The Owners Manual for the Brain

1. Our brains are naturally set up to run 25-hour days on average, but
also to hook into ambient light. You can and should wake your body up
with light.

2. You should not wake up before 6AM !

3. Rote memory works best in the morning (6AM - Noon)

4. Your brain hits a low point at a point about twelve hours after the
midpoint between beginning and ending sleep the previous night; this is
the best time for naps, which should be about 30 minutes long.

5. Introverts are creative in the morning; extraverts are creative in
the evening.

6. Hormonal cycles can matter. Women's menstrual cycles are well
known. Testosterone cycles for men are daily and seasonal, high in the
Fall, lower in the Spring and in the evening.

7. If you go to bed at 11pm and wake at 7am, the best times for
learning are 8am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm, and 10pm.

8. Humans average sleep cycles run 90 minutes (ranging between 60 and
120 minutes). So one should sleep 6, 7.5, or 9 hours, not 8 hours, if
you have the average sleep cycle periodicity. You should not wake by
alarm in the depths of REM sleep, because your brain's motor-control
has been de-activated and takes some time to get fully functional.

The source for all this is "The Owner's Manual for the Brain: everyday
applications from mind-brain research", 2d ed., by Pierce Howard. Bard
Press, 2000.