The Best Time to Do Anything: What You Need To Know to Operate at Your Best

It's 3:00 in the afternoon and you've still got two hours of work to go...and you crave a nap. Your blood sugar is low, your eyelids, heavy and you're feeling the effects of another late night. How will you get through the next two hours? Before you rush out to Starbucks for that low fat, vanilla cappuccino to boost your energy, you should learn more about body clocks and the best time to get your creative work done. It turns out that everyone has an internal time-keeper called the circadian clock. This natural clock is sensitive to light, moon cycles, stress, meal times and the seasons and it's so ingrained that it's in every cell in our body. And, most of us are more similar than we think when it comes to sleep and wake cycles - we only vary by minutes a day. Although light, stress, meals, temperature and exercise affect our circadian clock, these events only hamper the clock temporarily and then our bodies realign to a basic schedule. Knowing this makes it easier to know the best time to be creative, lift weights, eat a larger meal, exercise and minimize stress. The only people who really have a challenge with their body clocks are shift workers because they're fighting the clock. Their circadian clock is thrown out of phase with the light-dark cycles or sleep-wake cycles. But the same thing can happen every year when the seasons change. Research shows that bedtimes vary but people tend to get up in the morning around the same time year round because their children, pets, or careers demand it. The discrepancy between day length and the daily grind might explain why some people suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD). If modern society doesn't pay attention to natural rhythms, it's because we're less sensitive to the seasons than many creatures on the planet. We ignore the seasons and rise when we need to, not when the day naturally begins. Studies show that seasonal affective disorder can be easily remedied by going to bed when the sun goes down or at least rising when the sun does, instead or getting out of bed when it's dark. Just as seasons go in cycles, our bodies go in cycles and have high and low points. If you want to know the best time to write that report, study the circadian basic clock and see how close your body is to following this basic blueprint. Check out our basic circadian clock schedule: 6:45 am - Sharpest blood pressure rise (sleep to waking state) 7:30 am - Melatonin secretion stops (time to get up) 10:30 am - High alertness (great time for important, detailed work) 12:00 noon 2:30 pm - Best coordination (best time for operating heavy machinery, driving) 3:30 pm - Fastest reaction time (driving, work that involves quick response) 5:00 pm - Greatest cardiovascular efficiency and muscle strength (best time to pump iron, run) 6:30 pm - Highest blood pressure (bad time to start an argument, get stressed) 7:00 pm - Highest body temperature 9:00 pm - Melatonin secretion begins (good time to read, relax, and wind down from the day) If you have an important project to get done in a day, you might want to focus on it around 10:30 in the morning. According to the circadian clock, the majority of people are most alert at 10:30 am. This is why answering emails, planning your day and doing less high brain activity should be done first thing in the morning (besides helping you plan your day). By the time you reach 10:30, you can delve into that elaborate assignment because your brain will be at its peak for functioning. By noon, however, hunger sets in and your alertness fades. At 1:00 pm, alertness fades as food is being digested and blood flow from the brain is being used in the digestive process. You may find yourself sleepy around this time. Although it's not mentioned in the chart, the human brain is hard-wired to take a 20-minute nap after lunch. If this is something you can do, you'll find your afternoon productivity level spikes again. If you suffer from the '3 pm slump,' it's often because you didn't get enough sleep the night before. Remedy this with a glass of water and a high protein snack (not coffee or chocolate) and you'll get to the end of your day. Coffee and chocolate may give you a quick 'burst' of energy due to caffeine and sugar, but you'll sink even quicker later in the day. And, you may have trouble sleeping if you consume caffeine late in the afternoon. You can survive the 'slump' by choosing to do lower brain activities such as: returning calls, filing paperwork, anything that doesn't require sharp brain skills. And, if you have to complete a complex project, go slow, pay attention and take a walk to wake up if you're feeling drowsy. Sometimes just a change of scenery ignites your dwindling energy reserves. The next time you're exhausted, or frustrated and you have a project to complete, think about your internal clock, plan your work around the ebbs and 'go with the flow.'