Whether at work, studying, reading or even on holiday everyone knows the ups and downs of a day: Parts of the day when you are tired and unable to concentrate. In this blog we discuss when these highs and lows most often occur. We also explain how you can use the knowledge of daily variations in concentration to plan your day and achieve your study objectives.
The ability to concentrate is subject to certain daily rhythms.
Various studies have shown that most people, once they are properly awake, are at peak performance between 9 and 11 in the morning. During the midday hours performance tends to decline, climbing again in the early afternoon. In the time between 16 and 18 o'clock there is another peak, which is nonetheless under the early morning peak. After about 21 hours most people will experience a further fall in performance.
Of course everyone is different and can vary in their best times of day for learning. Some people learn most effectively late in the evening and can only concentrate with difficulty in the mornings. Other people however are at their most effective in the mornings.
To find out how you best learn, observe your own personal rhythm:
Before beginning learning a demanding new skill, such as a foreign language, you should observe yourself for a few days. Make notes about when you have felt particularly capable and able to concentrate. When you exam your notes after this self-observation you should be able to identify when you are at your best and weakest.
At the beginning of a new study, planning study periods so that you work at the peak of your concentration, will greatly help your chances of achieving success. Those parts of the day when you are less able to concentrate can then be used either for revision of previously learnt material or for less demanding activities such as shopping or household chores. You should also allow yourself short breaks in your study periods, in which for example you could stand up breath deep or do relaxation exercises.
Revision of previously learnt material in weak phases If you wish to learn a new subject in a short time or have only a few days or weeks available, you can use your weakest parts of the day to revise already studied material. In this way you can use your weakest parts of the day to maximum advantage.
At the beginning of a new study subject it will be difficult to define realistic objectives for each day. It is therefore advantageous to start with perhaps too little per day and then increase the targets as you become better at planning study objectives for each day. Objectives that are too demanding can have a negative influence on your motivation which is naturally detrimental to achieving success.
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