These are the best (and worst) times to study based on your personality
When you’re a student, it can often feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Between classes, internships, clubs and social events, finding time to study can become an unwinnable game of Tetris. Maybe you squeeze in an hour at the library between English and physics. Or you could try reviewing your notes on the elliptical at the gym. But choosing a specific time of day devoted only to studying can make your life a lot easier (and your grades a lot better!). Here’s how to determine the best time to study based on your habits and personality.
Are you a night owl or an early bird?
We tend to study better when our energy levels are at their highest, and everyone is different. Some people are night owls and feel most alert in the late afternoon and evening. Others are early birds who do their best work first thing in the morning. Others still are more fluid with their focus or struggle with it regardless of the sun’s position. You might not instinctively know which category you fall under, so figuring that out is the best first step in discovering your optimal study time.
To do that, study skills coach and psychologist William Wadsworth suggests tracking your energy levels throughout the day, giving yourself a score from one to 10 each hour — one being dead tired and 10 being the Energizer bunny. Next, write down your scores or plot them on a graph. Repeat this every day for a week or two until you notice patterns.
“Note where your high points are. Those are the times of day you're most awake, alert and engaged,” Wadsworth says. “For bonus points, cut out caffeine while you're running this experiment to avoid skewing your results.”
If you’re a night owl …
If your energy scores start low and build throughout the day, you’re probably a night owl. Sleep psychologist Michael Breus says students in the 18 to 24 age range often struggle with early mornings. If this sounds like you, he believes you’re more likely to find motivation by saving the bulk of your studying for the evening hours.
“Some people find studying at night helpful because there are fewer distractions,” Wadsworth says. “It feels like you've got the world to yourself. It's easier to get in the zone.” But don’t let your nightly work interfere with your sleep schedule—and never resort to an all-nighter. Breus also warns against PM caffeine consumption, as a restless night can sabotage any study plans.
Meanwhile, the early bird …
If you’re scoring somewhere between 8-10 around breakfast, consider yourself an early bird. Wadsworth has found that many people find their best focus soon after waking up, especially if they avoid checking their phone until they’ve put in a couple of hours of work. It’s important to note that just because you hate Mondays or don’t identify as a “morning person” doesn’t mean you’ll study more efficiently at night. Challenge yourself to a few AM study sessions and see how you feel.
Research has shown we learn the best between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and then again between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. Meanwhile, the worst hours for learning fall between 4 am and 7 am. So morning study time doesn’t have to be at the crack of dawn, and evening work shouldn’t mean midnight. What’s important is that you listen to your body.
Consider the subject
Once you understand your energy patterns, save your most challenging subjects for your peak hours.
“Reserve your most cognitively demanding tasks for the times of day you're most alert. Be protective of that time; it's golden time,” says Wadsworth, who adds that we should avoid spending these hours on low-lift work. “Preserve [your energy] for getting your head around new kinds of problems or structuring the flow of an essay.”
Prioritize sleep
Just about everything is more difficult when we’re tired. When your tank is running on empty, you’re more likely to get distracted or skim through a text that requires close reading. Tasks will take longer when you’re moving slowly, and you may have trouble retaining information.
“Sleep is crucial for the formation and preservation of memories,” says Breus. “Sleep also links memories together, which helps people solve problems and come up with new ideas. Not sleeping can dramatically reduce a student’s ability to learn.”
But when you get enough sleep, you give yourself more energetic hours, making your study time more impactful.
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