The absolute BEST time for productivity
We are all not born feeling energetic on the same patterns. Some folks rise early and peak early, whereas others are most successful later in the day. Getting a grasp on where your prime is will benefit you (and others) in knowing how best to plan your days.
Before I go further, I want to start by shaking off a couple of ideas. Firstly, while you may be inclined to be a certain chronotype, or may have been a certain chronotype your entire life, it’s bound to change. That’s totally okay and within expectation. For example, little children and older adults tend to be morning folks. That’s more age-related than anything else so it will change over time.
Secondly, and importantly, all times are not created equal. Looking at the 18 hours between 6a and 12a, it’s not that you’ll be successful only during your peak periods and a complete waste at all other times. There are ups and downs along the way, and that’s an important aspect to understand. No one is in a box here.
As Daniel Pink describes in his book “When”, there are three types of folks:
Morning larks
Third birds
Night owls
Morning larks are the folks that peak in the morning. Shortly after starting their day, their energy is the highest and they hit their peak early. Early to bed, early to rise.
Night owls peak at night. They are late to bed, late to rise, and don’t find their peak until it is late at night.
Third birds are the in-between who generally peak in the mornings, but later than the larks. I find the addition of the third bird a positive addition to the formula. The binary “morning person” or “night owl” was often too limiting. The reality is we all fall somewhere on the scale between the two.
Described very generally, everyone seems to have 2 tanks of energy: the peak one and the rebound one. For morning folks, it’s an obvious pattern. They peak soon after the start of their day, then they have a lull, followed by a rebound time later in the afternoon (though not as powerful as their peak time). Third birds tend to follow the same pattern as morning larks, only delayed.
For night owls, it’s the opposite of those two, with a slow rev up to a rebound time, with a lull after that, and then it’s fire time for the night owl to peak into the wee hours of the night. Your boy, Leigh, over here is a certified NIGHT OWL. My best work is done from 8p to 2a (but only when I allow myself to have a late to bed, late to rise day). I am focused, can work into the night, and feel energetic, together, inspired, and creative during these times! But I’m not like most people.
Here’s a really lovely image by Insightful Owl that shows the three times based on chronotype.
Once you know your type and your pattern, here’s a useful guide on how to manage your day based on which part of the curve you’re in:
During peak times, work on strategic and analytical that requires focus and concentration. If you’re able, block these times of your days off so you can have no meetings during this time.
During trough times, work on administrative or low energy tasks. This is great for those “pass/fail” items that don’t require perfection. Routine work is well placed here.
During rebound times, work on creative tasks. Brainstorming and idea creation are great tasks for this time.
If this impacted you in a positive way, take the time right now to write down one easy task you can do to help implement this in your life. Without action, things will remain the same. How aware are you of your chronotype? Here’s a quiz here to help out with this: https://chronotype-self-test.info/.
