There are many definitions of different
cycles. The main definition for your purpose is: ”a course or
series of events or operations that recur regularly and usually lead
back to the starting point. Everything and everyone have their own
natural cycles. You can also talk about natural rhytms. The longer the
cycle, the less people are aware of its existence. The lengths of the
cycles have lots of variation. One of the shortest cycles is
breathing. Exhaling and Inhaling is a whole cycle. The longest ones
can take decades like longer term debt cycles. There is a lot to say about
cycles. And right now, we will cover only basics in terms of personal
life, expertise, and other things, through the viewpoint of
individuals. In this text, we are concentrating mostly on the daily
cycle.
A typical cycle has it´s ups and
downs
You can see a one
normal sine wave cycle in the picture below. The purpose is not to
teach mathematics or physics. The idea is to look at the wave cycle
and think about what it really means in terms of individuals. Here is
the link for the picture.
What you really see is that every cycle
has its starting point and the end point. In reality, all the cycles
are not the same. Only principles stay the same. The length and the
depth of the upper part and the lower part of the cycles vary. For
example, focus on the day´s tasks has variation during the day. The
wave in the picture is not a perfect description for it. What really
happens is that after a good sleep, you probably still function below the mid point of our ability to focus. Without sleeping you would definitely be in the bottom of the focus cycle. There is no way
of maintaining the highest focus throughout the day. If you try to do
it too long, the fall from the top to the bottom will be faster and
the recovery will be longer. The bottom of the cycle will also be
deeper. The most important thing about performance cycles is that you need to maximize the usefulness and the lenght of the upper part of
the cycle and minimize the damage done in the bottom of the cycle and
it´s length. There are certain limits you cannot overcome and we
need to be aware of them.
The upper part of the cycle is for
the most important things, sleep is the exception
The length of the
upper part of the cycle matters, but you cannot keep ourselves in the
upper part of the cycle forever, no matter what you are talking about.
Going too far in lengthening the upper part of the cycle will create
the worst damage. And the bottom part of the cycle will be much
longer. Practicing will make the upper part longer and the lower part
shorter. Temporarily, you can stay longer in the upper part of the
cycle. For example, you can work overtime for days or sometimes even
longer. Eventually, the quality of the work will be so poor that you have already moved to the lower part of the cycle. You may have not
noticed it and there is the danger of going too far. The result of
this is lots of damage.
You need to
maximize the good things during the upper part of the cycle. You should reserve the times for the most important things for it. The
most important tasks at work should be done during the highest part
of the cycle. The biggest decisions should be made only during this
time. Buying a house or other big expenses should be considered then.
Practicing a new skill should also be done only during the best hours
of the day. The right nerve fiber chains need to be strengthened. The
probability of this happening is the greatest during the best hours.
If it is not possible during these hours, you should improve our
skills during the next best hours like early in the evening after
having a break from work.
The lower part of the cycle is for
the less important things and recovery
You need to minimize the bad things
during the lower part of the cycle. The lower part of the cycle is
also for the less important things. You shouldn´t start anything
important after utilizing the full force of the upper part of the
cycle. Eventually, you will move to lower part of the performance cycle. You have some less important things to do during the day, or you are lying to yourself. When the ability to perform have diminished, you can start doing things that do not really matter, like watching
TV, surfing the web, or checking our mails. You should do these things
when we are not efficient. For most of us, this means during the last
working hours or the evenings.
The lower part of the performance cycle
should also be used for recovering from the performance of the upper
part of the cycle. It is not the question of ”should you do it?” You must do it. The upper part of the cycle has a limited length. It
depends on your mental and physical abilities, but even the people
with the greatest abilities have their limits. Ninety minutes of full
concentration is the natural limit. Then we need to have a break. It
should be used for recovery This ninety minute cycle is called the Basic Rest-Activity Cycle (BRAC). People with greatest abilities need
shorter breaks. Ability to recover faster is one of the clearest
signs of an expert in any physical field. This works well with mental
expertise too, but it is harder to notice.
The best way to recover is sleeping. You cannot always do that, but you should at least aim for it. Top
performers sleep a lot. Especially, in any physical expertise like in
sports. They need to sleep more to recover after their work outs.
Most of the top performers in physical fields take naps and sleep
longer hours than normal people. It is a necessity for them. Sleeping
enough is good for you. Whether you are an expert in physical or
mental field. It is one of the less well used tool for achieving
better performance. Some other ways of recovering is getting your
glucose level optimal by eating a correct amount of good nutrition
and getting some fresh air during the day while doing some kind of
exercise. Latter may not be possible, but the former is for everyone.
Planning your days by optimizing your
daily cycles
This plan is for
the people with normal daily cycles. Sleeping well and enough should
be our top priorities. It is the best way to recover after
yesterday´s loads. It is actually the only way. It boostsy our
performance during the next day. You cannot be a top performer right after you have woken up. Your most productive hours are probably 2-4 hours after
that. Before getting into the most productive hours, you should
prepare yourself for top performance and you can also do some less
important things, whatever they may be. You should use your most
productive hours for the most important things. And you should have at
least a small break or a lunch after ninety minutes of working with
high intensity and focus. Then you can repeat the high intensity work
for another 90 minutes.
Some people can
still manage the high intensity work for a while after another break.
For most people, the daily limit of productive high intensity work is
only three hours. Most people do not really believe this and they
think they can work longer with the same intensity and focus, but it
is a lie people tell themselves. They can still work by doing the
less important things, but the intensity won´t be the same. It is
not so important what you do after working as long as it is not
destroying the recovery period. The optimal way is to accelerate the
recovery by exercising, relaxing and sleeping enough. Doing things
that feel great is the best way after sleeping to recover from the
working day´s efforts.
Take care,
-TT
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