DEVELOPMENT
our daily energy levels. Around 14 percent of the
population are what researchers refer to as Larks.
They are stereotypical ‘morning people’.
At the other end are Owls, which represent
another 21 percent of the population. Owls have
their peak productivity after most of us have had
dinner and quite often, well into the night. If you
can’t relate to either extreme, you are probably
a Middle Bird. In general, Middle Birds tend to
follow the energy patterns of a Lark, albeit a
couple of hours delayed.
Whatever your Chronotype, you need to start
pro-actively structuring your days to align with
your energy levels. Larks often work best when
they can start work at 6am, while Owls are better
placed to not arrive at work until lunch.
Why we need
to redesign
our workdays
As organisations slowly move away from the
nine-to-five workday, it’s now more important
than ever to work out when you are most
productive, writes Dr Amantha Imber
THE EXPERT
Dr Amantha Imber is the
Founder of Inventium,
Australia’s leading
innovation consultancy
and the host of How I
Work, a podcast about
the habits and rituals
of the world’s most
successful innovators
You would be hard pressed to find a company
that isn’t talking about or offering flexible work
arrangements.
Yet despite this, most of us are still expected to
be at the office (or logging on to our computers)
by around 9am and stay connected until 5pm (or
later). Working roughly between the hours of nine
to five remains the default that no one dares to
challenge too strongly.
And within these eight hours, little thought is
given to the type of task and what time of day it is
completed. Our days are designed reactively.
We let people schedule meetings in our diary,
we check our email constantly throughout the
day and let other people’s requests control what
we do.And then we wonder, “What did I actually
achieve today?”
But what we know from psychology is that
forcing people to work within this default and
allowing our days to be reactive is setting our
workdays up for failure. Here are some methods
to dramatically improve your work performance
through re-designing the workday.
Work to your Chronotype
We are not all created equal when it comes to
Schedule “Deep Work” at your peak time
According to Professor Cal Newport, there are
two modes of working that knowledge workers
can engage in. The first type of work is Deep
Work. This is work that is cognitively demanding
and to do it well, requires focus and a lack of
interruptions.
The second type of work is Shallow Work. This
is work that is non-cognitively demanding, like
answering emails and administrative tasks.
Because digital distractions and interruptions
are rife in today’s working world, the majority of
us spend our days in Shallow Work and try to fit
the Deep Work in amongst it.
Bringing these concepts together, Larks and
Middle Birds perform best when they schedule
Deep Work for the morning. All digital distractions
and communication channels should be switched
off. Owls do their best Deep Work in the evening
or at night, ironically, when no one is expected to
be in the office.
Schedule Shallow Work for the afternoon
When it comes to Shallow Work, Larks and
Middle Birds should schedule this for their
afternoons. Meetings that don’t require deep
thinking are also good to schedule in the
afternoons.
For Owls, given their days essentially run in
reverse, Shallow Work can be done in the middle
of the day, when their energy is not firing like it
does at night.
Productive Larks and Middle Birds will batch
email and communication checking for the
afternoons. Blocking out an hour or so to clear
your inbox is a great use of your afternoons, but a
waste of precious brain power in the morning.
So while flexible work policies are great, design
your workday (and those of your team) based on
getting the most out of people’s brains and natural
circadian rhythms. S
www.inventium.com.au
Issue 2 2019 | Chief of Staff 55