Here Is How To Find Your Daily Biological Prime Time

When it comes to managing your time effectively, the golden rule is to schedule important work on your peak productivity hours. Performance coaches, CEOs, top executives, and motivational speakers preach the importance of finding and leveraging your peak hours of the day. Designing a schedule that utilizes your most peak productive work hours will ensure that the important projects receive the energy investments they deserve. But how do you determine your most productive hours?

The Ultradian Rhythm

Everything in the universe runs in cycles. Like the planets orbiting sun or the seasons on earth, humans runs in a cycle as well. The 24- hour body cycle of a human body is called the circadian rhythm. However, recent research suggests the presence of another cycle that runs within the circadian rhythm and it is called the ultradian cycle or ultradian rhythm.

Ultradian rhythm is 90-120 minute cycles and our days are driven by these cycles that affect how productive and alert we are. This means that our peak productivity hours is a cycle of 90-120 minutes happening somewhere in the 24-hour circadian day.

Tracking your productive hours

To find out your peak hours is to actually track your productivity every day and every hour. Blogger Chris Bailey suggests recording focus, energy, and motivation scores for 3 weeks, taking measurements at the same times every day so the data isn't skewed. He says, three weeks of data will give you 21 data points for every hour of the day, which I think is a decent number to form conclusions from.

This spreadsheet , created by Trello based on Chris' workflow, will help you track your productivity. Additionally, Chris Bailey gives the following advice in order to chart your energy levels more accurately:

1. Cut out caffeine, alcohol, and any other mood enhancers or depressants to get an accurate reading
2. Wake up and fall asleep naturally, without setting an alarm
3. Record your energy levels every hour, on the hour

Once you had your data, it will be easy for you to find your best productive hours and now you can schedule your most important projects accordingly.