Waking up early to study or staying up late to study, which is better?

A friend recently wanted to get a certificate. In order to motivate himself, he bought a full set of online courses and materials. Like in school, he began to formulate a study plan, but this time, he arranged the time period from 8:00 to 10:00 in the evening. .

Ask him why he doesn't think about the time in the morning?

He said that he couldn't get up in the morning at all, and it would be nice not to be late every day.

A week later, I asked him how the effect was, and he said distressedly: "Sure enough, it's too tiring to do research while going to work!"

I get very tired every day when I get home. I plan to start studying at 8:00, and I often can’t sit down until 9:00; I plan to complete the learning content in 2 hours, and the clock is still not over, so that it is more difficult to get up the next day... …

Sure enough, there is always a gap between plan and reality.

Waking up early to study or staying up late to study, which is better?

My friend is actually a very hardworking and self-motivated person. In terms of self-control, he is not bad. At least he can basically complete tasks within working hours and rarely work overtime.

The problem he encountered this time is likely to be encountered by everyone who has tried to use off-duty time to improve themselves, but the problem is:

Why do you have to choose an after-get off work time?

Since you have to work hard, why not choose an early time to get up?

Let’s think about it. It also takes two hours to study every day. Studying at night seems to go with the flow. In fact, there are many obstacles to overcome, such as:

exhaustion after a long day of work;

There are seven, seven, eight, eight things that need to be cleaned up at home-maybe it takes a little courage to go to the dishes after eating, otherwise you don’t want to leave the sofa at all;

There are also news that may appear at any time in the WeChat group, which is also very nerve-consuming...

Overcoming these distractions seems to require no less willpower than forcing yourself to get up a little earlier.

So, why not consider moving your study time from evening to morning?

1

I remember when I was taking the postgraduate entrance examination, in order to get a seat in the library, I managed to get up at 6 am for 3 consecutive months.

During that time, I would get out of bed every day as soon as I opened my eyes, take my schoolbag to the library after a simple wash, read English for an hour, and then go to the cafeteria for breakfast. When I got back to the dormitory, my roommate had just woken up.

Every day at this time, I feel very cool.

Because someone else's day is just getting started in a daze, and I've done a lot.

Not only will this refreshment not make you feel tired in the morning, on the contrary, it will keep you uplifted and positive throughout the day.

Waking up early to study or staying up late to study, which is better?

However, when I was in the second year of research, due to some project reasons, some tests could only be carried out at night, and gradually, like the brothers and sisters, it became a party to stay up late. There was even a period of time when I only went to bed when it was dawn, and would never wake up before 12 o'clock.

But the efficiency of staying up late is really low. After working in front of the computer for a long time, it feels like low blood sugar, and people are always dizzy. At that time, I especially miss the state of the postgraduate entrance examination.

At that time, there were also some books that said that people were originally divided into "larks" and "owls", that is, those who were born to get up early, or those who were born to stay up late.

But after working for so many years and learning some nutrition knowledge, I came to know:

Whoever it is, staying up late will definitely do more harm than good in the long run.

From this point of view, staying up late is only suitable for "assault warfare", and getting up early is "protracted warfare".

2

So what is the difference between getting up early and staying up late in terms of learning effect and efficiency?

First, your energy levels will vary.

As I mentioned at the beginning, when I come home at night, let alone study, there are definitely many people who don’t want to wash dishes or clothes. It takes half a day of psychological construction to even move the position, not to mention learning this kind of brain-burning work?

Besides, it seems that you are off work, and you can freely allocate your time, but your spirit cannot be completely relaxed, because the phone may ring at any time...

Waking up early is different. After a night of sleep, your brain and body are full of blood. Until you go to work, you can allocate this energy to your dreams and pursuits.

Without the interference of mobile phones, the possibility of being interrupted is greatly reduced, and no additional willpower is required.

Waking up early to study or staying up late to study, which is better?

Second, the feeling of fullness is different.

When something meaningful happens in the morning, it can feel like a bonus. At night, it is more of a "make up", and the sense of achievement is greatly reduced.

Even if you didn't complete the study plan one day and didn't finish it in the morning, the big deal is to go back to the past. If you have to do something, you can find a way to use other time to make up for it;

But the plan at night is not completed, which may bring regret and helplessness. These are all negative emotions and often lead to a bad vicious circle.

In Eat That Frog, the author likens the tough task to a frog:

If you eat the ugliest frog in the morning, what can't you do during the day?

Waking up early to study or staying up late to study, which is better?

Finally, waking up early and staying up late can make our perception of time different.

A few days ago, I met a new intern in the company. After chatting, I realized that the other party was already born in 2000, and I realized that I had been working for so many years.

Looking at these newcomers, sometimes I feel like I was looking at myself yesterday.

In psychology, studies have confirmed that when we recall something, we perceive the length of time differently:

When we experience something novel, we look back on the time and it feels like a long time;

When we experience repetitive things, we feel like time has passed in a flash.

The reason is that novel things have a higher "information density", and even if the time is short, many details can be recalled;

After getting used to workplace affairs, going to work becomes a repetitive and unnew thing, and the "information density" naturally decreases, and when it comes to recalling it, it becomes "nothing to think about".

This also applies to getting up early and staying up late.

Doing something meaningful in the morning builds your perception of the time, and when you look back on it, you feel fulfilled;

But staying up late and doing things are often not fresh. Every day is almost the same. It's either lying down and not wanting to move, or having to deal with all kinds of trivial things, "it's 12 o'clock without doing anything", "time flies really fast".

Waking up early to study or staying up late to study, which is better?

3

Of course, when we talk about getting up early, we don’t necessarily have to get up at 4 am like some successful bigwigs, but:

Give yourself a little more time than when you have to do something.

for example:

If you go to work at 9 o'clock and usually get up at 8 o'clock, then trying to get up at 7 o'clock can be called getting up early;

If you are usually fine in the morning and are used to sleeping until 12 o'clock, then trying to get up at 10 o'clock is considered an early rise.

The point is not "what time to wake up", but "to leave a time of your own, undisturbed and full of energy".

Don't worry about getting up 1 or 2 hours early and "will you feel sleepy at work", as we talked about earlier, "other people's day has just started, and I have done something meaningful", this kind of confidence will Stimulating your adrenaline and boosting your day's work is the beginning of a virtuous cycle.

Believe me, if it's not easy, getting up early is definitely more worth it than staying up late.