Recently, Heloise and I attended one of our Mastermind events.

These are where we discover cutting-edge new product ideas and marketing techniques, shared by top experts from around the world.

Often, they’re held in glamorous overseas locations like Miami Beach.

But this time we were in rainy old England.

Not to say that it wasn’t fancy though.

It all happened in the posh hotel, Coworth House, in Sunningdale, near Ascot.

If you can imagine regal 18th Century buildings, sprawled among vast lawns, with stables, a spa and a helicopter pad….

Then you’ll get the picture!

Anyway, among the many interesting talks about business and marketing….

I was struck by one presentation all about biology.

Which might sound weird in a business context…

But actually, it’s relevant to a lot of people who try to start and run a business – particularly in the winter months.

The Circadian Problem

What the speaker was talking about, specifically, was the biology of the ‘body clock’.

This is also known as the ‘circadian clock’.

It describes the way your body and mind move through different rhythms throughout any given day.

The clock influences when you feel awake and tired… when you are most alert and capable… and when you are at your most sluggish…

These processes are happening in your brain…

In your organs…

And even the bacterial life of your body, known as your microbiome.

In fact, almost all of life on Earth evolved inner clocks, based on the twenty-four-hour cycle of the planet’s rotation.

So your body clock is set primarily by light and darkness.

For instance, when daylight hits your eyes, it sends a signal to your brain that it needs to become alert and wakeful.

In response, your body releases hormones like cortisol, dopamine and serotonin.

Then as darkness descends that same serotonin is converted into melatonin, the hormone that signals to your brain that it’s night-time. At this point, your alertness and motivation will naturally start to drop.

The problem is that modern life doesn’t always roll with the natural rhythms of day and night. Especially in winter, when it gets dark so early in the afternoon.

Instead, we tend to run our lives according to mechanical and digital clock time.

Things have to be done according to work deadlines, opening hours, rush hours and school hours…

These artificially imposed systems aren’t always aligned with our natural circadian rhythms.

Which means we often have to work when we’re tired… or the most energetic phases of the day get wasted on unimportant tasks.

You might have noticed this?

Sometimes, when you sit down to work on a home business task it feels like everything flows… your inner motivational engine is whirring… and your brain is fizzing with ideas.

Other times, it’s like wading through treacle.

You feel mentally slow, lacking in motivation, and struggling for ideas.

This is probably because you’re working against your natural biological rhythms. You’re trying to force creativity and intense focus at times of day when your chemistry is shutting you down.

However, if you get to know your body clock, you can stop fighting the chemistry and ‘go with the flow’.

Here’s a guideline…

Morning: The Cortisol Peak

Your levels of cortisol naturally surge within 2–4 hours after waking up in the morning.

This boosts your alertness while your dopamine levels are also at their highest.

It means that you feel much more motivated and driven to strive for ‘rewards’ (i.e. those satisfying hits of pleasure when you achieve something).

At this time of the day, you should focus on mentally taxing tasks like writing content and sales copy, doing design projects, making high stakes trading decisions or creating digital products.

Avoid checking emails or doing basic administrative work that wastes this window of peak focus window.

Early Afternoon: The Adenosine Dip

Adenosine is a hormone that continues to build up in your body the longer you’re awake. As it increases it makes you feel gradually more tired and sleepy.

This is why most people experience a natural dip in alertness in the early afternoon, usually somewhere between 1pm and 3pm.

A lot of people call this the “post-lunch slump” but it can happen even if you don’t eat lunch at all.

Ideally, you should use this time for writing and answering emails, doing market research, sifting through online content, or updating your social media.

Late Afternoon: The Serotonin Second Wind

Later in the afternoon, serotonin stabilises your mood, while a peak in your body temperature boosts your physical and mental energy.

So around 3-5pm is a great time for brainstorming, and creative problem solving, as well as any exercise or jobs where you have to do something that’s physically demanding.

Evening: The Melatonin Wind-Down

After 5pm (in winter) your melatonin levels will begin to rise with the onset of darkness, signalling your brain to wind down and prepare for sleep.

This is a nice time to read, follow educational courses, listen to podcasts, plan out content or schedule jobs in your calendar.

How to Work When You’re At Your Best

Now, at this point, you might be thinking:

“That’s all well and good. But I don’t actually get to choose when I work!”

And that’s fair.

I know that you are probably fitting in a home business project around other commitments… day jobs, night shifts, kids, caring responsibilities, pets, household chores, and whatever else life happens to throw at you.

But even if you can’t choose WHEN you work, you can choose WHAT kind of work you do at that time.

For instance, instead of sitting down at 8pm and expecting your brain to be as sharp and creative as it was at 9am, you can go a little easier on yourself.

It might not be the best moment for writing sales copy from scratch but it could be a good time for planning content, or watching training videos.

Likewise, if you only get a short window in the morning before work, then don’t waste it on emails or scrolling through social media.

Instead, use it for a more important, high-focus creative task – even if it’s only for 30 minutes.

And if you do have a day off at the weekend, then you can consider scheduling demanding jobs at the ideal times.

The key is to be aware that you aren’t constantly operating at the same level, day and night. So try not to despair when you have a disappointing work session.

Give it another try at a different time the next day and see if it makes a difference.

On that note, I’d be interested to know if you have struggles with focus – or you can’t seem to find the time to work on projects when you’re at your best.

I may have some more ideas about ways you can manage your body clock!