The Secrets of Our Body Clocks by Susan Perry and Jim Dawson, discusses biological rhythms. Everyone's clock is unique, and some may peak at 11 a.m. instead of 12 noon, but even extreme morning people and extreme night people are no greater than 2 hours apart with their circadian cycles. Some of the conclusions of the book may help us manage our time more effectively.
1. Most of us reach our peak of alertness around noon. So perhaps delaying lunch until 12:30 or 1:00 p.m. might capitalize on our most productive period.
2. There's a sudden drop in the early afternoon that lasts until about 3:00 p.m., at which time our mental alertness once again begins to rise. Schedule the mundane, low-energy tasks for that part of the day.
3. Short-term memory is best during the morning hours, so studying for a test that morning or reviewing notes of a meeting would be a good idea. But long-term memory is best in the afternoon, so that's the time to study material for the following week - or for that training session for the new employee. How well you remember things depends on when you learn them, not when you recall them.
4. Mornings are a great time for creative sessions or meetings where tough decisions must be made. But don't let them run into the early afternoon doldrums.
5. Just because you're a morning person, don't expect everyone else to be the same way. Biological rhythms are innate, and we should organize our lives so as to work with them, not against them.
In general, morning people should do all their heavy thinking and creative work in the morning and reserve the late afternoons for the routine. Night people, although similarly alert at 11 a.m., do not experience the same late afternoon sag.
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