Take this lesson to learn more.
In the previous lesson, we had learned that scheduling your day effectively begins with realizing that not all tasks are created equal. You now know what MITs and routine work mean, and how to recognize them. With your MITs sorted and your routine work planned out, all that’s left to do is to get started on them and ticking them off one by one, right?
Not so fast! Quick question. Are all working hours created equal? In other words, are you at your best consistently every single hour in a workday? Or are some hours, as a rule, better than others for you?
Chances are it’s the latter, and there’s a scientific explanation for it.
Your chronotype!
Chronotypes
A chronotype is your own personal biological clock that controls your body’s rhythms. But, unlike a normal clock, not every person’s biological clock keeps the same time or even the same pace. it’s the reason you are grumpier in the morning and focus better later in the day – or vice versa. You have probably heard people say, “I’m not a morning person”.
In other words, some people are simply more productive in the morning than in the evening, and vice versa. It now falls on you to figure out what your chronotype is. Simply observe your work patterns over three or four days and notice when you’re at your productive best – and a pattern is bound to emerge.
Now, how might knowing your chronotype help you schedule your day better?
MITs and Chronotypes
We’ve already discussed how MITs are critical tasks that require cognitive, mental, in other words, focus. It follows then that you’d want to tackle your MITs when you’re at your best, wouldn’t you? Can you imagine what might happen if you tried to tackle a cognitively demanding task, like tackling a tough negotiation with a stakeholder or drafting a press release for your company when you’re completely exhausted and mentally drained or for that matter, when you’re not at your sharpest or best? You’d be asking for trouble.
Great. So, once you figure out your chronotype – the time of day when you’re at your productive best – you can schedule your MITs in that time slot, get started on them and ticking them off one by one, right?
As a matter of fact, that’s a great way to under accomplish what you’ve set out to do, your perfect sense of timing notwithstanding.
What now, you ask? Well, there’s a limit to how long you be mentally focused on a task.
