The department of

Circadian

Circadian rhythm is your body's 24-hour internal clock, shaping sleep timing, alertness, and hormones — essays, science, and field notes on living with it.

Pieces 6
A photorealistic close-up shot of a wristband actigraphy device resting on a rumpled white…
Circadian July 2026 · 5 min

Diagnosing Shift Work Disorder: What a Sleep Study Can and Can't Tell You

You have been sleeping badly since you switched to nights. A friend, trying to help, says the words everyone says: you should get a sleep study.

By Judith Hawthorn · Read →
A close-up photorealistic shot of a modern bedside analog alarm clock on a nightstand…
Circadian July 2026 · 4 min

Why Does Daylight Saving Time Wreck You for a Week? The Honest Answer

Every March, some version of this question arrives around Tuesday: why does losing a single hour feel like jet lag without the trip? You went to bed at the usual time, more or less.

By Laura Pendleton · Read →
A candid photograph of an office worker slumped slightly at a modern desk in…
Circadian July 2026 · 10 min

Postprandial Somnolence: Why Lunch Makes You Sleepy, in the Order It Actually Happens

You finish lunch, sit back down at your desk, and within forty minutes the screen starts to blur. You've probably been told why: blood rushes from your brain to your gut to handle the meal, and your…

By Owen Blackwell · Read →
A photorealistic wide shot of a dim bedroom at 8 a.m., blackout curtains pulled…
Circadian July 2026 · 10 min

Can You Actually Adapt to Shift Work? I Spent Three Rotations Trying to Find Out

Here is the question I actually wanted answered, the one I could never get a straight reply to from a manager or a forum: does your body ever adapt to shift work, or do you spend the whole time just…

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
A photorealistic early-morning bedroom scene capturing teenage sleep deprivation, shot on a full-frame DSLR…
Circadian June 2026 · 5 min

Sleep Deprivation in Teenagers Isn't a Discipline Problem. It's a Clock Problem.

Your tired teenager is probably not lazy, and probably not staying up out of defiance. The most likely explanation is duller and more biological than either: their internal clock has shifted later…

By Daniel Whitfield · Read →
A photorealistic close-up of a dimly lit bedroom at dawn, soft blue-gray light seeping…
Circadian June 2026 · 4 min

The 40-Minute Debt: What Sleep Deprivation Actually Does to Your Metabolism

Here is a number that has done more rhetorical work than it can support: about 40 minutes. That's roughly the amount of weekday sleep debt — the gap between what people got on workdays and what they…

By Sophie Alderton · Read →