I can’t remember a time when I didn’t leave homework until the last minute. Even as a child, it was natural for me to wait until the sun went down to start working. I didn’t think much about it back then, studying in the morning was never easy for me. I used to—and still do—get home very late at night. My priorities as soon as I returned to my house were eating, bathing, and taking a nap so being a night-owl felt normal to me.
As I grew up, I started forcing myself to study as soon as I got home in an attempt to break what I considered a bad habit. I wouldn’t allow myself to do anything else, simply because I was not aware of how to properly manage my time. However, it would usually take me all day to absorb and process information or complete a task as simple as answering a few basic questions. There was no point in sitting in front of my laptop and studying if that was all I would do for the rest of the day. I wanted to spend my time doing other things and, over time, I lost my appreciation for studying. Instead of a learning activity, it became a burden.
And so, I identified the first problem: time management. Since I felt obligated to study as soon as I got home, I had no opportunity to enjoy other activities; being a procrastinator didn’t help me, either. No matter how many times I sat down in front of my laptop and promised myself I would get my homework done, I always wanted to pick up my phone instead. Tasks that should have taken me a maximum of 30 minutes, used to take me more than two hours to complete.
Picture by Kelly Sikkema from Unsplash
I started writing as a hobby a few years ago, at the beginning of my second year of high school. Although it fascinated me, I didn’t have a set time to sit down and write. As the months passed by, I discovered the perfect moment to do what I loved the most; that time ended up being late at night, when I was done with my other responsibilities. I stayed awake for extra hours so I could write and, surprisingly, the result was fabulous. I managed to type 1,000 words in less than an hour. This accomplishment amazed me; I couldn’t finish a single assignment within three hours, yet I was somehow able to write entire chapters before reaching the one-hour mark.
This habit continued for a few months. I would devote hours of my day to sitting in front of the computer in an attempt to finish my homework, and then barely spend 30 minutes writing a chapter of my novel. At that point, I thought to myself: what if I changed my study sessions back to late at night?
Picture by Nubelson Fernandes from Unsplash
Reconfiguring my study schedule wasn’t an easy task. I needed to shift each chore to a different time and complete every task by a certain hour so that I could dedicate the rest of the night to studying. I made it a rule to finish everything that didn’t have to do with school before 10:00 pm. It took me a month to adjust, but once my new schedule became a routine, every aspect of my learning experience improved.
As I had imagined, starting my study session late at night proved more productive than studying in the morning. It felt as if I had, somehow, activated a “concentration button” in my head—as if there was nothing that mattered more than getting my homework done or studying for the next exam. Returning to my roots as a night-owl didn’t just enhance my productivity; it also allowed me to have more time to myself.
Being a night-owl requires organization and responsibility. The worst thing you can do is leave things for the last minute. If you really want to be productive, you should start working as soon as you’re given a deadline because, in the end, it’s worth it. With a consistent schedule, you’d be able to save a lot of time you can spend on things you enjoy.