Organize your day around your energy, not your inbox
Many people organize their day around incoming emails, meetings imposed on them, or messages that come in nonstop.
The problem is that this way of organizing ignores a central factor: your biological energy.
To wrap up the calendar topic, let's talk about a key element to structure your schedule better: your biological rhythm.
What is the circadian rhythm, exactly?
Your circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour biological cycle, driven by a small clock in the brain, in the hypothalamus area.
That clock is made of around 10,000 neurons whose electrical activity oscillates throughout the day.
It regulates a large part of our biological functions:
- body temperature
- organ function
- memory consolidation during sleep
- and above all... your level of alertness and attention
That's what determines your biological energy peak.
Not everyone has the same energy peak
Unfortunately, that peak doesn't happen at the same time for everyone.
Some people are at their best very early in the morning, others around midday, others late at night.
That's exactly why it's essential to know when during the day you're most effective.
If you know your peak, you can:
- reserve that time for tasks that require the most focus
- keep low-energy moments for lighter or routine tasks
Go beyond "I'm a morning person" or "I'm a night person"
You probably already have an intuition about your profile.
But you can be much more precise.
There is a scientific test called the Horne-Ostberg test, designed by two Swedish researchers.
This questionnaire determines your chronotype in detail:
- definitely morning
- moderately morning
- neutral
- moderately evening
- definitely evening
In a few minutes, you can identify your biological energy peak precisely.
Adapt your calendar concretely
Once your chronotype is identified, the goal is simple: adapt your calendar to your energy, not the other way around.
If you're more of a morning person:
- avoid filling your mornings with meetings
- block your deep work blocks in the morning
- move appointments and exchanges to the afternoon
That's where timeboxing really shines.
On the other hand, if your energy peak is later in the day:
- accept doing demanding tasks later
- use mornings for meetings or simple tasks
- don't force yourself to mirror other people's schedules
There is no universal model
When we ran this test in companies, we noticed something interesting:
there were roughly as many morning, midday, and evening profiles.
We expected more "morning" profiles, probably because that model is culturally valued, especially by books like The Miracle Morning.
Morning work has real advantages: fewer interruptions, clearer mind, fewer incoming requests.
But if your biology says something else, it's what you should listen to.
Work with your body, not against it
Trying to be productive while fighting your biological rhythm is exhausting and counterproductive.
On the other hand, organizing your calendar around your energy helps you:
- focus more easily
- produce higher quality work
- end your day with less fatigue
Combined with good calendar management, for example with a zebra calendar (or not), it's a simple but extremely powerful lever.
One email a day.
No pressure.
Just what matters.