Step Six: Biorhythm
It’s all over the internet and plastered in every self-help book out there: ‘take charge of your life — become an early riser’. However, the key isn’t to just wake up at 5 a.m. fresh faced ready to take on the world, because some of us work better in the morning and others at night. Society has been structured around certain pattern, but that doesn’t mean that it suits everyone! The key my dears, is to figure out a pattern that works for you; one that you can work around society and that will help you be as efficient as you can be.
I’m going to be 100% honest here — I’m not an early riser. Anyone that sees me up before 9 a.m. has only seen me make a quick trip to the washroom or for some water. I’m not talking about waking up at lunch time either, but I know that if I were to wake up at 6 every morning, I’d probably not get much done because my mind is hardly awake by then. This is why heading for an 8 o’clock class can be so incredibly exhausting for some of us, not to mention the amount of information that my brain fails to retain is somewhere near monumental at those times.
So I have to work around that. I do go to all of my classes (not without some coffee in me), and I listen and take notes, not bothering trying to make sense of anything, especially when it involves the early philosophies and beginnings of psychology. I know that I’m at my best in the afternoon, so I go over those notes with an open mind and actually sit down to understand them.
Some people can’t seem to get anything done unless it’s midnight, and others would not know what to do with themselves in bed past 7 a.m. AND THAT IS FINE! We need to step away from the strict early riser mindset, because it isn’t for everyone. It’s one thing to become an early riser if you believe it will provide you more energy for the rest of the day, or it’s part of your exercise routine. But waking up earlier for the sole purpose of doing doesn’t mean you’ll be any more productive; it can be quite the opposite if you aren’t at your best in the morning and end up wasting all that time just trying to function, and then you’ll just be frustrated and feel uninspired. Why not start things when you know you’ll be able to do it best?
In this step, find out when during the day you are at your best to take on different challenges. At the beginning of the year, for psychobiology, we determined our biorhythm by measuring a few things. Some people don’t believe in it, but it couldn’t hurt to try it out right? To find out, just do the following for the next five days:
- Pick a time interval that will allow you to repeat each step 4 times each day (E.g. every 4 hours.)
- Temperature: take your temperature at the time and record it. When you look at your results, a change in 0,5 might seem insignificant but it is not!
- Heart rate: record your heart rate at the time as well.
- Time: put a timer and without looking at it, estimate when you think a minute has gone by. Stop the timer and record the time it was running (it doesn’t matter how close you are/aren’t to the exact minute!)
- Record how you are feeling at that moment (E.g. exhausted, excited, apathetic…)
So if I chose a time interval of 4 hours and I started at 8 a.m., at 8 a.m. I would measure my temperature and heart rate; I would then estimate a minute in time and write down how I’m feeling. Take a look at your results. Generally, body temperature and heart rate will be highest at your most alert times. Regarding time, your estimates should fall below the actual minute when you are most activated (higher heart rate and temperature), and the opposite should happen when you are less so. Don’t forget to take into account how you were feeling at the time as well!
This is a rough guide but it will help you define when more or less you are most alert during the day! Once you’ve figured it out, try working on your projects at that time and see if it works for you.
I’m a complete nightowl, always have been, always will be. I’ve tried all those methods to become an early riser (including light theraphy and medication)but it only burned me out. Sometimes I study all through the night then go to class from 9-13 and then go to sleep until 8 o’clock. Then i’ll take a jog and continue studying again. Those are my most productive days/nights. It’s really a waste of brainactivity for me to sleep at night (that is if i can sleep). Today I can’t do this, it’s not very probable i’ll learn a lot today. Fortunately I work 2 nights a week and being a student i’ts often possible to live like this. I also have a plan to continue this “way of life” after college. I hope it works out otherwise i’m screwed.
I have spurts during the morning and afternoon when I’m most alert and creative. In between I do a lot of walking and looking and listening. The evenings are totally for relaxing and doing nothing.
Honestly, I feel the best when I wake up in the late afternoon, stay up all night, and go to sleep in the morning (like 8 or 9 am). But everything is always happening during the day, so I am constantly trying to be on a “regular” schedule.
this is really interesting! i tend to get a lot done really late at night, but i also hate to wake up late because i feel i’ve wasted the day which leads to running off of very little sleep which is just bad news!
i would really like to try & record temperature & heart rate to see what my biology is telling me makes sense
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I can’t get any work done until about 2 pm in the afternoon. And I use Biorhythms everyday for planning my days activities.
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Hi there!
Thank you so much for visiting my fashion blog. I love meeting new exciting people. I love you passions. Psychology also fascinates me.
And… I will surely try this one out!
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I used to be a total night owl growing up, but since starting university 5 years ago I’ve had to get going to work/class or just jogging early in the morning so I hit the hay earlier (12am is early right?) Even with the switch though I’m still more hyper, creative and productive/motivated later in the evening. Cool post :)
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I am definitely at my best in the AM. Once twelve noon hits it’s as if I need a nap – I just lose all of my energy! :/
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can’t agree more. my body clock is totally ‘out of whack’ too, it’s 4:26am and I’m in the lab trying to get my work done. I feel nauseous and sleepy even tho I woke up at at 5:30pm today. But I’m prepared to whack it all into shape again by not sleeping til 7-8pm tonight. No excuses I am soo fed up with this. Esp. when everything closes at 5pm here, i wakeup to a dead down seriously :(.
I KNOW I’m better in the morning then at any other time. I do better on tests then, I learn more, I’m more alert, I get more done. I’ve been that way since I was a child. I’m also more creative then- my writing is better, the steps I choreograph are cleaner. The only thing I’m not better at in the morning is actually dancing- the steps seem to be performed better by my body in the evening.
Interesting concept, I think I will try this out.
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I think I NEED to! Oh my goodness, my sleeping pattern is so out of whack. (And has been for a really long time.) For most of my life I had been a morning AND a night person (stay up until 12pm, wake up at 6am – this was always my ‘norm’, from the beginning of high school to the end!), then once I started working full-time it was usually wake up at 5.00am, in bed by 9.30pm – but now it’s just *completely* nuts: I usually fall asleep between 2.00-3.00am and wake up between 6.00am-7.00am and it has been this way for almost two years. C-r-a-z-y!
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