How to Biohack Your Circadian Rhythms and Achieve Peak Mental Performance Discover how understanding your circadian rhythms can dramatically improve your performance on complex mental tasks.
By Aytekin Tank Edited by Kara McIntyre
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Almost every morning, I force myself out of bed to hit the gym before work. On pitch-dark winter mornings, I can't help but feel like I'm going against nature. In a way I am — it's no secret that light is one of the most significant modulators of our circadian rhythms. If I happen to be working from Jotform's headquarters in San Francisco just after daylight saving time starts each spring, the groggy feeling is stronger than ever.
While daylight savings may guarantee more sunlight at the end of the day, it also means darker mornings. That's why many sleep experts didn't agree with the U.S. Senate when it proposed to implement daylight saving time year-round (and as of the writing of this story, the so-called "Sunshine Protection Act" is still in limbo). Sunnier evenings may boost spending, but they don't necessarily boost health or cognitive function.
The good news is that circadian rhythms are a matter of nature and nurture. There are simple behavioral tweaks we can make to optimize our cognitive performance based on our innate 24-hour cycles. As CEO of Jotform, a company that collaborates across various time zones, I try to be aware of the latest findings from circadian experts so I can do my best work wherever I am and encourage our team members to do the same. Here are some truths about circadian rhythms that have important implications for your thinking and productivity.
Related: I Biohacked My Way to Better Mood, Sleep and Job Performance — and You Can, Too. Here's How.
Low on self-awareness
If you, like me, are curious about the daily habits of great thinkers throughout history, you can probably rattle off a half dozen very successful people who swear by waking up very early: Ernest Hemingway, Georgia O'Keeffe and Frank Lloyd Wright to name a few. There may be some truth to the connection between being an early riser and being prolific, but some studies suggest that performance may be better later in the day.
For starters, a growing body of research shows that for most people, peak physical performance actually happens later in the afternoon or evening — as the New York Times notes, most world records are broken in the evening, a fact that professional sports teams take to heart in organizing their schedules.
Recent research has also shown a link between cognition and the earth's dark/light cycle. It's fair to assume that the brain's learning mechanisms function better when it's light out, and worse when it's dark. This would suggest that dark mornings are, in fact, better spent on the treadmill than engaging in certain cognitive functions, like memorizing or learning something new.
The truth is that we're oftentimes unaware of when our minds are sharpest — and when they're dull. In studies focusing on people whose circadian rhythms were disrupted (for example, by working at night), people admitted to being sleepy, but didn't realize they were also performing worse cognitively.
To cultivate more self-awareness and figure out when you should schedule your most cognitively demanding work, I recommend mapping out your "magic hours." Spend a few days taking note of how you're feeling — alertness, concentration, comprehension, recall — when you're engaged in cognitive tasks.
Remember: Mental energy peaks and dips throughout the day are completely normal. The trick is mapping out your own rhythms and working with them while being mindful of the fact that your brain will likely work better once you get some daylight.
Related: Use This Hack to Schedule Important Tasks for When You're Most Productive
Ongoing, consistent habits are key
You might be wondering: How does daylight have such a profound effect on circadian rhythms?
In short, our 24-hour sleep cycles are regulated by an area in the brain's hypothalamus called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which coordinates the release of hormones like dopamine — the sleepy hormone. The retina is directly connected to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, so when light hits the eye, it impacts the cycle.
Lesser known, however, is that our circadian rhythms aren't quite as sensitive as we might imagine. Recently, researchers discovered a protein, Tenm3, that stabilizes our circadian rhythms. This explains why one cloudy day doesn't completely overhaul our sleep schedule.
The key, then, for optimizing circadian rhythms and getting quality shut-eye is to be consistent — going to bed and waking up at the same time. Sleep experts go so far as to advise against sleeping in on the weekends. Carleara Weiss, a sleep specialist and research assistant professor at the University at SUNY Buffalo, told the New York Post, "Sleeping in on the weekends leads to social jet lag and causes difficulty concentrating, fatigue, irritability and headaches."
One night of staying up late before the blue light of a Netflix series won't destroy a week's worth of sleep. But the idea is to make those sleep-disrupting behaviors an anomaly, rather than a habit.
When it comes to sleep, duration isn't everything
If you've read any of the latest articles on biohacking, then you've probably heard of "polyphasic" sleeping. It's a new trend that involves sleeping in small increments of two or three hours at night and taking a nap during the day. Ultimately, the duration of sleep is the same but the architecture is different. I tried it once but found it impractical to consistently squeeze in the requisite daytime nap. It ultimately left me feeling mentally sluggish and unable to concentrate.
As it turns out, sleep experts agree that sleep architecture is important for cognitive processes. How we sleep matters just as much as how long we sleep. If your nighttime slumber is fragmented, disrupting your REM and NREM sleep, then your daytime cognitive function will be impaired. And just as in my experience with polyphasic sleep, you'll likely feel groggy, too.
I'm all for experimenting with the latest biohacks, but when it comes to sleep, there's a strong case for sticking with the traditionally prescribed goal of eight (uninterrupted) hours a night.
Related: 3 Morning Habits That Will Dramatically Improve Your Sleep (and Workday)
Final thoughts
Sleep is the most natural activity, but for many entrepreneurs, it's also a subject fraught with anxiety. Understanding circadian rhythms can help us to better quality sleep, which promotes better cognitive functioning. This is critical when it comes to the "big stuff" — more meaningful work that requires your deepest focus.
The good news is that we don't have to invest in electrodes or an expensive magnetic sleep pad to optimize our circadian rhythms. Cultivating some awareness of your energy cycles and developing consistent sleep-promoting habits are probably more effective, not to mention, 100% free.
