People differ in their circadian rhythms, which determine times of greatest mental alertness, reflected in body temperature differences.

“Morningness” describes people who awaken easily and are most alert early in the morning, whereas “eveningness” refers to “night owls” who awaken later and feel most alert late in the day, according to Loughborough University’s James A. Horne and colleague O. Östberg, who developed a self-report questionnaire to distinguish these these temporal preferences.

Creative problem solving is more effective at “non-optimal” times of day for both “morning people” and “night people,” according to Albion College’s Mareike B. Wieth and Rose T. Zacks of Michigan State University.

They studied volunteers who solved insight problems and analytic problems at their optimal or non-optimal time of day and found consistently better performance on insight problem-solving during non-optimal times, but no consistent effect for analytic problem solving.

During non-optimal times, people may be more distractible, less focused and more able to consider diverse information, alternatives, and interpretations.
These conditions can enable innovative thinking and creativity.

William Hrushesky, formerly of University of South Carolina, argued that “timing is everything” in medical treatment, and Wieth and Zacks’ findings suggest suggests that working at “off-peak” times is effective for tasks that require creative thinking rather than analytic rigor.

-*How do you sequence your work tasks to enhance performance during “non-optimal” and “peak” times of day?

Follow-share-like http://www.kathrynwelds.com and @kathrynwelds

RELATED POSTS:

• Chronotypes: Sleep “Fingerprints,” “Social Jet Lag,” and Health      
• Five Steps and Exercises to Drive Breakthrough Creativity
• How and Who of Innovation
• Two Models of Business Innovation, Courtesy of Two Kaplans
• Effective Questions as Change and Innovation Catalyst
• Innovators’s Personality Characteristics and Shibumi Principles Drive Innovation
• Crash Course on Innovation, Creativity

Twitter  @kathrynwelds
Blog – Kathryn Welds | Curated Research and Commentary  
Google+
LinkedIn Open Group Psychology in Human Resources (Organisational Psychology)
Facebook Notes:

©Kathryn Welds