Humans have a varied productivity cycle depending upon their bodily constitution, environment and cultural factors. This essay explains the most productive period of the day as applicable to the writer of this essay.
The author feels most fresh and productive early in the morning after a good night’s sleep. The author’s most productive period lasts till forenoon, till lunch time after which productivity levels of the author drops. This preference for morning hours of heightened productivity has a physiological basis as explained by the Recuperative and the Circadian theories of sleep. According to the Recuperative theory, animals sleep so that physiological and biochemical repairs can take place.
After a good night’s sleep, the body recovers its lost energies. A nice well rounded breakfast, eating the right amounts of carbohydrates and proteins ensures a body primed for action. The levels of alertness are at this time high as the body having rested in the state of subconscious, is ready to absorb the activities of the conscious world. The metabolism too is at optimum level. This feeling of freshness and activity maintains till the afternoon, by which time, the activities of the day take its toll and the energies get expended. The monotone of activities also take its toll psychologically as the mind gets dulled especially after listening to dull boring lectures in the classroom. Here, it becomes necessary for teachers to make their lectures interesting.
As per the Circadian theory, the normal wake-sleep cycle is about 25 hours.
A free running 25 hour cycle then gets modified to tune in to the 24 hour natural day-night cycle. The circadian rhythm too explains why the author feels fresh and heightened activity in the morning session of the day. The reasons lie in the author’s circadian rhythm being completely in tune with the nature. The author abhors late night parties and binging and has strictly maintained a lifestyle that follows the pattern of sunrise to sunset activity period as dictated by nature.
Since the author rarely travels out of his time zone, a mismatch of his circadian clock rarely takes place. Also, the author believes that the airline pilot’s dictum of eight hours of uninterrupted rest must be followed rigidly. Hence, adherence to such practices ensures that the author wakes up to a new day with renewed vigor and heightened productivity. Eating the right food also ensures that the author maintains alertness. Junk food such as burgers, chips and Pizza are shunned by the author who believes in eating a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits along with a small portion of meats. Contrary to popular belief, the author does not require artificial stimulants such as black coffee to keep productivity levels high.
These only serve to give a temporary boost, after which the natural body tiredness takes over. Hence, the golden rule lies in following the body’s natural cycles. That is not saying that those who follow a different cycle are unhealthy. There are ‘day people’ and then there are ‘night people’. Those who have heightened productivity at night have a different circadian clock running which is just as valid as the day runners.
In conclusion, the author’s best time for heightened productivity occurs during the morning session until lunch time. This happens because the author follows the natural sleep-wake cycle as dictated by his circadian rhythm and adequate rest as dictated by the recuperative needs of his body and a regime of moderation.