Executive staffing that takes into account how circadian rhythms influence productivity can unlock a work team’s potential. By creating work schedules that take advantage of employees’ natural pattern of energy highs and lows, executive staffing has the ability to maximize productivity at work.

Everyone has an internal body clock called a circadian rhythm that determines whether you are a morning person or night owl. In the morning, it takes a few hours for energy levels to peak. It’s not a result of your morning coffee or caffeine consumption, it’s dictated by the hormone levels in the body. The morning peak lasts until around one o’clock in the afternoon after which energy levels will drop and bottom out around three o’clock. Another energy peak occurs around six o’clock in the evening.

Most people follow this basic rhythm with some variation. For example, the difference between a morning person and a night owl is when the energy peaks occur. For a morning person they occur earlier in the day and for a night person they will occur later. Understanding employees’ personal rhythms can help managers create a workflow to maximize their employees’ productivity.

Important tasks and deadlines should be scheduled during peak energy times. Assigning an end-of-the-day deadline when energy peaks are low will create stress and may result poor performance. To take advantage of your employees’ body clocks, it would be better to assign the deadline on the day before or that morning. That way employees can perform the work needed when their energy and productive better aligns with completing key tasks.

Naps are a great way to reset circadian rhythms. A twenty-minute nap at three in the afternoon is beneficial to your overall health, can reset your body clock and improve alertness. But make sure that your nap doesn’t last longer than thirty minutes, otherwise the body will go into deeper stages of sleep, and have an opposite effect on productivity.

To maximize productivity, encourage employees to work according to their own natural rhythms. Morning people prefer to work on important tasks earlier in the morning and leave less important projects that require less energy and concentration for the mid-afternoon. Night owls who are more alert and productive later in the day should keep mornings simple and schedule important tasks for a later start time. Executives and managers should readjust their thinking about work schedules to consider circadian rhythms. They should avoid strict enforcement of how early or late someone works and focus instead on how the actual work is performed, not on when.

Understanding your own body clock and the personal circadian rhythms of your employees can boost productivity at work. It can also revolutionize productivity, morale and the overall health of the entire organization.