Research demonstrates that your body’s 24-hour circadian rhythm – which is a fancy term for your activity/sleep cycle – breaks down even further into smaller 90- to 120-minute cycles called the “ultradian rhythm” that occur during your waking hours. Whereas it’s easy to see and feel the phases of the circadian rhythm (because you’re awake during the active phase and asleep in the rest phase), the ultradian rhythm is not as obvious but just as important to your overall health and success.
I’m pretty sure that most of you think that when you’re awake your body is fully on, and when you’re asleep your body is totally turned off. Well, think again. In fact, scientists have known for years that the human sleep pattern cycles from light sleep (when dreaming occurs) to deep sleep and back again roughly every two hours throughout the night. Now new research shows that our waking life also experiences a natural ebb and flow of energy every hour and a half or so throughout the day.
According to Jim Loehr in his book The Power of Full Engagement, your body’s physiological signs such as heart rate, hormone levels, muscle tension and brain-wave activity all increase during the first part of the cycle, as does your alertness. And then after an hour or so, these measures start to decline. Somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes, the body begins to crave a period of rest and recovery. The signals include a desire to yawn and stretch, hunger pangs, increased tension, difficulty concentrating, and an inclination to procrastinate or fantasize. Not to mention, you’re at a higher risk of making mistakes.
Does that sound familiar? Does it feel familiar?
Of course it does! These rhythms are part of human nature and affect everyone, whether you’re aware of it or not. But by learning to understand your own cycles, you will always be in a position to seize opportunities – and never miss opportunities – through timely revitalization of your energy throughout the day. So don’t beat yourself up for yawning, dozing off, spacing out, or freaking out when you naturally dip below a comfortable energy level at mid-morning and early afternoon. Just take that cue as the perfect time to reenergize with one of my high-energy prescription strategies that really work.
Being an athlete all my life, I’ve always been attuned to my body and listened closely to its signs and signals. I realized early in life that I could attack any situation (a meeting, speech, business deal, entertainment event, meet-and-greet, presentation, negotiation, athletic endeavor or travel) for a stretch of 90 to 120 minutes with the pedal-to-the-medal physically, mentally, and emotionally. But then I’d need a rest period. A timeout. A time to recharge my batteries so that I could resume my attack for the rest of the day and night with ample energy. My staff, customers, guests, and clients may never have noticed the change in my attention span, body language, posture, or creative power as the cycle switched but I surely did.
In all of my business endeavors, beginning with the development of Sports Physical Therapists - which was a 525-employee corporation - I never allowed a meeting to last more than 90 minutes. It was a hard and fast 90-minute rule, and you could schedule your watch accordingly. Because if in 90 minutes we couldn’t entertain concerns, questions, suggestions, directions, and directives on the matters at hand, then we were not doing our job properly from the get-go. Plus, I knew that I would fade out and start to fantasize and daydream around the 90-minute mark, and my notes would magically transform into doodles! I didn’t learn until much later that my effective meeting planning was timed coincidently with my body’s internal housekeeping via the psycho-biological ultradian rhythm. -- PC |
