My work days usually start the same way. I make coffee, turn on my computer, glance at my email, check my to-do list – and then do the easiest thing on it. Sometimes that is to write a new to-do list. I then do the easiest thing on my new list. Sometimes I add things I have already done for the pleasure of crossing them out. By the time I get down to actual work, I have faffed about for… well, I’m not saying. My boss reads this stuff.
How to win at work
Make your work work better for you – from dealing with pesky colleagues to taking the perfect break and doing less for more money
I may be squandering my best time, though. Back in 2011, an across 84 countries showed that their mood followed a predictable path over the day: positive first thing, and then gradually souring. Positive mood aids creativity, decision-making and working memory, suggesting that tasks requiring those skills – running meetings, devising strategies, plotting hostile takeovers – are better tackled early in the day.
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Cognitive performance follows a similarly predictable path. “The first half of the day is good, peaking in many people around 12,” says , a neuroscientist at the University of Oxford. “Then there’s a dip, followed by a second slight peak, but then you’re on the way down.”
So the notorious afternoon slump is not an urban myth, but a natural feature of our body clocks, says Foster. Adenosine, a molecular tracker of how long you have been awake, starts to exert “sleep pressure” as it builds up in your brain. So those mundane and routine tasks that you probably tend to do first thing – responding to emails, reading, filling in your expenses, writing lists – may be better saved for your dog-day afternoons.
“Staff who work at very high speed or to tight deadlines are less likely to be promoted or feel secure in their jobs”
A complicating factor is that we all have a natural “chronotype” that may not be in sync with our working hours. Around 20 per cent of people are “owls”, meaning that they naturally sleep late, wake late and function better later. Another 20 per cent of people are “larks”, at their chirpy best first thing in the morning. The rest lie somewhere in the middle.
Recent research in the UK – defined as work done in natural sleep hours – is common. Only 45 per cent of people have zero conflict, while 10 per cent have a conflict of more than 2 hours. These are probably owls, forced to go to work when their biological clock is screaming for them to stay asleep.
Owl or not, if you find yourself in a slump, take a power nap. “The business world is thinking seriously about naps,” says Foster. “A 20-minute nap in the early afternoon can increase cognitive performance and alertness.” Or get some exposure to natural light or have a cup of coffee: caffeine blocks adenosine, reducing sleep pressure and mimicking the effect of a nap.
Get all this right, and soon it will be home time after a fulfilling and productive day. But don’t just switch off and clock out. Many productivity gurus advise writing a brief summary of the day’s accomplishments or failures, and a to-do list for tomorrow. Top of that list is to get a good night’s sleep, says Foster. The task of making a perfect day begins with a perfect night.
Take-home message: Find your rhythm and move to it
