In today’s post, we will tell you a bit more about how to use your chronotype to hack your productivity. While personality tests can be fun, there is a lot that we can learn about ourselves, from our learning style to the best job for us. Are they always right? Not, but they used the largest amount of data to produce results most people will fit into.
Use Your Chronotype To Hack Your Productivity
You might know your Enneagram type, your Myers-Briggs four-letter code, and perhaps are a bit of a learning styles theorist – after all, the more you know about yourself, the better you can be.
All that said – if you are a dolphin trying to work in lion hours, you might run into some issues.
What Are Chronotypes?
Taking the night owl or early bird and expanding a little, we have the chronotypes. The bear, wolf, lion, and dolphin. Each of the animals has a wakeful time, sleeping time, and a high productivity time.
There are online personality tests that you can find that will help you to know your chronotype, and in the meantime, here is what you need to know about each.
Lion
One of the strictest with their sleep routine, and they are both early to bed and early to wake. Goal-driven, good sleepers and have the highest focus time between 8 am and midday. Being able to undertake and complete a substantial amount of work before lunch hits the table.
The afternoon slump can prove a challenge for lions, and a power nap after works wonders.
Dolphin
The dolphin is one of the rarest types, but that is because they survive on very little sleep. Dolphins might have some trouble waking up in the morning, but once they are up – they are up!
The most productive parts of the day for the dolphin are between 3 pm and 9 pm, and shortly after, they will want to go to bed.
Another trait of dolphins is that they may be described as scatterbrains. Dolphins are highly intelligent but they have trouble shutting off in the evening. Their best time to wake up is between midnight and 6 am.
Bear
The largest amount of the population will fit into the bear category. Bears have a continuous flow of energy throughout the day, without notable highs and lows. They don’t have an issue waking up, and they go to sleep pretty easily too.
Between 8 and 10 hours of sleep for a bear is essential. Assuming a wake-up time of 7 am and bedtime of 11 pm, the bear’s best working time is between 10 am and 2 pm.
The bear can only sustain their mellow all-day energy if they get the right amount of sleep, without which they will be grouchy and function less well.
Wolf
The wolf is what we would call a late worker, working their best between 5 pm and midnight. Likely waking up with relative ease between 7 and 8 am. The wolf tends to have two big bursts of creative energy – one at midday and one at about 6 pm – so they can work for long hours without letting up the pace.
Conclusion
Start to highlight the times that you work best and see which of the chronotypes you are, and start to dedicate your focus periods within those time slots. Now that you know how to use your chronotype to hack your productivity, you can use it to your advantage to reach your business goals.
If you are yet to launch a business and are just exploiting options, your personality can have a huge impact on what you choose and why: Personality Traits to Start A Business.