I’m sure we’ve all heard people say that the best time to study is in the morning when “you’re refreshed and energized” but for many of us, mornings have quite the opposite effect. I know when I wake up I’m groggy and unfocused, and that haze doesn’t clear until I’ve been up for hours.
For those of us who are most focused and energized at night, it seems clear that it is the best time to be studying. It can be hard when people make it seem like studying at night means you aren’t as organized and on top of things as the morning folks, but if anything it just means you know what works best for you and you’re in tune with your natural rhythm of productivity.
Here are a couple of tips to help you get the most out of studying at night:
- Set (and stick to) a regular bedtime.
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When you’re studying at night it can be very easy to lose track of time and stay up too late. The key to successfully studying at night is making sure it isn’t impacting the amount of sleep you get each night. Cutting into each night of sleep, even by a few minutes, can rack up those sleep debts – and those are hard debts to pay off.
- Avoid the temptation to mix relaxing and studying.
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I know I know, I can hear you saying “Why can’t I just put Netflix on in the background? It’s the end of the day, I can chill out a bit!”. You totally can chill out and watch Netflix, but if you’re blocking out time at night to study it should be dedicated to studying and nothing else. I am very familiar with the whole split-screen Netflix studying and it always hinders my productivity and drags things out.
- Put your phone away.
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This applies no matter what time you’re studying at, phones are an easy distraction. Just set a timer and chuck it across your room – you’ll find it again later. Probably.
- NO CAFFEINE. SERIOUSLY.
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I’m serious about this one. I know it’s tempting to give yourself a little kick of energy before you study but if you’re doing it at night you’re only going to regret it when you’re lying wide awake at 2 am. Trust me, I’ve been there more times than I care to admit.
- Make achievable goals for each night.
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By setting clear goals for yourself, you ensure that your set bedtime isn’t ignored while you do extra work. If you’re studying in the day there is usually a time you have to stop studying by (like an afternoon class), but this isn’t the case at night. This means it’s super easy to fill all the time you have and overstudy, because the only hard deadline is when you *should* get to sleep by. Setting achievable goals and sticking to them helps mitigate this so you don’t find yourself watching the sunrise because you “had a bit more you could do”.
So there you have it, hopefully these tips will help all you night studiers be a little more productive and a little less sleep-deprived (emphasis on ‘a little’).