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How To Schedule Your Day & Night Around Your Circadian Peaks
Just like the watch on your wrist, your body itself is a reliable timepiece. This internal clock—or circadian rhythm—keeps vital biological processes like sleep and digestion running on track.
Your circadian rhythm runs on a roughly 24-hour cycle (the term circadian comes from the Latin circa, "around," and diem, "day") and is primarily affected by light and darkness. However, factors like stress, temperature, and physical activity can also cause your inner clock to jump ahead or turn back—leaving you tired, sluggish, and mentally foggy, similar to how you might feel after changing time zones. When your clock is in sync with your surroundings, you're more likely to be energized during the day, tired at night, and able to fall into a deep sleep.
While everybody's rhythm (and ability to cater to it) is a bit different, there are a few habits that can help most of us reinforce this tremendous timekeeper within. Here's what the latest available science says about the ideal times to eat, exercise, work, and sleep for your circadian clock.
Note: This schedule is for people who are awake during the day. Night shift workers or those who need to stay up at night can pick up personalized tips here.
Morning:
Get some light first thing: Since the circadian clock is primarily dictated by light, starting the day off outside (or at least, in front of a window) can help get yours off to a strong start. By getting sunlight first thing in the morning, you are "entraining" your rhythm to your environment, sending a strong message to your body that another day has begun and it's time to wake up. Research shows that just five minutes of sunlight is enough to impact the circadian clock1, so get into the routine of taking a short walk around your neighborhood (even if it's cloudy out!) upon waking for optimal mood and energy in the morning.
Schedule mentally demanding tasks during your circadian peak: You'll want to schedule your most cognitively challenging tasks for the hours when your brain is the most alert. And according to circadian researcher and author of The Circadian Code, Satchin Panda Ph.D., for most people, that's between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. As Panda writes in his book, though everyone's clock is a bit different, the vast majority of us will get our best thinking done within this window and should be planning our work, studying, etc., accordingly.
Be consistent with breakfast: Our circadian clocks thrive on routine. When we eat meals at roughly the same time every day2, our body responds by prioritizing digestion during these hours. Breakfast is our first (and perhaps, most important) opportunity to entrain the circadian rhythm using food, so try to keep the timing of yours relatively consistent.
Afternoon:
Be gentle on yourself: Your energy will likely dwindle in the early afternoon as you approach to end of your peak hours. This is just the way your clock is wired—and there's no point in fighting it. Instead, work with your rhythm and reserve the hours after 3 p.m. for your less urgent tasks. If you struggle to even get those done, try taking a walk outside for a jolt of energizing light and a quick mood boost3. Getting the body moving, especially right after your midday meal, can also help combat drowsiness and blood sugar spikes.
Exercise in the late afternoon or early evening: While exercising at any time of the day is a healthy habit, you may get the most out of your workout between the hours of 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Our muscles and cartilage4 have internal clocks of their own, and research suggests that several skeletal muscle groups—from our forearms to our hamstrings—tend to exhibit maximum strength during these hours, potentially due to the timed release of the muscle-regulating protein MyoD5. (However, it's worth noting that many of these studies have been conducted on young men, so there could be a sex and age component that's unaccounted for.) Working out during these hours—even if it's just for 10-15 minutes—could also provide a nice energy boost to carry you into the evening.
Evening:
Eat dinner at least three hours before bed: Your circadian clock ideally lines up with the sun, making the sunset a visual cue that your body also wants to start settling down for the night. The name of the game during the nighttime hours is to avoid stimulating activities that will interrupt your body's wind-down processes; eating included! Aim to wrap up dinner at least three hours before you plan to go to bed to support a healthy circadian rhythm (and deeper sleep, by extension).
Resist the temptation to work or look at screens: As Panda writes in The Circadian Code, "There's no way you can be productive and tired at the same time." While working late into the night may seem like a necessary evil during busy time periods, circadian science shows that you're better off just prioritizing sleep and waking up early to do it the next morning, when you'll be more attentive and productive. Working late can not only trigger the release of cortisol and other stress hormones that disrupt sleep, but the blue light emitted by phone and laptop screens can trick your brain into thinking it's earlier in the day than it is, further delaying sleep. Finding tech-free nightly activities is especially important for night owls, who are naturally inclined to push back their bedtimes.
Wind down and relax in darkness: We all have the opportunity to strategically take in light during the day for the sake of our circadian rhythms. The hours leading up to bed are our time to shut out light and craft a dark environment that sends the signal that it's time to sleep. You can do so by using dim lamps (or even candles) at night and keeping bright lighting and electronics to a minimum. Find the lowest amount of light that allows you to see comfortably before bed. Then, by the time total lights-out comes around, your body will be ready to embrace a deep sleep—and all the physical6, mental7, and emotional benefits8 that come with it.
The takeaway
Try following this loose schedule every day for a week or so, and see if you can feel the difference in the ebb and flow of your mood and energy. Of course, optimizing your circadian rhythm is not a full-time job (if only!), and life is bound to derail you every once in a while. And that's OK: Just do your best with the day that's presented to you and know that one slip-up is no big deal. After all, your clock will reset again tomorrow.
8 Sources
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6751071/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10528427/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30173913/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nrrheum.2015.183
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4545213/#
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5385214/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3763921/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33367799/
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