The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1913-11-21
BEST TIME FOR WORK
TO ALL OF SITS BY NO MEANS
THE GAME.
However, Authorities Agree That Few
Are at Their Zenith in the Early
MornIng-eetter Whsn the
Sun Sets.

Doctor TfUenffer OF Hamburg, Ger
many, through an interesting publica-
ton entitled "Das Problem des
6chlafs," has started discussion cen
corning the time when man Goes his
best work.
shown that the mind. under the inGu-
ence of sleep, does not recover lis ca
pacity for every l,'rl Of work uniform
~. Weygandt pro iced in himself b.
hard work througeogt the day a condi-
ton of great mental WEAKNESS and
bodily fatigue, so that at the hour
when he went to bed ne 3 unable 70
perform the simplest ticks without
great difficulty. Before sOing 10 sleep
he endeayored to add III & column of
figures and TO commit ~ nemogy some
lines of poetry in a given time, but
failed to do so. After a half an hours
sleep he was reused and Get to per
form the tasks given. He now added
up the column of figures with perfect
ease. but experienced the same diff
Guilty In learning the poetry by heart
as before sleep.
When do you think your brain works
best? When is thought rich in acso-
citation, ideas rapid, conversation easy
and perception keenest? Few of ua
could claim this in early morning. The
breakfast table group is not usually
very sparkling or lively. More arc
agreed that evening time or night
time is more productive in creative
work that involves the summoning of
ideas or the marshaling of thought
Fancy plays more freely from tea-time
onward. The best conversations, as
most people will admit, are heard after
dinner, and are of a different stamp
from luncheon conversations. Anec.
dote telling, and a quicker play of
imagination, that give a brilliancy to
dinner conversations, are hardly pos
sible at breakfast.
The reason of this must be some
change that we are not conscious of
that steals over us gradually as the
day progresses. We are certainly more
emotional after midday than before,
and sentiment wanes under the morn
Ing sun. We are much like little me-
chanical machines early in the day.
The pure intellect and reason are in
their fullest vigor We can add and
subtract better Plans appear easier.
Difficulties seem less. AS the hours
pass, pure intellect and reason grow
tired and emotion rises and broadens
out the field of consciousness, making
it DINNER and less efficient; and with
emotion comes a greater flow of alb
stract Ideas and suggestions.
Vastly interesting things resulted
from further experiments conducted
along the same lines. The power for
simple mathematical calculations, in
v0lving little strain upon the memory,
was recovered after a few minutes
sleep, while the power to learn by
heart required four hours sleep to i'm
prove markedly, and eight hours sleep
TO regain its fun vigor Doctor Troem-
ner states that the capacity for learn
Ing by heart is at its best early in the
morning, and decreases steadily
throughout the day. This scientist de-
plores the habit of making children
learn work by heart at night time in
preparation for the next days school,
which, he points out, is very harmful,
because the exhausted memory hns to
be stimulated unduly to retain it's i'm
pressions at that time.