The time of the day when you are most creative, according to science

Sometimes people with even higher intellectual abilities struggle at problem-solving and little do they realize there is a scientific reason behind this. But there is a time in a day, according to researchers, when you can get more creative.

A study in 2011, published in the journal Thinking & Reasoning may hold the secret to the best time to try to be inventive and creative though.

The researchers asked 428 students to tackle six problem-solving tasks at different times of day. Those who identified themselves as morning persons actually did better on “insight”-based problem solving in the evening. Night owls’ performance was the opposite, with more of their “aha!” moments coming earlier in the day.

The results showed that all subjects were better at insight thinking during their ‘non-optimal’ time of day. Insight thinking requires creativity, as it involves retrieving information from other sections of your brain.

Morning people were better at these problems in the evening, and vice versa.

Conducted by Mareike B. Weith and Rose T. Zacks, their study focused on how the time of day effected one’s ability to solve problems creatively.

‘Inhibitory processes’ control the flow of information from thought and perception, and help prevent your brain from becoming distracted.

Weith and Zacks, in the introduction to their paper, noted that inhibitory processes have been found to fluctuate based on the time of day.

Their choice designated either morning or evening as their ‘optimal’ time of day. Of those with a definite preference, 28 were optimal in morning, and 195 felt they worked best in the evening.

The participants were then randomly assigned a time of day to complete a set of problems set by the researchers. These problems required either analytical or insight thinking.

Your brain is better at filtering out distractions during your ‘optimal’ time of day, meaning you are more alert and focussed on the problem in hand. This focus means you are less likely to seek a creative solution.

It’s recommended that morning people should wait until the evening to write that novel, just before bed, and night owls should begin their mosaic once they have got through pressing snooze seven or eight times.