Imagine: one o'clock in the afternoon, and you have just embarked on an important project that should be ready for tomorrow. But instead of gushing with brilliant ideas, knocking on the keyboard, you struggle with the desire to fall asleep. If you are like most people, the middle of the day is not the most productive time for intellectual work for you, and there is a scientific justification for this.
The decline in productivity is dictated by the natural desire of the body to adjust circadian rhythms - cyclical fluctuations in the intensity of various biological processes associated with the change of day and night. Internal biological clocks force the body to inject hormones that regulate body temperature into the bloodstream and control other wakefulness functions within a 24-hour cycle.
How to use natural natural rhythms effectively - to increase your productivity and productivity?
We offer a daily routine based on circadian rhythms and scientific research in the field of productivity - thanks to which the horrors of deadlines will be a thing of the past!
Morning.
It doesn’t matter if you are a morning bird, or if you need to refill coffee to cheer up, the energy level should be intensively increased within 30-60 minutes after waking up.
If you have an important presentation, plan it in the morning.
6.30. - Send mail.
If you are hoping for an answer, send mail outside business hours. Letters sent between 6.00. and 8.00. 45% more likely to receive an answer. The secret is to simply increase the volume: a huge number of messages sent during the working day will compete with yours for being read. If your letter reaches the recipient's mailbox before the crazy day starts or after it ends, there is a better chance that he will open it and respond in a timely manner.
8.00. - Make a difficult decision.
You doubt whether it is worth inviting a new employee? Worried about your report being poorly received? Make decisions in the morning - when the effect of "morning morality" is still strong. It turns out people are less ethical in the afternoon. This is due to the fact that our ability to control ourselves, as well as physical activity, weaken during the day, as we make a lot of everyday decisions.
9 a.m. - Solve the most difficult tasks.
Now is the time to consider new business proposals, deal with financial statements or take on another area of responsibility that requires your attention. As soon as you come to work, you are still fresh and full of energy. This is the perfect time to solve a difficult problem. Resist the temptation to spend precious morning hours on meaningless activities such as sorting mail.
10 a.m. - Important presentation.
Things are moving toward dinner. This is the perfect time to grab the attention of the audience. You and your listeners are as involved as possible, and your voice is the most resonant, because the vocal chords are quite rested. Report the main news or key thoughts in the first 10 minutes of the presentation. By the end of this time, about 80% of the audience will disconnect and cease to perceive what they hear. You can keep the attention of the audience if you accompany the performance with an attractive visual range or dilute it with an interesting joke every 10 minutes.
11 a.m. - Think strategically.
Develop a budget for next year. Review the 5-year development plan of the company. All strategic tasks related to your field of activity are best solved at around 11 a.m. By this time, the body temperature rises, which makes us be more attentive, and the brain processes information better. Your colleagues are also as focused as possible, so this is a great time to brainstorm.
Day.
At this time, circadian rhythms set us on a natural decline, but you can use this time to schedule afternoon meetings outside the office.
13.30. - Easy routine tasks.
Need to do something simple? Schedule this for your afternoon. The energy level drops as low as between 13.00. and 15.00. This explains the desire of some to take a nap or even a little drink after dinner. This is not necessarily due to a heavy hearty meal, as many believe - we just naturally follow our biological rhythms. Instead of trying hard to focus on the project when you are in a period of recession, fill this time with simple things that do not require a lot of attention, for example, viewing email.
10/14. - Schedule a meeting.
If you need to hold a meeting during these sleepy hours, schedule it for an "unexpected" time, for example, at 14.10. So you will attract the attention of future participants. Many of them will try to arrive on time, at least out of curiosity. When everyone is seated, turn on the light. Exposure to light reduces the level of melatonin, which naturally rises in the afternoon and leads to fatigue.
Sitting in a dimly lit conference room, we let melatonin put us to sleep. Melatonin is a vampire hormone that manifests itself in the dark and sucks energy from us, plunging it into sleep. If you are prone to daytime sleepiness, have meetings outside. Fresh air and daylight will cheer you up.
4 p.m. - No interviews or interviews.
Your judgments are not so sharp at the end of the working day, because by this time you have spent a lot of energy on solving problems that require your participation. That is why it is better not to schedule interviews and interviews for this time. Studies have found that five equally qualified candidates interviewed at this time of the day received the worst reviews of all others.
Evening.
The things you do after work energize you the next morning. Try to get to the gym after a busy day to get rid of the accumulated stress.
6 p.m. - Sports activities.
Workout will help relieve stress from work stress or sitting in one place. At this time, body temperature reaches another peak. That is why most of the records in sports are set precisely in the interval from 16.00. until 6 p.m.
19.00 - Creativity.
Ready to do adult coloring or devote yourself to writing a novel? 19 hours is a golden hour for creativity. It turns out that we are more open and prone to creative thinking when we feel tired!
10 p.m. - Preparation for sleep.
If you have sound alerts enabled on your phone, it’s hard for you to distract from business. Answering calls and viewing emails in the evenings and at night can lead to overexcitation. Set a limit for yourself - for example, an hour before bedtime - when you turn off all screens and stop reading news and messages sent at the end of the day. Do not use gadgets (telephones, televisions, computers) or at least change their light level to low. If you want to live in accordance with the natural rhythm, you need to limit access to light at this time.
Having created your daily routine, follow it. Maintain a specific mode always, even on weekends, when most people tend to break the rules.
