Introduction
Have you ever noticed yourself being more energetic at one point of the day than others? I am talking about those natural surges of energy levels without the influence of caffeine, energy drinks or other stimulants. This state of flow is called your biological prime time. During your biological prime time you get important tasks done more efficiently. Your brain chemistry is balanced perfectly, primed to assist the human body to perform at your best as you are taking full advantage of your increased productivity levels and working off your to-do list. People typically report greater levels of energy, focus, and motivation, as well as more creative work. Typically, there are two time periods in the day where your energy levels spike – usually on in the morning and then another one at night. Learn more about your biological prime time, how you can calculate it, as well as how you can manage your day around higher productivity.
Wolfves, Bears, Lions, Dolphins
There are different chronotypes used in order to classify individual’s sleeping and energy patterns. The main four chronotypes are: Wolves, Bears, Lions and Dolphins. Each of them have different typical wake and sleep times, as well as times of greatest productivity. Which are you?
Different Chronotypes
Wolves are night owls and like to stay up a little later (until ~12:00am) and then get ready for the day starting at 7:30am. Times of highest focus are between 5:00pm and 12:00am. Wolves are typically highly creative and more introverted beings.
Lions tend to wake up quite early in the morning (~6:00am) and go to sleep earlier than other chronotypes (~10:00pm). Their time of highest focus starts at 8:00am and end during early afternoons at around 12:00pm. Lions are known to be natural leaders. They get their work done in the morning and enjoy their down time at the end of the day.
The Bear enjoys to have his full 8 hours of sleep. His typical sleeping time is 11:00pm and waking time is around 7:00am. Bears are typically more extroverted and have a mellow energy during most of the day. Ideal times of great focus and energy are between 10:00am and 2:00pm. A good productivity tip would be to get your most difficult work done early in the morning and try to finish up during late afternoon.
Dolphins are a little different when it comes to their natural sleep and waking times. They tend to have bursts of creative energy between 3:00pm and 9:00pm. Their bed time is typically around 11:30pm and 6:30am. Dolphins are the rarest of all chronotypes, and make up about 10% of the general population.
Source: Casper – Chronotypes
The different chronotypes are general classifications and provide you with estimates. Now that you know your chronotype, it is time to dive a little deeper and find out your biological prime time.
Calculating Your Biological Prime Time
If you want to Calculate your Biological Prime Time, you should get a pen and paper ready. A simple way to get to know your prime time is to simply rate your natural levels of energy, focus, and motivation of every waking hour. You should try and do this for at least two weeks on a Scale from 1-10. As you are recording these values, try your best to stay away from stimulants such as coffee, energy drinks, as well as from alcohol, cigarettes and other external substances that affect your mood and energy levels. In addition, you should try your best to follow your natural sleeping patterns. If you follow these steps, then you should see a clear pattern of increased energy, focus and motivation once or twice of the day.
Beware of the Hawthorne Effect
When scoring your energy levels throughout your day, be aware of the Hawthorne effect. To avoid it, try your best to score yourself as truthfully as possible to increase the accuracy of your results. If one score deviates from another, be honest and ask yourself why that could have been the case. You may want to add a note as to why you felt this way to ensure accurate results.
Other Sources: Biological Prime Time
If you want to gain more theoretical wisdom that you can turn into practice, I recommend that you perform some research on Sam Carpenter and Chris Bailey. Sam Carpenter, author, writes in his book “Work the System: The Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less” about simple mindset tweaks to enhance your productivity. Additionally, Chris Bailey, a Canadian writer and productivity consultant writes about biological prime time on his blog, which you can find here.
Working Outside Your Biological Prime Time
Working through tiredness is never easy. When you perform your work out and other tasks of your day during a time period far outside of your biological prime time, you may have to work twice as hard to get the same task done. This can lead to increased productions of stress hormones which lead to burnout and feelings of being overwhelmed. You will feel more fatigued at the end of the day and feel of your biological prime time, you may have to work twice as hard to get the same task done. This can lead to increased productions of stress hormones (e.g. cortisol), which can lead to burnout and general feelings of being overwhelmed. You will feel more fatigued at the end of the day and feel like you were not quite as productive for the rest of the day. Sometimes, it is not practical to take a break when you feel tired (e.g. at your job, if you are in the middle of an important task), however if you can take a break I recommend that you take it. If you are unable to work off your do lists and struggle to get things done during your most productive times of the day, try and increase your motivation those ways.
Maximizing Your Endorphin Release
Now that you know your biological prime time(s), it is time to manage your day accordingly. What tasks do you normally perform during those times? Could you replace it by another activity that require higher focus, motivation and energy to get the most out of your day? Now that you know your best time to be productive, it is time to manage your day accordingly. What are your most productive hours of the day? What tasks do you normally perform during those times? Could you replace it by another activity that require higher focus, motivation and energy to get the most out of your day? Try and fit a quick and effective high-intensity training session into this time frame to get the most out of your workout and maximize your release of happy hormones. Research shows that you get more out of your workouts during the time of day where your energy peaks and motivation levels are greatest.
Conclusion
Three-fold your productivity starting today by becoming more aware of the times of the day where your natural energy levels spike. Spend time on important work, spend less time on tasks that are least important for outside of those time frames and get to work. Calculating your biological prime time is one of many great time management techniques that you can turn into practice starting today. An easy way to do this is by writing down your energy, motivation and focus levels at each waking hour of the day for at least two weeks. How much energy do you get from your body naturally throughout the day? Do you have one, or two times of the day where you should be getting specific tasks done. When is your most productive time of the day? Find out by calculating your prime time starting today!