When do you work best? 

Even though our brains are the most creative when we are tired, it may not be the best time to do school. Tired or not, our brains are working hard every second of every day to keep the show running. Science shows that our brains learn the most efficiently between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm and from 4 pm to 10 pm. This is because those are the time frames when our brain is in “acquisition mode,” or when the subconscious accepts knowledge and the information can be stored in the brain.  

What our owls had to say: 

The majority of the IUP owls surveyed said that they work best/prefer to do school in the midmorning, or the hours between 9 am and 12 pm. For example, one student said that they prefer to work in the midmorning to afternoon because “I work best at these times because I am more motivated in the morning to complete all of my work. I also love getting all of my work done in the afternoon so I have time to relax and not worry about school in the evening!”

With all of the extracurricular activities IUP students partake in, it might be necessary to have a strict schooling schedule to make sure lessons get completed by the end of the day while still having time set aside for sports and other activities. Brooke Bolinger has tennis practices to attend, so she does her schoolwork in the mid-morning and evening. She says, “This is the only time I have to work so it is best for me since I have practice in the afternoon in between school.”

Despite the science, some IUP students may be unable to work during these times, or just prefer to work different hours. 8th grader Tessa Bradley, for example, says that she works best between 4 pm and 11 pm. She says, “I tend to work in the evening and at night. On days when I have class, I don’t have too much time between classes to do work so I can’t get much done before around 4 PM. On days when I do not have class, I wake up around noon and don’t get a chance to really do work until about 4 PM.”

What you should take from this:

With the flexibility of iUniversity Prep, students can work during any time of day they’d like. Combining science and personal preferences can help IUP owls to take advantage of this flexibility and work whenever is best for them, whether that be at the crack of dawn or late at night. 

Sources:

“Acquisition Learning Definition and Meaning.” Top Hat, 7 Apr. 2020, https://tophat.com/glossary/a/acquisition-learning/.

“When Is the Best Time to Study: Morning, Noon or Night?: PSB Academy.” When Is the Best Time to Study: Morning, Noon or Night? | PSB Academy, https://www.psb-academy.edu.sg/blog/best-time-to-study.