Discover the universal truth that 'Timing is everything' across different walks of life, and learn how to harness it to act smarter and live better.

⏰ The Universal Truth About Timing

Ask a chef, a cricketer, a runner, a comedian, a journalist, a marketer, or an entrepreneur, and they will all say the same thing: “Timing is everything.” The year you pass out of college, the year you get a job, the year you change jobs, the time you go to office, the time you attend meetings, the time you get back home, and the time you hit the bed—timing plays a key aspect in all of these moments.

This might surprise you, but let me explain this in a way that makes sense. Don’t worry, I’m not going to speak about astrology here.

🎯 What Timing Works Best for You?

Timing is not a one-size-fits-all thing. It varies from one person to another:

• Larks are early risers who are mentally very active in the morning, have a trough around noon followed by another peak early evening, and are exhausted by late evening.
• Night Owls start the day late, reach their peak early afternoon followed by a trough during the late afternoon, another peak, and finally hit the bed pretty late.

Have you seen writers start to write when it’s quiet at night and seem sheepish all day? Well, they’re very energetic during the night—their peaks, troughs, and rebounds are totally different.

Research shows that 70% of people are owlish. So who are you—a lark or an owl? Not sure? Here’s an easy exercise to figure that out. Every other hour, try to answer this question: “How am I doing?”

Rate yourself on this scale:

• Very energetic
• Energetic
• Somewhat energetic
• Not so energetic
• Tired
• Exhausted

If you chart it out for one full day, you’ll figure out what your Peak, Trough, and Rebound points are throughout the day.

🚀 What Tasks Are Best Suited for Each Phase?

Peak

This is the time when your mind is alert and very responsive. If you’re looking for a perfect time to do analytical tasks such as analyzing, going through strategy processes, or learning something new, this is it. This might not be the best time to find problem resolutions or think creatively. The reason? Your brain is active, alert, and quite busy—this is called cognitive distortion. You need a calm mindset to be creative or to find solutions.

⚖️ Midpoint between Peak and Trough

For larks, the time around 11 am to 1 pm is the best time to take critical decisions. Our brain is neither overactive nor tired. Chronotype tests conducted on a group of 400 chess champions (both larks and owls) indicated a common pattern: they take very careful and more precise decisions during the day, but choose to take the risky route later in the evening, which are 50% inaccurate.

📝 Trough

This is good for administrative tasks but might not be the time to take critical decisions. In fact, research concluded that most decisions taken during this time tend to fail. If you’re looking to do administrative work such as answering routine emails, calls, booking appointments etc., then do it during a trough.

Also regarding naps—I’ve had a lot of people say that napping during the day is not a good habit. Ditch that thought! Most productive people take frequent power naps. A perfect nap time of about 20-25 minutes and a coffee can do magic. Try it.

💡 Rebound

This is the time when you’re recovering from the midpoint. This is a good time to resolve insight problems, brainstorm, and tackle tasks that require creativity. Our cognitive abilities fluctuate throughout the day.

This pattern is not universal—larks tend to perform better in the morning whereas owls do a better job later in the day. Another interesting fact that Dan Pink, the writer of “WHEN”, revealed is that larks are usually born between October and April while owls are more likely to be born during summer.

Are you looking for a crash course on creativity or a personal consultant for career, well-being, or depression? Feel free to drop me a line here.