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Podcast

Finding Strength in Your Daily Rhythm

Forest SenecalMaria UttenthalTeja Adarsh DoddaHertie School

A podcast conversation on building a daily rhythm that sustains your studies, so structure becomes a source of energy.

Recorded at the Hertie School, this podcast episode is about understanding how you work, not judging yourself for it. Your focus and energy rise and fall in patterns shaped by your biology. We explore circadian rhythms and chronotypes, why some of us are morning larks and others night owls, and why the afternoon slump is biological, not laziness. You’ll learn a simple way to track your own energy, and why your peak hours and your sustainable ones aren’t always the same: that brilliant midnight burst may be borrowing from tomorrow. We also look at why many neurodivergent people, including those with ADHD and autism, naturally run on a later sleep cycle, and why that isn’t a failure of discipline.

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Topics

Sources

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  2. Crowley, S. J., Acebo, C., & Carskadon, M. A. (2007). Sleep, circadian rhythms, and delayed phase in adolescence. Sleep Medicine, 8(6), 602–612. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389945706007076 (opens in a new tab)
  3. Luu, B., & Fabiano, N. (2025). ADHD as a circadian rhythm disorder: Evidence and implications for chronotherapy. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12728042 (opens in a new tab)
  4. Phillips, A. J. K., Clerx, W. M., O’Brien, C. S., Sano, A., Barger, L. K., Picard, R. W., Lockley, S. W., Klerman, E. B., & Czeisler, C. A. (2017). Irregular sleep/wake patterns are associated with poorer academic performance and delayed circadian and sleep/wake timing. Scientific Reports, 7, 3216. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03171-4 (opens in a new tab)
  5. Sabaoui, I., Lotfi, S., & Talbi, M. (2024). The association of circadian rhythms with academic, physical, and cognitive performance: A systematic review. The Education and Science Journal, 26(1), 133–170. https://doi.org/10.17853/1994-5639-2024-1-133-170 (opens in a new tab)

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