I am currently writing this email in my peak time,
And future Joel will thank me.
Because when Chelsea are playing tonight,
Or perhaps if my mate rings me up and ask me if I want to grab dinner or a drink,
I can assure you I won’t want to be writing this email.
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What are Peak Times?
Peak times are the period in the day when you are most likely to be functioning at your best.
They are NOT the time in the day when you are most likely to be working.
That is determined by a whole host of different factors,
Whereas peak times is the idea that if everything else was equal,
When do you think you would work at your best?
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The TWO factors that determine your peak time?
When thinking about your own peak times,
Both internal and external factors are going to determine your peak time.
1) Your Chronotype (and circadian rhythm)
Your chronotype is determined by your genetics and influences when you feel sleepy and awake.
They are natural processes that influence how optimally you may be functioning at different times of the day.
Approximately 70% of people have a chronotype that makes them more alert in the morning,
Whereas 15% of people are most productive in the early afternoon and a further 10-15% are functioning at their optimal level in the mid to late afternoon.
For more information on chronotypes, check out the following website - https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/chronotypes
2) Environmental Factors
In my experience, this factor is often overlooked, once a student understands the concept of peak times.
Its all well and good that your peak time is in the morning,
Like mine.
But it is irrelevant to your revision schedule if you are at school,
(Unless you want to wake up before school which is an option for some).
On the flip side,
It is all well and good for your peak time to be in the late afternoon or early evening,
But if you go to kickboxing class 3 times a week at this time then you will have to make a compromise.
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In my experience, I find that more distractions pop up the later you progress into the day.
Things pile up,
A friend might call you up out of the blue and suggest you do something later on,
There might be some football on you want to watch,
And so on.
Therefore,
70% of people will benefit from working in the morning (on a non-school day) anyway,
And I would argue that the majority of the remaining 30% would benefit from getting most of their work done as early as possible due to these environmental factors that get in the way as the day progresses.
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How does this impact your teenager?
One of the main reasons that I like peak times is because of accountability.
If you know that your peak time is in the morning,
And your family also know that your peak time is in the morning.
And you decide to not work in the morning,
That is a choice,
That students will sometimes make,
But they can’t shy away from consciously making that choice.
As long as they are intentionally choosing to not work in their peak times,
Which they will occasionally have a good reason to do,
I don’t mind,
But they have to hold themselves accountable.
And parents you can also help with this in subtle ways,
So that they are aware of the consequences for ‘future Joel’ (in my example),
Of the decisions that they are making.
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I hope you have a great week ahead,
Best wishes,
Joel