Mike Abasov

All my life I’ve been fighting my nature.

You see, I’m much more productive at night than in the morning. Yet, due to the influence of my parents and many other people, I was forced to live the early-bird lifestyle.

Even though I’ve been living by myself for a long time now, I was still trying to go to bed not too late and wake up not too late either. Until lately, when I got into a 9 to 5 work and school schedule that leaves me, most of the time, exhausted (but happy) by the end of the day.

As I needed to study for midterms, I found a great way to cope with this. I would have an hour-long nap when I get home, which would reenergize me and shift my schedule by a few hours. Now I can tirelessly study and work through my most effective period — at night.

Listen to your clock

If you don’t know yet when you are most efficient, try different hours and see for yourself. Make sure you know if it’s early morning or late night, or afternoon, or some other time.

Any time that works for you is fine. There is nothing bad or wrong in being not willing to wake up at dawn or wanting to spend half of the night at a 24/7 coffee shop. 

Adjust your schedule

Now that you know your most productive time, adjust. Do the least brain-consuming tasks when your brain is not ready to be consumed. Use the most productive time to be, hm… productive.

I wouldn’t suggest spending your best hours in class. After all, taking notes and listening to someone speaking doesn’t need a lot of though, does it? On the other hand, your job and homework do.

Also, figure out a sleep pattern that works for you. I, for example, hate sleeping for 5, 7 or 11 hours, but can easily live with 4, 8, 9, or 10. I also would prefer going to bed at 4am and waking up at noon to going to bad at 10pm and waking up at 6am. I’m a weirdo, I know :).

Embrace your nature

Don’t hesitate. There is no reason to perform worse by following some useless norms. There is no reason to waste time either. Analyze yourself now and you’ll be much happier in the future.

So what’s your most productive time of the day?