Are you a morning or evening person? Studies show we have strong differences in when we feel most creative and do our best work during the day.
These differences go far deeper than just personal preference. Whether you like to get up early (a “lark”) or go to bed late (an “owl”), and when you are more productive, is a biological predisposition related to the settings of your internal body clock that synchronises your bodily functions with the rotation of the planet.
Research suggests genetic effects account for about half of the variability between individuals. Environmental factors and age explain the rest.
Yet most workplaces take a cookie-cutter approach to time, forcing us to work standardised hours. There are clear organisational advantages to this, but the disadvantage is that you (and your colleagues) may not be working at your most productive times.
In the past few years we’ve seen a revolution in where we work. The enforced experiment of remote working during the pandemic has done much to overcome decades of managerial resistance to greater flexibility. Is it now time for a revolution in when we work?
If done well, my research suggests, it could lead be the next big gain in productivity – but only if the downsides are acknowledged and competing needs balanced.
Variations in chronotypes
Differences in the human body clock are often referred to as chronotypes.
Chronotypes exist on a morningness-eveningness continuum but individuals are often broadly classified based on the timing of their daily performance peaks as either morning types, evening types or intermediate types.
Most kids are morning types. Most teenagers are evening types. In the working-age population about 20% can be categorised as either morning or evening types while 60% are intermediate types.
Women are slightly more likely to prefer earlier hours than men up until menopause, when differences disappear. People who live further from the Equator are more likely to be evening types.
Women are more likely to prefer earlier hours to men up until menopause, when sex differences in chronotypes disappear.
Chronotypes determine when during the day we feel energised and prefer to be active and perform demanding work. They also determine when we feel tired and prefer to work on less demanding tasks or to rest. So they are important to to productive you are.
If you’re a lark, you may be missing your best hours working 9am to 5pm. If you’re an owl you may be knocking off when you’re at your most alert.
The pros and cons of time flexibility
Could greater work-time flexibility be the next big key to unlock greater well-being and productivity? My research suggests yes, but only by acknowledging that increased work-time flexibility can also lead to negative consequences.
The downside – particularly if time flexibility is combined with remote working – is less interaction with colleagues, leading to greater isolation and lower creativity and innovation.
The benefits of “serendipity” – unplanned hallway and cafeteria discussions – are well-recognised. The less time we spend with coworkers, the less likely we are to connect, make friendships and develop team spirit.
But these problems are no more insurmountable than the challenges of remote work.There are comparatively easy ways to mitigate unintended side-effects through designing work-time arrangements that balance individual and organisational interests.
How to manage chronotype diversity
The key is for organisations to segment work time into four parts.
Increased work flexibility is one of the few positive outcomes of the pandemic. But revolutions are rarely smooth. We have to be conscious of the potential pitfalls to avoid them.
Through careful attention to unintended consequences, and developing new work structures, there’s no reason to think we can’t have more flexibility over where and when we work.