We all know we hate waking up early and having to go to work or school. What we have assumed for years is that we can’t possibly be productive at certain hours of the day. We start feeling sluggish, want to take a nap and maybe even shed a few tears at the amount of work we have to do but the little energy we have to do said pile of work. Never experienced this? I encourage you to step foot in a high school and listen to the amount of students mumbling that they “can’t even” or are “too tired to function”; maybe even that they “ain’t got time for dis”. Grammar is a topic for another day, however.

In the article I read, it outlines the times in a day that humans are most productive. It turns out that these times are noon and 6 p.m. From the moment you wake up, your brain is slowly stretching itself awake and preparing for the day but it does not hit it’s peak of productivity until around lunch time. The peak doesn’t last long either. Your productivity is likely to decrease throughout the day until 3 p.m. where you will hit your lowest point of productivity all day. After this point, you will begin to climb back up that proverbial productivity mountain and then hit another great peak at 6 p.m. As you can guess, your alertness decreases substantially after that time.

What does this mean and why is it important to us? Well, for one, if you have some important work to be doing, plan around your circadian rhythm. A giant project that you might have, okay.. more than likely, procrastinated on has it’s best chance of getting done at around 6 o’clock. Of course, there are slight differences in everyone’s rhythm but it’s relatively the same. If you are an early bird who gets the worm, your peaks most likely occur earlier in the day. If you are a night owl then your peaks occur later in the day.

If you missed a productivity peak, take a nap. The study showed that a nap at 3 p.m. when you are in your slug state can give you a boost of energy and provide brain food to be alert.

I loved reading this article because it finally gives a back bone to the argument of when work should begin and when kids should be in school. I am someone who stays up later than I should trying to accomplish some big tasks and this article provided me with some great insight into the human mind. I now strive to get my big tasks done immediately after school when I am more likely to get them done.

Link to the story by Harvard Business Review:

https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-ideal-work-schedule-as-determined-by-circadian-rhythms/?cm_lm=marsha.collier%40gmail.com

Link to more on your Circadian Rhythm:

http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Education/Pages/Factsheet_CircadianRhythms.aspx