Why you are full of ideas and drive at night
Do you sometimes lay in bed at night with your mind in ebullition, feeling absolutely not sleepy because you suddenly have so many ideas and you want to do so many things? Why does it always happen at night and not during the day? During the day everything wanes, you're tired and have no motivation. Why is that? Does it mean your chronotype is that of a night owl?
Not necessarily. There's just one thing so obvious we tend to ignore it.
When you lie in bed at night, waiting to fall asleep, you more or less force yourself to stay in a relaxing position doing nothing. This is precisely what makes all the difference. You find yourself in the perfect conditions to reflect on your life, and think about your current situation, your ongoing projects, the things you can or should do. It is actually a good situation to find yourself in, just not when you're trying to fall asleep.
Your mind has the same ability during the day, but because it's the day, you do not allow yourself to spend this precious idle time. You are caught in the humdrum of daily life, the incessant activity between work, social life and media, distractions, and leisure activities. When was the last time you spent a whole thirty minutes to an hour in complete idleness, doing nothing, during the day?
It's one of the paradoxes of human psyche. When you busy yourself with constant activity, your mind more or less shuts off to let you do what you're doing, but if you force yourself to do nothing, it will awaken and start working. Not only that, but there's a seemingly opposite force thing being at play, where you can't seem to find motivation when you're trying to, but the moment you force yourself not to do anything, you suddenly get fueled up to do anything.
This is why it's a good practice—one that has and is being done by countless of great achievers and thinkers throughout human history—to take time for just thinking and letting your mind wander during the day, instead of at night. Spend time in reflection every day.
Be it a leisure walk or just sitting in light meditation, give your mind the chance to be active during the day.