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&lt;p&gt;Making decisions—especially the kind that lead to high-quality outcomes—can be wearing. And any number of factors can affect your ability to do so—including the time of day that you&#39;re making those decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;While there&#39;s no shortage of tricks and tips to hack your way to more innovative thinking, timing is everything, says sleep doctor&#160;Dr. Michael&#160;Breus, author of&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://amzn.to/2gEAG51&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Power of When&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. He believes that working in sync with our body’s natural clock is the key to unlocking success to produce our best, most creative work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The science of &quot;good timing&quot;—called&#160;chronobiology—reveals peak performance is hardwired into our DNA. &quot;An inner clock embedded inside your brain has been ticking away, keeping perfect time, since you were a baby,&quot;&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4202872/The-best-times-argue-sleep-sex-fall-love.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;writes&lt;/a&gt;&#160;Breus, &quot;This precisely engineered timekeeper is called your circadian pacemaker, or biological clock.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So, the next time you&#39;re feeling mentally sluggish, try tapping into chronobiology to perform at your best in these areas:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Best Time to Learn Something New&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Learning is most effective when the brain is in acquisition mode, generally between 10:00 am to 2:00 p.m. and then again from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Night owls beware: think twice before pulling an&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/6-tips-for-great-sleep/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;all-nighter&lt;/a&gt;. The lowest learning valley occurs between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Best Time To Make a Decision&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The phrase &quot;sleep on it&quot; has persisted for a reason: we make our worst decisions late at night and first thing in the morning. Your&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/schedule-mental-maintenance-peak-performance/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;cognitive powers&lt;/a&gt;&#160;are strongest once your brain has a chance to shake off&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/napping/page/0/2&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;sleep inertia&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Save&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/the-perfectionists-guide-to-making-decisions-the-art-of-satisficing/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;important decisions&#160;&lt;/a&gt;for when you feel most alert, generally within one to three hours after waking up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Best Time To Brainstorm&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ironically, research has found that people are at their least creative when it&#39;s demanded the most: at the heart of the workday, between 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Breus suggests leaning into &quot;moments of groggy greatness&quot; when we&#39;re slightly tired and&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/6-signs-obsession-productivity-hurting/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;easily distracted&lt;/a&gt;. During these times, right and left brain communicate, which can trigger new and novel connections—and spark&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/5-books-guaranteed-to-unlock-your-creative-genius/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;innovative ideas&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The Best Time to Ask for Money&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Friday afternoon. While this is the least productive day of the week, people are generally in a&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.inc.com/melody-wilding/you-can-teach-yourself-to-be-more-positive-heres-how.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;good mood&lt;/a&gt;. A positive outlook bodes well for asking for a raise or making a sale. Avoid Monday mornings—when people are the most stressed and grumpy—at all costs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As new discoveries in chronobiology are proving, timing may not be everything, but it is extremely important if you want to create and perform&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/14-powerful-questions-for-a-happy-life-workbook-free-printable/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;at your best&lt;/a&gt;&#160;on a consistent basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Melody Wilding is a&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; data-saferedirecturl=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;amp;q=http://melodywilding.com&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1509217546192000&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGRBMlbUeWOChCeOnZSkv0FTzdQEQ&quot;&gt;coach, licensed social worker&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; data-saferedirecturl=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;amp;q=http://melodywilding.com&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1509217546192000&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGRBMlbUeWOChCeOnZSkv0FTzdQEQ&quot;&gt;, and Human Behavior professor&lt;/a&gt;&#160;who helps ambitious high-achievers master their mindset for success. She also gave a&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OTf35doZPM&amp;amp;t=&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; data-saferedirecturl=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;amp;q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3D4OTf35doZPM%26t%3D&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1509217546192000&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGPGqZhtGx1s9Pc1dgFI58ZVZfMBg&quot;&gt;TEDx talk&lt;/a&gt;&#160;about how to overcome self-doubt.&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; data-saferedirecturl=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;amp;q=http://melodywilding.com&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1509217546192000&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGRBMlbUeWOChCeOnZSkv0FTzdQEQ&quot;&gt;Get free tools&lt;/a&gt;&#160;to go from stuck to unstoppable at work on her website,&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot; data-saferedirecturl=&quot;https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;amp;q=http://melodywilding.com&amp;amp;source=gmail&amp;amp;ust=1509217546192000&amp;amp;usg=AFQjCNGRBMlbUeWOChCeOnZSkv0FTzdQEQ&quot;&gt;melodywilding.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;A version of this article previously appeared at&#160;&lt;a href=&quot;http://melodywilding.com/science-says-best-time-day-make-decisions/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Melody&#39;s site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;

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