We all know we hate waking up early and having to go to work or school. What we have assumed for years is that we can’t possibly be productive at certain hours of the day. We start feeling sluggish, want to take a nap and maybe even shed a few tears at the amount of work we have to do but the little energy we have to do said pile of work. Never experienced this? I encourage you to step foot in a high school and listen to the amount of students mumbling that they “can’t even” or are “too tired to function”; maybe even that they “ain’t got time for dis”. Grammar is a topic for another day, however.
In the article I read, it outlines the times in a day that humans are most productive. It turns out that these times are noon and 6 p.m. From the moment you wake up, your brain is slowly stretching itself awake and preparing for the day but it does not hit it’s peak of productivity until around lunch time. The peak doesn’t last long either. Your productivity is likely to decrease throughout the day until 3 p.m. where you will hit your lowest point of productivity all day. After this point, you will begin to climb back up that proverbial productivity mountain and then hit another great peak at 6 p.m. As you can guess, your alertness decreases substantially after that time.
What does this mean and why is it important to us? Well, for one, if you have some important work to be doing, plan around your circadian rhythm. A giant project that you might have, okay.. more than likely, procrastinated on has it’s best chance of getting done at around 6 o’clock. Of course, there are slight differences in everyone’s rhythm but it’s relatively the same. If you are an early bird who gets the worm, your peaks most likely occur earlier in the day. If you are a night owl then your peaks occur later in the day.
If you missed a productivity peak, take a nap. The study showed that a nap at 3 p.m. when you are in your slug state can give you a boost of energy and provide brain food to be alert.
I loved reading this article because it finally gives a back bone to the argument of when work should begin and when kids should be in school. I am someone who stays up later than I should trying to accomplish some big tasks and this article provided me with some great insight into the human mind. I now strive to get my big tasks done immediately after school when I am more likely to get them done.
Link to the story by Harvard Business Review:
https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-ideal-work-schedule-as-determined-by-circadian-rhythms/?cm_lm=marsha.collier%40gmail.com
Link to more on your Circadian Rhythm:
http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Education/Pages/Factsheet_CircadianRhythms.aspx
This was an interesting article, I would not of guessed that we are most productive at 6 at night. I thought we would be more productive later at night. Do you think that school hours should be different?
I agree with you. I think maybe if school started a little later, the first or first and second classes of the day would be more successful. It’s hard to pay attention and be completely hard working when your tired from just waking up. I actually do my homework around 6 at night, so that was kind of cool to see that you are most productive at 6. Do you feel like you are the most productive at 12 and 6?
That’s really interesting to know. Those are the times around lunch and dinner. Are you more productive during those times because you’re eating or are you just more productive because?
I think this is very interesting and I think it would make sense if we did do more of our work around those times. It could help us woth our grades. Do you think that we really are the most awake at these times? Or do you think it depends on the person?
I think that all people are different with school times so they feel comfortable at different times.
Even as a high school student, I feel like I get enough hours of sleep, but I am always tired. I am probably my most awake around lunch time just as the article says. I too stay up late some nights to get things done and it really effects me the next day. This was a very good article.
I really liked your article. It’s very interesting that we are more productive around noon and 6. Good job
I can see 6 pm as a peak productivity time, but I don’t think noon is a productive time for me. Though it’s kind of tough to get up early, I like getting most of my work done in the morning, and I would hate starting school a few hours later and getting home around 5 rather than 3.
I agree! I don’t want the school times to change because I get my work done right after school. If school started later, we would be here later. There will always be a pro and a con to everything.
It pretty cool how are body naturally performs better at one time then at anther. Do you believe if we have to much sleep are bodies won’t perform as we’ll.
This topic is very interesting. I feel like this topic is talked about a lot. Everyone, including myself, always complain about being tired constantly. It’s interesting to know when we are most productive and not productive. Why do you think we are most productive at certain times?
I think it’s an interesting topic. Do you feel school should be later? I have open first and it’s better, I wake up on my own without a clock, I’m almost never tired, and my grades are better because of the extra time I get. I’m my opinion school should start a little bit later.
That’s a great observation. I have open period during eighth hour and it doesn’t actually help me accomplish anything. I wish I would have chosen an open first period because I love sleep. I’m glad you’ve actually noticed a difference!
This is something that I think is some important information for people to know. I think it is important for us to know when the best time for us do work so that we can do the best we possibly can. I know that know in the future if I am having some problems with stuff I will try and wait until 6pm to try and solve the problem so that I am working at my full ability.
I know that we talked about circadian rhythm in psychology quite a bit. I think that it is so interesting that things like productivity are not really consciously controlled at all. I think that staring school an hour later could be supremely beneficial to highschoolers.
I have heard of the term circadian rhythm before but I had no idea that’s what it was. It makes a lot of sense because I feel like I have the most motivation right around lunchtime and right after dinner. I thought this was just because I had just eaten and that had given me the extra energy to get stuff done. With this discovery I think they should consider changing school hours or when we eat lunch at school.
I am a night owl being forced to live an early bird lifestyle. Sometimes it’s painful to force myself to sleep when my mind is SO awake, and feels like howling at the moon, and it is even more painful to pry my eyelids open when all I want to do is sleep through that sunrise. I wish there was a way to offer alternative schedules for students, because, as you said, everyone is different.
I agree with you! Night owl being forced to be an early bird. I don’t care about getting worms. It’s too early to be human before 9.
Good job presenting this! What an interesting thing to read about. I never really thought about the times when I do my best at things and I guess that does make some since. I do feel like I might be a little more alert at those times! I think maybe if school changed to those times maybe we should get better grades¿? But I like the way school times are now and I personally sound change it.
I think that should do more of our work around those times. I find this post interesting. Do you think that we are more productive around these times because that’s around the time we eat?
That makes sense, I would agree that we are more awake at those times, possibly because those are the times we usually eat at. I think that school times should stay the same because when we get home if 6pm is a time that we can get stuff done, we can do our homework at our house with no distractions, and hopefully get it done quick enough to go to bed early for school the next day.
I thought the article was interesting and I really think school should start later in the day because most people are more awake and well a where of things going on.
I’ve heard a lot about this! Last year someone gave a speech about how high school aged people are set up so that it’s easier for them to go to bed later and wake up later. She also mentioned about how many teenagers get in car accidents in the morning on the way to school. I think it’s really important that we start to adjust more to our natural circadian rhythms, even if it means a nap in the middle of the day!:)
I thought this was very interesting. I think it would be really cool if Platteview did a Study Hall for everyone after lunch(at noon) to help people get there work done and everything. Or even do the whole Nap time at 3, that would be nice aswell. Do you think they may do either of these things at schools in the future? And if so do you think GPAs would raise?
I don’t know! Lots of things are changing in terms of school work and classes. Once we graduate, they’re adjusting the classes to better prepare students for the ACT. I think it could be possible. Anything is, really. I’m okay with the time school is now, but I know most people aren’t.
I totally agree with you! I think school should be more set around teenagers circadian rhythms because we would me so much more efficient and more alert. The first few class periods of the day are always the hardest for me, it feels like it takes me an hour or two to really be awake. What time of day do you feel you are most productive?
I can see this being true, I don’t personally know when I’m working harder than usual, but I bet there is a solid difference. It’s interesting I never knew you had specific times when you felt more motivated and stuff. Now that know that it does make a lot of sense, cool topic.
I really liked this post and the article. I definitely agree that I am most productive and wide awake at 12 and 6 and I’m always tired around 3. It all makes sense now because I usually take a nap when I get home from school, and then when I wake up I always feel more productive.
I think schools should take into consideration how busy high school students are. It is hard to get a good night’s sleep when you are busy every single day. My opinion is that school should start an hour or two later than it does right now.
Interesting observations. The part about naps is especially germane. Thomas Edison rarely slept through the night, preferring to take one of two hour naps throughout the day. Worked for him.
I keep forgetting to tell you this in class, so I’m going to post it here for all to see. I have an almost tongue-in-cheek Kickstarter in the works that I am calling Night Owl School for creatives. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could open an alternative school for students and teachers who want to embrace their night owl productivity and learn when their brains are most alive? That’s not to say one couldn’t do that on one’s own because obviously you don’t have to be in school to learn, but think of the group synergy a bunch of night owls could produce together … It makes my heart happy to think of the possibilities!
Oh my goodness! I haven’t seen this comment and I am sorry for not replying! That is INGENIOUS. I would enroll! Two thumbs up.