How To Boost Your Productivity Without Any Effort

In today’s newsletter we’re going to talk about how to figure out your chronotype.

Why is this important?

Knowing your chronotype allows you to figure out how to structure your day optimally based on your circadian rhythm.

There’s going to be a window throughout the day where you’re the most focused and productive. A window that would give you a 25% boost in productivity.

During your peak window, you should be doing deep creative work that moves you towards your goals.

There are also times during the day where you’re the least productive. During this block you should do shallow work. Things like email, slack, etc. You can also use this time to rest, workout and socialize.

Unfortunately most people don’t understand this and miss out on these easy productivity gains because:

• You spend your morning hours doomscrolling TikTok

• Society tells them that they need to be productive from 9-5

• You listen to Gurus that tell you to wake up at 5am every day

Let’s walk through how to figure out your peak productivity window to get more sh*t done.

3 Chronotypes

There are three different chronotypes based on your circadian rhythm:

1. Larks

2. Owls

3. Third Birds

Let’s dive deeper into these chronotypes and I’ll share how you can figure out which chronotype you are.

Larks

Larks are morning people. They naturally wake up between 5-6 AM and their peak productivity window is from 5-9am.

They tend to be less productive 8 hours after waking so this is usually around 1-2pm.

The Gurus that are telling you wake up at 5am are Larks. It’s important to understand that this advice works for a small group of people. But not for most people.

Stop trying to force yourself to be a morning person if that’s not who you are.

Owls

Owls are night people. They naturally wake up around 10-11am and tend to be the most productive around 4-9pm.

These people tend to struggle the most since school and work requires them to wake up and be productive in the morning.

They tend to be the least productive before 11am.

Third Birds

Third birds represent most people, around 65% of the population. They are somewhere in between a Lark and an Owl.

They naturally wake up at 8-9am and their peak productivity is from 8-11am.

This allows them to be flexible and adaptable to most schedules ie. school and work.

Similar to Larks they tend to experience dips in productivity 8 hours after waking so around 4-5pm.

How To Figure Out Your Chronotype

Based on the explanation above you should already have an idea of where you land. There’s also a more scientific way to determine your chronotype by calculating your midpoint.

On days where you have no obligations, record the time you naturally fall asleep and the time you wake up without an alarm.

Do this over the span of several days and get an average.

Now calculate the midpoint between your sleep time and wake time.

$$ Midpoint = TimeFellAsleep + (Total HoursSlept / 2) $$

If your midpoint is before 3:30 AM then you’re a Lark. If it’s 3:30-5:30 AM you’re a third bird. Anything after 5:30 AM you’re an owl.

One thing I noticed after learning this is that for most people, our most productive window is right when you wake up.

I’m going to experiment with working as soon as a wake up and move things like working out later in the day where my schedule allows me to do so.

Would love to hear how you plan on changing your schedule after reading this?

P.S.

I’m doing FREE coaching calls for anyone looking to improve their motivation and overcome procrastination.

If that sounds like you, you can use this link to book a call with me. Looking forward to hearing from you.

I’ll see you all next week.

Cheers,

Ashvin