brain power

Informal survey. Indulge me as I take a break from grading.

  1. Do you have a particular time of day when your brain is at its peak?
  2. Are there particular foods that seem to encourage or discourage the thought process?
  3. How many hours a day of active “brain work” are you good for?
  4. How much sleep do you need at night?
  5. Coffee drinker or no?

As for me:

  1. Relatively early in the morning and then later in the evening. Afternoons are usually not so good.
  2. I wish I could figure this one out.
  3. In the neighborhood of 8, I think, but it has to be varied work. I can’t grade for 8 hours straight, for example, or read, or write.
  4. The recommended 8 hours. I will wake up after 8 without an alarm clock.
  5. Yes, but I aspire to caffeine-free existence.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

9 thoughts on “brain power

  1. 1. Early morning. Early evening.
    2. All food discourages clarity of thought. Especially food made of booze.
    3. This is hard to answer. It’s been a long time since much focus has been asked or required of me. And it’s 2:00 PM – another brain dead afternoon.
    4. Nine hours, preferably.
    5. Two cups in the morning, 2 in the afternoon.

  2. 1. 10am – 12pm, and again from 4pm – 6pm.
    2. Bagels and other bread products slow me down. Fruit is good, unless it makes my keyboard all sticky.
    3. If I don’t hafta get things finished, I can be wicked lazy. But deadlines can transform me into a superhero.
    4. I enjoy sleep, I’ve even been accused of being a “borderline narcoleptic” (JM). But if I have a deadline, I prefer not knowing what time it is. It keeps me from whining too much.
    5. Yes! Mama needs her medicine.

  3. 10am
    i function well on:
    vegetables and tofu w/ brown rice
    could also have fish or chicken in it
    when all is where it ought to be, (not today for example) 6 hours….although I don’t know if doing artwork all day counts as “brain work”
    8 hours sometimes 9
    decaf only

  4. 1. Early morning and the mid-evening.
    2. Protein is good. And exercise.
    3. I’d like to think 12, but really it’s more like 6. Depends on how close the deadline is.
    4. Eight hours. I too wake up after 8. If I miss some sleep, I don’t bother “making it up”. I just feel real tired the next evening (no good thinking *that* evening!).
    5. One cup in the a.m. Any more keeps me up.

  5. 1. 8,9,10 in the post meridian.
    2. encourage: glass of wine, maybe two. discourage: falling in the bottle.
    3. like any good crazy, my “active brain work” varies wildly from day to day.
    4. ideal is about 6-7 hours. lately, I’ve been logging in about 10 hours of sleep and have been as fuctional as the withered potato in the back of your refrigerator.
    5. guess.

  6. 1. 4to 6AM, 10-11:30AM, 1:30-3PM, 9-11:30PM
    2. meat and black coffee in the morning encourage–sugar discourages.
    3. about 5, though I work for the guv’ment so I am not often tested.
    4. That’s tricky. Appx. 8 hours but the period between 4 and 6 AM is CRITICAL. I am pretty sure that most of my important life decisions are made while I am asleep during this period.
    5. Oh yeah.

  7. 1. Probably early afternoon to late evening, but it depends on my sleep schedule.
    2. Coffee helps. Iced coffee is even better. “Heavy” foods tend to slow me down, but seafood usually works well. I’m also better when I exercise….need to start jogging again.
    3. Usually I’m best for five or six, but I can roll for ten or twelve if there’s a deadline looming.
    4. I’m better on eight. I survived on five or six when my dissertation was in the home stretch (except that day I overslept my 9AM class….oops).
    5. Definitelty a coffee drinker. I never write or teach without it.

  8. 1. Varies, though if I’ve had enough sleep, early morning is usually great. Sometimes I’ll take a three-hour nap in the late afternoon or early evening, and stay up all night working incredibly steadily.
    2. Protein encourages thought when I’ve had enough sleep. (If not, protein makes me logy.) Fruit, sometimes. Liquids (non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic). Caffeine (from coffee, from guarana).
    3. Depends on deadline proximity. Usually, 5-6. Significantly more near deadline.
    4. It varies, but I can’t do sleep-dep for too long. I feel best when I sleep in 90-minute increments (that’s said to be the normal human sleep cycle, though amount and distribution of REM within the 90 minutes varies). 7.5 hours is good, 6 hours is workable.
    5. Dear god, yes. But the amount varies.

  9. 1. From 7-10 AM, then 6-9 PM
    2. Not really.
    3. Depends on my day. I tend to daydream alot, unless I’m on a deadline. (I work well on deadlines, especially the day before.)
    4. 8 hours. I can’t sleep past 8AM.
    5. No, unless it’s mocha.

Comments are closed.