## Highlights - This precisely engineered timekeeper is called your circadian pacemaker, or biological clock. Specifically, it’s a group of nerves called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), in the hypothalamus, right above the pituitary gland. ([Location 159](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=159)) - The most disruptive event in the history of bio-time occurred on December 31, 1879. At his research lab in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison introduced the long-lasting incandescent lightbulb to the world. He famously said, “We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles.” Within a decade, night, for all intents and purposes, became optional. ([Location 172](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=172)) - The second major disruption of your biological time was transportation advances. Cars and planes allowed people to travel great distances rapidly. It takes a day for the body to adjust to a one-hour time zone difference, and, on horseback or in a coach, it’d take about that long to go that far. Starting in the mid-twentieth century, in the blink of an eye, evolutionarily speaking, we could travel multiple time zones in a few hours, leaving bio-time lagging behind. ([Location 181](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=181)) - It took only 125 years to undo 50,000 years of perfect bio-timekeeping. Saying that our physiology hasn’t evolved as quickly as our technology is the understatement of the millennium. As a result, our “when” is way, way off. ([Location 186](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=186)) - the last few years: • Treating a disease such as cancer on bio-time can save your life. In 2009, researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine experimented with mice to determine if timing of medication affected the speed of DNA repair to damaged cells. They took extracts of the mouse brains at various times and found that when medication was taken at night, DNA repaired itself seven times faster, in correspondence with the circadian rising and falling levels of a certain enzyme. The researchers theorized that, to minimize side effects and maximize effectiveness, chemo drugs should be given to patients when their cells are better able to repair themselves. • Thinking on bio-time can make you smarter and more creative. In 2011, a team of psychologists from Michigan State University and Albion College asked their study subjects to solve problems, some analytical and some that required insight, at different times throughout the day. The subjects solved creative problems better during their non-optimal times, when they were tired and groggy. They solved analytical problems at their optimal times, when they were wide-awake and alert. The researchers concluded that creative and analytical thinking operates on bio-time. If you set out to solve a certain type of problem, you’ll do better at certain times. • Eating on bio-time can help you manage weight. In a 2013 study of 420 overweight or obese men and women, researchers at the University of Murcia, Spain, put the subjects on a diet of 1,400 calories per day for twenty weeks. Half of the subjects were “early eaters,” having their biggest meal of the day before 3:00 p.m. The other half, the “late eaters,” had their biggest meal after 3:00 p.m. The two groups ate the same quantities of the same food, exercised at similar intensity and frequency, slept the same number of hours, and had comparable appetite hormones and gene function. Which group lost more weight? The early eaters lost twenty-two pounds, on average; the late eaters lost, on average, seventeen pounds, a 25 percent difference. The late eaters were more likely to skip breakfast. • Living on bio-time can make you happier. In 2015, researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital, in Denmark, treated seventy-five patients with major depression through the use of either daily chronotherapy (bright light exposure and a consistent wake time) or exercise. Sixty-two percent of the chronotherapy patients went into remission in six months. Only 38 percent of the exercisers did. • Running on bio-time can make you faster. In 2015, a team from the University of Birmingham, England, set out to find a connection between athletes’ performance and whether they felt alert and active in the morning (morningness) or alert and active in the evening (eveningness). There is one, indeed. The number of hours between a runner’s wake time and race time had a huge impact on performance. If the late risers ran in the evening, they were much faster… ([Location 214](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=214)) - According to conventional wisdom and historical definition, there are three chronotypes: 1. Larks, the early risers 2. Hummingbirds, neither early nor late risers 3. Owls, the late risers ([Location 270](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=270)) - The established chronotype assessment didn’t include both measures of the two-step system for sleep. Along with wake preference, there is “sleep drive”—your need for sleep. Some people have higher sleep drives than others, just as some have stronger sex drives than others. Your sleep drive is genetic, and it determines how much sleep you need and your depth of sleep. Those with low sleep drive don’t need a lot of sleep, so the night seems very long to them. Low sleep drive people are easily woken up by sound and light disturbance, and they wake up feeling less than refreshed. Those with high sleep drive need more hours of sleep, so the night feels too short for them. High sleep drive people sleep deeply, but they wake up feeling less than refreshed no matter how much sleep they get. Those with medium sleep drive sleep somewhat deeply and are satisfied and refreshed by seven hours of continuous rest. ([Location 277](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=277)) - Dolphins. Real dolphins sleep with only half of their brain at a time (which is why they’re called unihemispheric sleepers). The other half is awake and alert, concentrating on swimming and looking for predators. This name fits insomniacs well: intelligent, neurotic light sleepers with a low sleep drive. 2. Lions. Real lions are morning hunters at the top of the food chain. This name fits morning-oriented driven optimists with a medium sleep drive. 3. Bears. Real bears are go-with-the-flow ramblers, good sleepers, and anytime hunters. This name fits fun-loving, outgoing people who prefer a solar-based schedule and have a high sleep drive. 4. Wolves. Real wolves are nocturnal hunters. This name fits night-oriented creative extroverts with a medium sleep drive. ([Location 295](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=295)) - If you don’t recognize yourself in the short descriptions above, perhaps you recognize one of your parents. Remember, your chronotype is genetic—determined specifically by the PER3 gene. If you have a long PER3 gene, you need at least seven hours of deep sleep to function, and tend to be an early riser. If you have a short PER3, you can get by on light or little sleep, and you tend to be a late riser. It’s likely that at least one of your parents had the same chronotype as you. ([Location 302](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=302)) - • Dolphins account for 10 percent of the population. Light sleepers, they rouse at the smallest noise to wake and warn the group of danger. • Lions account for 15 to 20 percent. They rise early, taking the morning shift of guarding the group and watching out for roving predators. • Bears account for 50 percent. Their cycles match the rise and fall of the sun; they hunt and gather in daylight. • Wolves account for 15 to 20 percent. They take the late shift to guard the group, drifting off when the most extreme Lions start to stir. ([Location 309](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=309)) - DOLPHIN • Four Key Personality Traits: Cautiousness, introversion, neuroticism, intelligence • Four Key Behaviors: Avoiding risky situations, striving for perfection, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, fixating on details • Sleep/Alertness Pattern: Dolphins usually wake up feeling unrefreshed and are tired until late in the evening, when they suddenly hit their stride. Most alert: late at night. Most productive: in spurts throughout the day. Naps: They try to nap to catch up on sleep but can’t quite make it happen. ([Location 510](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=510)) - I’ve noticed that Dolphins and Wolves seem to make a good combination. ([Location 530](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=530)) - LION • Four Key Personality Traits: Conscientiousness, stability, practicality, optimism • Four Key Behaviors: Overachieving, prioritizing health and fitness, seeking positive interactions, strategizing • Sleep/Alertness Pattern: Lions wake up bright-eyed at dawn or earlier, start to feel tired in the late afternoon, and fall asleep easily. Most alert: noon. Most productive: morning. Naps: Lions hardly ever nap. They’d rather be doing something useful. ([Location 536](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=536)) - BEAR • Four Key Personality Traits: Cautiousness, extroversion, friendly and easy to talk to, open-minded • Four Key Behaviors: Avoiding conflict, aspiring to be healthy, prioritizing happiness, taking comfort in the familiar • Sleep/Alertness Pattern: Bears wake up in a daze after hitting the snooze button once or twice, start to feel tired by mid-to late evening, and sleep deeply but not as long as they’d like. Most alert: mid-morning into early afternoon. Most productive: late morning. Naps: Bears catch extra hours on the weekends, on the couch. ([Location 559](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=559)) - WOLF • Four Key Personality Traits: Impulsivity, pessimism, creativity, moodiness • Four Key Behaviors: Taking risks, prioritizing pleasure, seeking novelty, reacting with emotional intensity • Sleep/Alertness Pattern: Wolves have difficulty waking up before 9:00 a.m. (they do it, but they’re not happy about it), are groggy until midday, and don’t feel tired until midnight or later. Most alert: 7:00 p.m. Most productive: late morning and late evening. Naps: Tempting, but if a Wolf sleeps during the day, he won’t fall asleep at night. It’s just not worth ([Location 582](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=582)) - Although Dolphins like Stephanie are chronically tired, they are also wired with nervous energy. ([Location 634](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=634)) - best friend. He might be the only person who really knows me, apart from our son.” Dolphins tend to be neurotic and private. But once the intimacy wall is breached and all of their quirks come out, they can form extremely close, loyal relationships. ([Location 642](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=642)) - So food is not high on Stephanie’s priorities list. Apart from breakfast, her meals are afterthoughts. Dolphins do, however, find themselves snacking during the day. I think it’s an effort to self-medicate (calm themselves down) with foods that give them comfort and a hit of serotonin (carbs). ([Location 650](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=650)) - “It’s hard to concentrate in the morning because I’m really tired, but I seem to do better by the afternoon. It’s like the day doesn’t really begin until one or two o’clock. During the evenings when I correct tests and do my home budgeting, though, I can really lock in and concentrate. I feel most alert when I finish everything around eight or nine at night,” ([Location 653](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=653)) - Dolphins like her have upside-down biochemical patterns. Cortisol is the fight-or-flight hormone, released by the adrenal gland when the body is under stress—not the biochemical response you want when you’re trying to relax and rest. For every other chronotype, cortisol levels drop at night. But for Dolphins, cortisol levels are elevated at night. It’d be logical to assume that cortisol levels go up at bedtime for insomniacs because of their sleep problems. It’s absolutely true that insomniacs do get anxious about their long, restless night ahead. But if anxiety were the only cause, their cortisol level should drop when they finally pass out. It doesn’t. Researchers at the University of Goettingen, Germany, tested2 the plasma cortisol secretions of seven severe insomniacs over the course of the entire night. The subjects’ cortisol levels remained elevated, even when they were asleep. The higher their cortisol level at bedtime, the more frequently they woke up throughout the night. ([Location 664](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=664)) - At wake time, cortisol production in Lions, Bears, and Wolves goes up to get them moving. But in Dolphins? Their cortisol levels are at their lowest in the morning. Researchers at the University of Luebeck, Germany, tested3 the salivary cortisol in fourteen insomniacs and fifteen healthy, normal sleepers. The insomniacs’ morning cortisol levels were significantly lower than were those of the control group. The lower their salivary cortisol, the lower their self-reported sleep quality. ([Location 671](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=671)) - Dolphins’ body temperature takes longer to drop at night, and their cardiovascular rhythms are flipped. For Lions, Bears, and Wolves, blood pressure goes down at night as their bodies shift into a hypoaroused (meaning underactive) state of relaxation. At night, Dolphins shift into a hyperaroused (meaning overactive) state, with elevated blood pressure. In a 2015 Mayo Clinic study, sleep-deprived subjects’ systolic and diastolic blood pressure markers rose at bedtime. The numbers didn’t go down when subjects were sleeping, which, as you can well imagine, negatively affected the quality of their sleep. ([Location 675](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=675)) - What about the Dolphin brain? In a normal sleeper’s brain, regions associated with unfocused mental wanderings are active only during waking hours, when the sleeper isn’t focused on a specific task. In contrast, the brain’s wandering-mind regions light up when a Dolphin is sleeping. Dolphins’ night dreams are more like daydreams. When patients like Stephanie tell me that they have no idea whether they sleep at all, it’s because their minds are wandering when they should be resting and consolidating. ([Location 681](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=681)) - set very simple and straightforward goals for my Dolphin patients: • Increase energy in the early hours to make better use of morning hours. • Decrease anxiety in the evening for a more restful night. ([Location 695](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=695)) - 6:30 A.M. Typical: As Stephanie says, “I’m too tired to get up, and too wired to fall back to sleep.” Optimal: Get up and move. Your blood pressure, body temperature, and cortisol levels are low, so use exercise to turn them up. It might be the last thing you want to do when sapped by sleep inertia—that groggy, just-woke-up feeling. But do it anyway. I tell patients to roll out of bed, right onto the floor, and do a hundred crunches. Then flip over and do twenty push-ups. In just five minutes, your heart rate will go up. Muscle stress (a good kind) raises your cortisol level. During the first five minutes of your day, flip your physiology from exhausted to energized. Ideally, you’d get a twenty-five-minute workout in, but even a few minutes of cardio will help. If possible, get five to fifteen minutes of direct sunlight to activate your SCN during your workout or cool-down. ([Location 713](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=713)) - 7:20 A.M. TO 9:00 A.M. Typical: “I drag myself into the shower and then eat cereal and a bagel and get myself to school for my first class.” Optimal: Jump-start with a cool shower and a high-protein breakfast. If you have done a few cardio moves as recommended, by all means, rinse off. Since a hot shower might lower core body temperature (it sends blood to the extremities), take a cool shower instead, as cool as you can stand it to rush the blood into your vital organs, raise core temperature, and trigger “I’m awake now” hormonal secretions. This is also a great time for a one-minute meditation. Let the water run over your head, and think of nothing for sixty seconds. It will bring you into the “now” and help you focus. I use this technique most mornings, and it is wonderful. Before you take a single bite of breakfast, drink a large glass of room-temperature water. Everyone is dehydrated after a night’s rest, especially Dolphins, whose metabolism works overtime overnight. You need to replenish depleted cells with fluid and the right nutrients from food. Although you might crave a bagel or a bowl of sugary cereal for quick energy, morning is the wrong time to eat carbs. Carbs increase the production of serotonin, the “comfort” hormone. You might need the food hug after a bad night, but it’s the opposite of what you need hormonally. When serotonin levels go up, cortisol levels go down, relaxing you. A bagel will hit your metabolism like a tranquilizer dart. Instead, eat protein in the morning to boost cell recovery and fuel muscles: eggs and bacon, yogurt, a protein shake, or a small serving of oatmeal with seeds and nuts. 9:30 A.M. TO 12:00 P.M. Typical: “Like I’m in a fog. I can’t make myself feel more alert. I can barely concentrate.” Optimal: Think. You can burn off the fog of sleep inertia with exercise, a cool shower, and a plate of eggs. If you drink coffee, now would be a good time to use caffeine wisely, to deactivate the sleepy neurochemicals. Have one cup only. Two cups will make your jittery. If you are already a big caffeine addict, do not immediately drop off to one cup. Check out my video on caffeine fading at www.thepowerofwhen.com. Since you’re still gaining alertness, it’s not the best time to try to zero in and focus. Instead, use morning as a great time to brainstorm. Let your mind wander. See what brilliant ideas bubble up. When you’re slightly tired, your hyperactive, creative mind is primed to do what it does best: connect the dots, no matter how disparate and misaligned they seem. If you are into journaling or jotting down big-picture ideas, this is the perfect time to do so. It’s what many Dolphins do at night while trying to go to sleep. But it’s much better for them to do it in the morning—or anytime before nightfall, if possible. ([Location 720](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=720)) - 12:00 P.M. TO 1:00 P.M. Typical: “If I get distracted, I might forget to eat lunch.” Optimal: Eat something! Dolphins tend to have a wiry, lean body type. Neither chronic dieters nor foodies, they eat to live, and sometimes they can’t be bothered or they forget, especially when they fall down a rabbit hole (warning: the Internet is full of them). Set an alert on your phone to remind you to eat something at 1:00 p.m. every day. Replenish yourself with nutrients that will fuel your body and brain—one-third carbs, one-third protein, one-third fat—and will keep your state of hyperarousal on an even keel. Some suggestions: a sandwich, a burrito, soup and a salad. Always drink plenty of water, too. If you had coffee earlier, don’t have more with lunch. Too much caffeine will not energize you. It’ll only make you jittery, could decrease your appetite, and might keep you awake at bedtime (yes, even many hours later). 1:00 P.M. TO 4:00 P.M. Typical: “Early afternoons are a struggle. I would love to close my eyes and take a nap. Sometimes, if I have time, I drop my head on my desk and close my eyes.” Optimal: Recharge. Do not nap! Napping lowers the buildup of sleep pressure, making it harder to pass out at bedtime, already a challenge for you. Your goal is to improve the duration and quality of sleep at night. Taking an afternoon nap is self-sabotage. Do not drink coffee! No caffeine of any kind for Dolphins after 1:00 p.m. If your energy… ([Location 742](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=742)) - 4:00 P.M. TO 6:00 P.M. Typical: “Too much coffee! I don’t know if I can’t concentrate from being tired or jacked-up on caffeine.” Optimal: Scale the wall. While the Bears and Lions around you are starting to peter out, your cortisol level is on the rise, making you as alert as you’ve felt all day, especially if you’ve kept the carbs to a minimum and if you took an afternoon stroll. Let your inner neurotic emerge. Obsess over a project. Do the heavy lifting intellectually and mentally. If you had a thread of an idea earlier during your off-peak morning brainstorming session, it’s now time to reel it in. If you work in an office environment, close the door to your office or get some kind of privacy (perhaps by putting on some imaginary blinders), and apply your afternoon peak alertness to figuring out the details of a specific project or task. 6:00 P.M. TO 7:00 P.M. Typical: “I get hungry now from skipping lunch, and crave something quick and ready to eat. I’d be happy to grab a slice of pizza for dinner every night.” Optimal: Be alone. Don’t eat yet. Since you set an alarm at lunch to remind you to eat, your hunger is manageable. Instead, take the post-work break for strategic downtime. Schedule fifteen to thirty minutes for quiet alone time to decompress. Your hyperactive mind will become increasingly anxious as the night wears on and cortisol levels rise. Starting the evening with quiet alone time can ward off or lessen those hormonal and emotional reactions. Some Dolphins might do meditation or yoga. Others take a counterintuitive approach to quieting anxious thoughts by sitting alone in a quiet place and letting themselves ruminate on worst-case scenarios for a limited time. The purpose is to habituate yourself to anxiety by “going there” daily, and to save random worries that pop up throughout the day for that… ([Location 756](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=756)) - 6:30 P.M. TO 8:00 P.M. Typical: “After dinner, it’s go time, like I’m fully awake and have energy. I run errands or start organizing things around the house or on the computer.” Optimal: Prepare and eat dinner. Now is the time for carbs. Lean body-type Dolphins are not usually on a diet. Have a big bowl of mac and cheese or a baked potato. It’s called comfort food for a reason. Your serotonin level will go up and your cortisol level will go down, calming your hyperaroused body and hyperactive mind. If there is anything you need to discuss with your partner or family that might be upsetting or may cause consternation, do it while you eat. The serotonin level uptick will serve as a buffer for tense or anxious feelings. 8:00 P.M. TO 8:30 P.M. Typical: “I get a lot done, or try to. I might set out to do one thing and get distracted by something else, especially online. There is always a chore or thing I have to do.” Optimal: Have sex, either with a partner or by yourself. It might seem odd to do it at 8:00 p.m., but post-dinner, pre-bedtime sex serves a couple of purposes for you. Not only does sex have soothing physical and emotional benefits—including a blast of oxytocin, the relaxing “love hormone”—but it will help you redefine what “bed” means to you. If you engage in a positive, loving experience there, one that doesn’t immediately precede the dread and anxiety of trying to fall asleep, you’ll reinforce positive associations with bed and condition yourself to think of it as a fun, not scary, place. If you usually have sex immediately before sleep to relax, the effort could backfire. The exertion will feed into your anxiety, reinforcing the negative association with the thought “light switch off, brain switch into overdrive.” 8:30 P.M. TO 10:30 P.M. Typical: “Since I didn’t sleep well last night, I go to bed early to catch up. But it doesn’t work. When I lie down, my brain goes haywire. I think of stuff I need to do or would like to do. I might scroll through Facebook or finish watching a movie on my phone to get my mind off the insomnia.” Optimal: Power down. The post-dinner hours are all about relaxation. Direct your evening energy surge toward something purposeful but nonengaging to soothe and quiet your mind. Watch TV with your family or go out to a movie. Take a walk to get ice cream (more carbs!). Go ahead and clean out a drawer or whatever chore or… ([Location 777](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=777)) - 11:30 P.M. Typical: “Still lying awake.” Optimal: Go to bed. Dolphins should not get in bed until now. In fact, except for 8:00 p.m. sex, don’t spend any time in bed before now. Don’t hang out or watch TV there. Don’t read in bed. You must learn to associate bed with sex or sleep only. Once in bed, try progressive muscle relaxation (go to www.thepowerofwhen.com to watch video instructions) or counting backward from 300 by threes. If you are not asleep in twenty minutes, get up and sit in a chair in the dark for fifteen minutes before returning to bed to try again. Repeat these twenty-minutes-in, fifteen-minutes-out cycles. The strategy is called “stimulus control.” The concept is to avoid the buildup of anxiety from just lying there. You might have a few bad nights using this strategy, but eventually it’ll help lower your anxiety and blood pressure in bed and will yield more continuous quality rest. 12:30 A.M. TO 2:30 A.M. Typical: “Tossing and turning. My anxiety is ramping up. I look at the clock and calculate how many hours of sleep I might get if I pass out in ten minutes or twenty. My whole body feels tense.” Optimal: Enter Phase One. If you follow the chronorhythm I’ve outlined for you and consistently practice the strategies, you will be able to fall asleep within thirty minutes of bedtime. This will take some time to accomplish (maybe a week to ten days of consistency). The first two hours of sleep are the most important for you. During Phase One, your body is physically restored. All the tension of the day is released from your muscles and brain to repair and rebuild on a cellular level from bones to skin. During the first week on this schedule, insomniacs won’t always be able to pass out within thirty minutes, but don’t give up. Stick with it. I’ve helped hundreds of patients retrain their bodies this way. Don’t watch the clock. This will only frustrate you and make you do the “mental math,” as Stephanie described above. If you are practicing stimulus control, use the stopwatch function on your phone, but don’t check the time, just guess it. 2:30 A.M. TO 4:30 A.M. Typical: “If I’m asleep, it’s like skimming the surface. I wake up repeatedly and don’t know if I fall back under.” Optimal: Enter Phase Two. Not a lot goes on during the middle portion of the night. Phase Two is uncomplicated sleep. If you do wake up momentarily, don’t let it… ([Location 812](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=812)) - Dolphin Daily Schedule 6:30 a.m.: Wake up, no snooze. 6:35 a.m.: Exercise on the floor of your bedroom or get dressed for a twenty-five-minute outdoor workout. If you work out indoors, try for ten minutes of direct sunlight during cooldown. 7:10 a.m.: Cool shower, including one-minute meditation. 7:30 a.m.: Breakfast, high-protein. 8:00 a.m.: Get dressed and organized. 8:30 a.m.: Out the door to work, or, for the self-employed, get right to it. 9:30 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.: Coffee break. 10:00 to noon: Creative thinking time. Daydream and journal for ideas. Make big-picture to-do lists, research, think. Noon to 1:00 p.m.: Lunch. Do not skip! 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: DO NOT NAP. Do not drink coffee! If you feel tired, take a walk—outside, if possible. Sunlight exposure will help. 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.: Peak alertness, most productive time. Tackle hard stuff. 6:00 p.m.: Fifteen minutes of alone time to decompress. 6:30 p.m.: Cook dinner, high-carbohydrate. 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.: While eating your meal, have any intense, demanding, or practical conversations with family and friends. The carbs will buffer anxiety. 8:00 p.m.: Sex, with a partner or by yourself. 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.: Afterglow. The post-orgasmic flow of relaxing hormones will prime you for sleep. Get things done at home or online, or watch TV. 10… ([Location 865](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=865)) - “Oxytocin can elicit loving behaviors, but giving and receiving these behaviors also promotes the release of oxytocin and leads to more of these behaviors.” The attachment rhythm is a positive feedback loop that starts with attraction and is reinforced daily with affection. Whenever possible, show daily physical affection and facial kindness to your partner to keep the love alive. ([Location 1514](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=1514)) - Although we’ve been conditioned to associate sex with bedtime, the desire rhythm peaks in the morning,13 when testosterone in both men and women is at its highest (it’s lowest at bedtime). ([Location 1697](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=1697)) - Dolphin: Talk about ideas: 8:00 a.m. to noon. Research and solidify plans: 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. ([Location 1828](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=1828)) - THE BEST TIME TO PRACTICE YOGA Dolphin: 10:00 p.m., to lower elevated cortisol level and blood pressure at night. ([Location 2033](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=2033)) ## New highlights added November 3, 2024 at 2:54 PM - Ben,1 33, a married father of three from Los Angeles, was referred to me by his primary care physician. Twenty pounds overweight but otherwise healthy, Ben complained of low-grade but constant fatigue. As a supervisor at a home improvement big box store, he needed to be more alert than he was, and he hoped to have more energy for his kids after work and on the weekends. Even if he got a good night’s sleep, he woke up groggy. “I’ve got a physically demanding job,” he told me at our initial consultation. “It’s mentally demanding, too. I’ve got a lot to keep track of—deliveries, shipments, and paperwork. I need to be at the top of my game, but I never feel like I’m close to that. And then, when I get home at night, all I want to do is have dinner and relax. I want to get to the things I need to do around the house, play with my kids, but I can’t get motivated.” Bears are social creatures. For their emotional health, they need to spend time with friends and family. I asked about Ben’s friendships. “We used to hang out after work, but then we married off and started to have families. So now we usually hang out on the weekends. I’m in a baseball league on Saturdays, and that’s always a good time. My wife and I have Saturday date night and go to dinner or a movie with other couples. Sundays are family day, and also my day of rest. If the kids don’t jump on the bed and wake me up, I sleep in.” I asked Ben if he napped on weekends, too. “Oh, yeah! I fall asleep on the couch and wake up with potato chips stacked all over me. The kids think that’s hilarious,” he said. “Sunday nights are kind of rough, though. I can’t fall asleep! I just lie there and think about the stuff I have to do on Monday.” Ben described the phenomenon called Sunday Night Insomnia. For a 2013 study, the online survey service Toluna Omnibus asked more than three thousand American adults, “What night do you have the most difficulty falling asleep?” Thirty-nine percent said Sundays. Most of them claimed to lie awake at least thirty minutes more on Sundays than on other nights. Saturdays came in a distant second, with 19 percent saying that it was the most difficult night for them to fall asleep. Sunday Insomnia is a classic example of chrono-misalignment. By following a social schedule—like staying up late on Saturdays and sleeping in on Sundays—you throw your circadian rhythm out of whack, resulting in social jet lag and setting off a cascade of negative consequences from which it might take days to recover. By trying to catch up on sleep over the weekend, you wind up spending the entire week readjusting your circadian rhythm, ending with a net loss for the week’s total sleep anyway. Bears have a high sleep drive and need at least eight hours per night, or fifty-six hours per week, to ward off all the health risks of sleep deprivation, including weight gain, diabetes, heart disease, mood disorders, and low overall life satisfaction. If you sleep six hours a night for five days in a row… ([Location 1083](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=1083)) - knew from the minute Ann1 walked in the door that she was a Wolf. A forty-year-old mother of two, she was wide-awake at her 5:00 p.m. appointment, a time when most people are dragging. Her brain ran a million miles a minute, a hallmark of Wolves. They are quick thinkers and see every situation from multiple vantage points. Ann was carrying about thirty extra pounds, another Wolfish tip-off. Of course, not all Wolves are overweight. But due to their late-night eating tendencies and difficulties resisting temptation, they have a higher BMI than the other chronotypes do. Her complaint was insomnia. “I get in bed at midnight and lie there for hours, my brain going crazy thinking about everything I have to do the next day and other stupid, random stuff,” she said. “I finally fall asleep at two a.m. When the alarm goes off at seven, it’s such a shock, I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack. I call it a ‘bumpy reentry into reality.’” Incidentally, most heart attacks and strokes happen between 4:00 a.m. and noon. Time of day is a critical factor in many health problems, including asthma attacks, arthritis flare-ups, epileptic seizures, heartburn, fevers, and more. Ann forces herself out of bed to wake her daughters and her husband. After showering and getting herself dressed, she helps her kids get organized and makes breakfast for her family. “I’m in a complete fog,” she said. “I’m doing it all on automatic pilot. I can pour cereal, but if someone asked me a hard question that required two brain cells to rub together, I’m lost.” For Wolves, melatonin levels start to drop at 7:00 a.m. and don’t fall off completely until noon. Serotonin levels peak in the evening, putting Wolves in a good mood at the end of the workday. “I don’t eat breakfast,” she admitted when I asked about it. “No appetite. It’s the only time of day I absolutely can’t eat. I drink two cups of coffee while my family eats, and another on the road.” Ann commutes by car to her job as a graphic designer at a small advertising firm in Scottsdale, Arizona. “I’m basically half asleep on the road,” she said. “The only thing that keeps me from getting in an accident is caffeine.” Grouchy and foggy, Ann describes her morning work hours as “a waste. My physical body is there, and I can sit in front of the computer and do some stuff, but nothing approaching quality work gets done for hours,” she said. “I can’t pass for coherent until eleven-a.m.-ish.” In the late afternoon, Ann hits her stride. “Tea time, like four p.m., is my finest hour in the workday,” she said. “My functional workday is only two hours long. I’m good, and I get enough done. But when I think about what I could do if I were inspired and alert in the morning, I’d be the head of the department, although I’m not sure I’d want to be. “I leave the office around six and drive home at rush hour. This is when I start to feel wide-awake,” she continued. “When I get home, I relieve the babysitter and try to talk to the kids about… ([Location 1279](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=1279)) - Eating every four hours (within an eight- or twelve-hour window) helps you keep perfect digestive bio-time. ([Location 3007](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=3007)) - • If you drink coffee when cortisol level is high, the effects are nonexistent. Compared to cortisol, caffeine is weak tea. The only thing coffee does for you within two hours of waking is to increase your tolerance for caffeine. • If you drink coffee when cortisol level is low, caffeine gently nudges your adrenals to give you a hit of adrenaline, and you will feel more awake and alert. ([Location 3143](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=3143)) - The cortisol level dips or optimal coffee break times for each chronotype are: Dolphin: 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. No caffeinated beverages after 2:00 p.m., including decaf coffee (yes, there is caffeine in decaf). Lion: 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Bear: 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wolf: 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. No caffeinated beverages after 2:00 p.m., including decaf. ([Location 3189](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=3189)) - To get in sync with the connectivity rhythm, you must first understand when and where ideas begin brewing. Creativity starts in the prefrontal cortex, right before you wake up and in the first hour of the day. A neurological storm is under way, with pathways and connections lighting up across hemispheres. In a 2013 study,1 researchers examined MRI scans of the resting brain in the morning and evening. In the morning, they found bilateral links in the medial temporal regions, meaning your mind is making all kinds of connections that trigger fresh avenues of thought. In the evening, MRI scans show frontal and parietal brain correlations, meaning the brain is busy retrieving memories and not creating new ideas. ([Location 3865](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=3865)) - Traveling East, or Phase Advance (Waking Earlier; Going to Bed Earlier) • Day of flight: No caffeine at all. Adjust your watch to your new time zone. • During flight: After two hours on the plane, attempt to sleep for the remainder of the flight. Use the complimentary eye mask and earplugs, or bring your own. If you can’t sleep, avoid light and/or wear sunglasses. • Upon landing at your destination: Put on shades if they’re not already on. • Day one at your new destination: Wear sunglasses until 12:00 p.m. After 12:00, take your sunglasses off, and get as much direct sunlight as possible, especially between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. If you’re stuck inside all afternoon, take sunshine breaks for ten minutes each hour. You can have caffeine upon arrival, but no later than 3:00 p.m. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner (here) on your new schedule, even if you’re not hungry. Exercise in the afternoon, preferably outdoors. Naps: no! A sleep aid can help you sleep later the first night.28 NASA recommends using one, too. Don’t bother setting an alarm. Sleep in as long as you can. • Day two: Put on your sunglasses upon waking and keep them on until 10:00. After 10:00, take the sunglasses off and get as much direct sunlight as possible, especially from 11:30 to 2:30. If you’re stuck inside, take sunshine breaks every hour. Caffeine: yes, but no later than 3:00 p.m. Eat on your new schedule, even if you’re not hungry. Exercise in the afternoon, preferably outdoors. Naps: no! • Day three: You’ll feel normal by this morning, but continue wearing sunglasses before 9:00 and getting direct sunlight after 9:00 on an hourly basis. • Day four: Congrats! You are now comfortably on a Bear’s chronorhythm at your new time zone. Traveling West, or Phase Delay (Waking Up Later; Going to Bed Later) • Day of flight: No caffeine before the flight. Set your watch for your destination time zone. Wear sunglasses all day until the flight. • During flight: As soon as you get comfortable, put on an eye mask and ear buds and listen to a relaxation audio program (go to www.thepowerofwhen.com for a download), and attempt to sleep. If the flight is long enough, use a sleep medication.29 No caffeine for the duration of the flight. Wear sunglasses until the last two hours of the flight. Then take them off and get as much sunlight as possible through the plane window or artificial light with close-up screen exposure. • Day one at your new destination: The sunglasses off, get as much direct sunlight as possible, especially in the evening. Use screens at night until bedtime. No caffeine after 6:00, and no naps. Exercise before noon, and eat on your new schedule, even if you’re not hungry. • Day two: Get as much direct sunlight as possible, morning through evening. No caffeine after 3:00. Exercise in the morning, and eat on your new schedule. If you’re really not hungry, have something light, like a smoothie. Remember, eating on a schedule will help shift your biorhythm. • Day three: Congrats!… ([Location 4735](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01FRASAAY&location=4735))