Biorhythms Are Not Real, but There May Be “peaks” of Productivity

You know a theory is shit when even its Wikipedia page says “(pseudoscience)” in the title. Such is the case with so-called “biorhythms” or periods of 23, 28 and 33 days, which supposedly predict how mentally, physically and active you will be on any given day. This is all nonsense, but there are other ways to track your “peaks” of productivity, more scientifically sound.

What is the difference between biorhythm and circadian rhythm?

The idea behind biorhythms is that during these monthly periods your physical, emotional and intellectual abilities fluctuate up and down rhythmically, so you should tune in to your personal schedule and act when each one is at its peak. one of his cycles. Scientists have studied this and dismissed it as nonsense, and the enduring belief in this phenomenon has led to some scams where influencers or other hucksters try to sell you products that can help you “hack” your own biorhythm to maximize your energy, productivity. , and happiness.

However, circadian rhythms are slightly different. According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences , these are the physical, mental, and behavioral changes that occur during the diurnal cycle and are simply caused by light and dark. There is a whole science behind this (chronobiology), but it comes down to this: you get tired when it gets dark, your body sleeps at night, and you have to be awake in daylight to do anything, ideally feeling awake. You can spend a lot of energy on “hacking” your rhythm, but these are all obvious things: sleeping at night, not exercising or looking at your phone before bed, going out in the morning, sticking to a schedule, etc.

Biorhythms are not real, but there are circadian rhythms. You will be more productive if you sleep regularly and well. You don’t need to track peaks and troughs or subscribe to dubious apps to get the hang of it.

What is the Yerkes-Dodson law?

However, some peaks and valleys deserve attention. The Yerkes-Dodson Law models the relationship between stress levels and performance. It has been around since 1908, when it was discovered by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson, and on a graph it looks like a curve, like “biorhythms”. It looks like an inverted U and on the left you have low stress moments, on the right you have high stress moments and in the middle you have a peak or time when you are just stressed enough to be productive but not completely overloaded. The y-axis shows peak performance at the top and worst performance at the bottom, so you’ll notice that poor results are associated with too little and too much stress. Stress is also called “arousal” here, but we’ll just focus on the word “stress.”

When you don’t have enough stress, you will be disinterested in your task. When you have too much, you will be too preoccupied with doing it well. The hypothesis put forward by Yerkes and Dodson after studying the effect of electric current on the ability of mice to complete tasks is that as stress increases, the ability also increases because you are motivated.

What does this mean for you? You have to learn one rhythm and that is how your interest and tension fluctuate. You don’t have to buy a self-development app or book, but pay attention to how interested you are in a given task at any time. When no one comes to visit, you may not be interested in cleaning your house. An hour before the arrival of a guest, you can be horrified by your surroundings and try to put it in order. So the peak cleaning time is a day or two before someone shows up, when you’re motivated and interested, but before you go crazy. Apply this to any task you have to complete and pay close attention to how you feel leading up to it so you can identify your own periods of peak stress and peak performance.