This morning, I jumped out of bed at 5:30am.

No, not because of a fire alarm.

It was by choice – and I was more than happy to do it.

Some of my friends (and, for that matter, my entire family) think I’m a madman.

But I get up this early so I can go to the park for some high intensity training – with time to get back, shower, have a coffee and go through my emails.

This isn’t to show off, by any means…

And I’ll admit, I’ve not always been like this.

Most of my life, I considered myself a bit of a night owl…

Or at least, I often stayed up late to watch films, read and dabble in creative stuff…

But since I started doing high intensity training, I’ve discovered that I’m naturally more energetic, alert and focussed in the early morning.

That’s just me, of course …

Others may find the complete opposite to be true.

It all depends on your natural circadian rhythms.

You see, we all have a ‘body clock’ – an internal mechanism of hormones and electrical signals which dictate your sleep-wake patterns and energy levels throughout the day.

These aren’t the same for everyone.

You might be a ‘lark’ who operates best in the morning, or a ‘night owl’ who’s better suited to the evening.

Whatever’s the case, it’s something you can harness to become more productive.

For instance, according to a new study published in the journal Open Heart, if you want to get the most out of a gym session or a run, you should do it at the time of day that best suits your body clock.

Volunteers in the study who did this enjoyed better sleep, lower blood pressure and healthier blood sugar levels.

(You can read more about this study on the BBC website here].

This confirmed that my morning fitness sessions are right for my chronotype.

And it got me thinking about how this principle could help you become more productive in your home business projects – by working for LESS time!

The Benefit of Energy Optimisation

Most people track the amount of time they spend on a project as a measurement of progress and success.

For example, you might say “I worked 6 hours today” and feel – rightfully – proud.

But what does that actually mean?

Time is only a broad measurement describing how long you were sat at your computer.

What you actually produce in those six hours could be highly variable, depending on how much energy and focus you put into the work.

Those six hours could be filled with procrastination, distraction, and sluggish work – delivering sloppy results that don’t really progress you towards your goal.

In which case, it’s actually better to enjoy three hours of focussed work that delivers something decent.

In fact, even ONE HOUR of work at your energetic peak is worth SIX hours of struggling through brain fog.

So really it’s not about how much time you have spare to work on a major project.

It’s about how much energy and focus you apply at the RIGHT time of day or night to make the most of it.

If you want a quick introduction to this idea, then last year I wrote about how to understand your ‘chronotype’ to become more productive at the right time of day.

You can read it here: Unlock Your Hidden Energy Peaks

But there’s more fine tuning you can do to get your body, mind and work projects in sync.

Because it’s not just a question of “should I schedule work for the evening, the morning or the afternoon?”

Those only tap into your broad circadian cycles.

You might not have the luxury of choosing what time or day or night you work on a second income project (especially if you have a full time job!)

So it’s important to know that there’s another rhythm running underneath your circadian one.

It consists of multiple peaks and troughs throughout the day and night, known as ‘ULTRADIAN RHYTHMS’.

How to Ride Your Energy Peaks and Troughs

The ultradian rhythm was first spotted by a researcher called Nathaniel Kleitmann – the same smart fellow who discovered the science of REM sleep.

He noticed that during the night, we cycle through light sleep, deep sleep and dreams roughly every 90 minutes.

And this same rhythm keeps running during the day, too.

Every 90 minutes or so, your body hits a peak of alertness…. followed by a dip of around 15 to 20 minutes where your energy drops off a cliff.

You might have noticed some of the signals yourself…..

A yawn out of nowhere…

Your vision goes out of focus while reading…

Your mind wanders mid-sentence…

An urge to stand up and stretch…

A sudden drop in motivation…

Most people treat these signals as things they could – and SHOULD – override at all costs.

They go and make a strong tea or coffee, then push through with sheer willpower.

And yes, this seems like the right thing to do.

It shows you’re serious about your goal and committed to getting there… through thick and thin…. no matter how tough the going gets.

BUT IT’S A MISTAKE!

Because those sudden troughs in energy aren’t down to a faulty mechanism.

They’re signals from your nervous system, telling you that it needs some time to reset.

Ignore these signals, and your next peak in energy, 90 minutes later, will be weaker, and less productive.

The more you override the troughs, the lower your peaks get…

Until you are pretty much flatlining… sitting at your desk for hours, never quite getting anything meaningful done.

So here’s how to avoid this problem…

The 90-Minute Reset Rule

To harmonise with your Ultradian Rhythms, try working in blocks of about 90 minutes.

Then take a proper 20 minute break.

That doesn’t mean scrolling through your phone or switching on the TV.

Instead, do something that doesn’t involve screens, tech or media.

That might mean doing some stretches… taking a walk around the block… pottering in the garden… meditating… peeling some veg in prep for the evening meal… or simply looking out of the window.

Once the 20 minutes is up, go back to your computer and get going again.

You’ll be astonished how much more you get done in the next session.

And you should find that the quality of what you do is superior, too.

However, this is something you need to test.

We are all different, and your energy cycle might not be exactly 90 minutes.

For some people it can be 80 minutes.

For others it’s close to two hours.

So it’s worth spending a few days figuring out your own pattern.

Try this…

The Ultradian Test

When you next start a work session, note down the exact time you start (perhaps set a timer on your phone).

Now start working, as you’d normally do.

But keep going – don’t force yourself to have a break.

At some point you should notice the work starting to feel harder, or that you become more easily distracted.

Perhaps you’ve started to yawn, your eyes aren’t focussing on the screen, or you keep forgetting what you are doing.

These are signals that you’ve hit a trough.

Look at the time, then write it down, and reward yourself with a break.

Run this exercise a few more times over the week, jotting down the length of your work session before your energy and focus slumped.

Once you have three or more results you can work out an average time-scale.

That’s your ultradian rhythm!

Once you know it, you can start planning your most important work around it.

Schedule your hardest, most demanding, most creative tasks into the peaks…

Then make sure you add in a 20 minute break.

When you do have to work in an energy trough, make sure its just the easy tasks or undemanding jobs that don’t require much thought.

The result could be that you work fewer hours on your business projects without any drop in productivity.

Let me know if you try this test it works for you!