First thing in the morning can be a great time to do some of your toughest mental tasks.
At work, a calendar filled with meetings and deadlines often dictates the cadence of our days.
But despite what tightly-timed agendas might try to insist, our internal body clocks are secretly running the show. Scientists call this personalized, daily pattern of sleep and wakefulness a circadian rhythm.
Whether you know it or not, our bodies have a specific, set programming schedule for the best time of day to concentrate, spark new ideas, and experience peak performance.
Scientists have tracked how cognitive abilities rise and fall, and found that most of our brains follow a neatly predictable pattern of cognition that fluctuates hour by hour, throughout the course of a day.
Author Daniel Pink revealed his formula for a perfect, science-backed workday in his 2018 New York Times bestseller "When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing."
The strategy for your own perfect day might differ from this (depending on if you're more of an early riser or a night owl), but in his book, Pink reveals a basic formula for a better work schedule, whatever time of day you tend to plug in. We've added in a few other science-backed ways to make your workday better, too.
Take a look.