Students and life-long learners alike: at what time of day do you usually study?

When I was in college, I worked a few days per week as a campus computer lab monitor. (In other words, I got paid a few bucks to sit in a room with 30 computers and make sure that the printer didn’t jam up.)

I usually worked the closing (read: midnight) shift, and thanks to an incredibly competent cohort of classmates, I never had much work to do. If the printer jammed, the student who’d jammed the machine would usually walk right over, pull out the offending accordion-shaped piece of computer paper, and print their work again.

Call this job a study hall for the college set.

And study I did.

It was the perfect time to read an assigned chapter or two for my Media Law class or memorize logical fallacies for Intro to Critical Thinking. I’d study, close the labs at midnight, walk home to my cinderblock dorm room, and then go to bed.

I thought it was perfect because, frankly, I was getting paid minimum wage to study — something I had to do anyway!

But, according to new research, it was also perfect for another reason: I went to sleep shortly after studying. Why is that a good thing? Watch this week’s video podcast to find out why getting some Zzzz’s right after studying might help you brain to consolidate (and remember) the new information:

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 1 Apr 2012
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.