Circadian rhythms are powerful internal timekeepers that direct a person’s physiological and intellectual activity throughout the day.

The peaks of these circadian rhythms vary among individuals; Some people, known as larks or morning chronotypes, peak early in the morning and feel their best in the morning. Others, called owl or evening chronotypes, peak during the day and perform best in the afternoon or evening.

Some do not show preferences for mornings or evenings and are considered neutral timelines.

Researcher Cindy May, a professor of psychology at the College of Charleston who researches ways to improve cognitive function, investigated whether your schedule affects your mental performance. “What kinds of mental processes vary — or remain constant — throughout the day can help people plan their tasks in ways that improve performance,” he said. “Your brain has an internal clock that affects how your body functions throughout the day.” This is according to a report by the “Science Alert” website from the prestigious science “The Conversation”.

Why is your timeline important?

Chronotype can be measured using a simple questionnaire that assesses your perceived alertness, preferred wakefulness and rest times, and performance throughout the day. Even without a questionnaire, most people have the impression that they fall into a lark, an owl, or somewhere in between.

Do you wake up early without an alarm and feel stressed? Are you mentally exhausted and ready for bed at 9? If so, you’re probably a morning person. Do you sleep late and feel sluggish and foggy? Are you more active at night? If so, you might be the evening type. People excel at many challenging mental tasks – from focusing and learning to solving problems and making complex decisions; When these actions coincide with the peak of their individual circadian rhythm. This is called the synergistic effect.

Whether you’re an air traffic controller scanning radar, a financial manager reviewing an earnings report, or a high school student studying chemistry, coherence can affect how well you perform.

Much of the evidence for synchrony effects comes from laboratory studies examining both larks and owls in the early morning and during the day; People with strong timelines are more alert and better at maintaining peak focus compared to those with less time. Their memories are sharper, with better list recall and more success at remembering “to-do” tasks; Like taking medicine. People are less likely to wander and less likely to get distracted at the right time. For example, in a study conducted by Mary, she gave participants three weakly related words: “ship,” “outside,” and “crawl.” They were tasked with finding another word to connect the three, such as (gap). “When my team and I presented misleading words with false words (such as ‘ocean’ for ship, ‘inside’ for outside, and ‘baby’ for crawling), those tested concurrently were better at ignoring the misleading words than those tested concurrently. detection.” “They don’t. Coherence also affects higher-level cognitive functions such as motivation, reasoning, and decision-making.”

“Consumer studies have found that people are more discerning, skeptical and analytical at peak times,” Mary explains. They invest more time and effort in assigned tasks and are more likely to search for important information. Thus, people make better investment decisions, are less prone to bias and are more likely to detect fraud. During off-peak hours, people take longer to solve problems, they are less attentive and rely on mental shortcuts. Even ethical behavior can be compromised in less than ideal times, as people are more likely to cheat during off-peak times.”

He adds, “As well as in the classroom and in the clinic, the basic mental skills affected by synchrony — including attention, memory, and analytical thinking — are skills that contribute to academic success.” “This association is particularly important for teenagers, who wake up late but usually start school early.”

In this context, one study randomly assigned more than 700 youth to early morning, late morning, or afternoon test times; The owl scored lower compared to the lark in both morning sessions, but this deficit disappeared for owls taking the afternoon test.

Early seasons can put school owls a step behind larks. Time of day can also be considered when evaluating for cognitive disorders such as attention deficit disorder or Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, time planning may be more important for older adults, who are more empathetic and often show congruence effects than younger adults. Performance on several key neuropsychological measures used to assess these conditions is better during peak hours. Failure to consider concordance may compromise diagnostic accuracy and thus have consequences for clinical trial validity and data on treatment efficacy.

Mary emphasizes, “Of course, coherence does not affect performance on all tasks or in all people; simple, easy tasks—such as recognizing familiar faces or places, dialing a close friend’s phone number, or preparing a favorite recipe—are less likely to change throughout the day. Also, jobless youth are less likely to change throughout the day.” show less variation in performance across the board. For early risers or night owls, tackling difficult mental tasks at times that coincide with the peak of their individual circadian rhythms may improve their results. “While small improvements in performance can yield a significant benefit, synchronization may be one of the secrets to success.”