Passage 4 Set Your Bodys Time Clock Our Body Operates Like a Clock As the first rays of sunlight filter over the hills of Californias Silicon Valley, Charles Winget opens his eyes. It is barely 5 a.m., but Winget is raringonly one-tenth of a degree in some casesbut are significant. Youll probably find that your temperature will begin to rise between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., reaching a peak sometime in the late morning or early afternoon. By evening the readings start to drop. They will steadily decline, reaching their nadir at around 2 a.m. Learn to Use Your Bodys Pattern Of course, individual variations make all the difference. At what hour is your body temperature oi the rise? When does it reach its highest point? Its lowest? Once you have familiarized yourself with you patterns, you can take advantage of chronobiology techniques to improve your health and productivity We do our best physical work when our rhythms are at their peak. In most people, this peak lasts about four hours. Schedule your most taxing activities when your temperature is highest. For mental activities, the timetable is more complicated. Precision tasks, such as mathematical work are best tackled when your temperature is on the rise. For most people, this is at 8 or 9 a.m. By contras! reading and reflection are better pursued between 2 and 4 p.m., the time when body temperature usually begins to fall. |