noise, there is often something quieter and more basic at work: timing.

Not time management. Not calendars. I’m talking about the brain’s internal clock — the one that decides when you feel alert, when you feel foggy, and when your pillow suddenly becomes the most attractive object in the universe.

For a substantial subgroup of children, teens, and adults with ADHD, that clock tends to run late. And when your brain is living in a different time zone than your school, job, or household, life can feel like a daily exercise in jet lag.

Chronotype is your brain’s natural preference for when to be awake and when to sleep. Some people pop out of bed and feel mentally sharp before the coffee finishes brewing. Others don’t feel truly “online” until the sun has gone down.

We usually call these people “morning larks” and “night owls,” but the biology behind it is more precise. Your chronotype reflects the timing of your circadian rhythm—the roughly 24-hour cycle that governs sleep, hormones, body temperature, and alertness.

One of the most important........

© The Saratogian