Ah, work meetings. Sometimes you go into them feeling alert, positive, and ready to tackle any challenges that arise, and sometimes you...don't. Many factors can affect how we show up to a meeting, some of which are out of our control. However, emerging research is finding that there is one manageable thing that can really make or break a meeting for all parties involved, and that's its timing.
How to sync meetings with your circadian clock.
It turns out that the ideal meeting time may not be dictated by the clocks that sit on the wall or computer screen, but our internal clocks, or circadian rhythms.
The average circadian clock lasts for around 24.18 hours, syncing up nicely with the external clocks we all live by. However, these internal clocks differ slightly from person to person. Someone with a longer circadian clock will likely want to stay up later and sleep in later than someone with a shorter clock. (Feel free to blame your snooze button habit on your personal rhythm from now on!)