How to Optimize Your Daily Schedule

Ideas

December 4, 2014 12:01 AM EST

Barker is the author of Barking Up The Wrong Tree

We know how most people spend their time. What can research tell us about the best way to spend our time?

Maybe you’re a night owl. You don’t want to get out of bed. There’s a way to get out of that habit. And it’s important because your mood in the morning affects your entire day.

Is it Monday? Don’t worry, it won’t be as bad as you think. (On the other hand, Fridays aren’t that great, either.)

There are many reasons why a shower in the morning makes you feel so good and it might even make you more creative.

Don’t skip breakfast, it can lead to murder. Then again maybe starving is better for your health. Have some coffee — here’s everything you need to know about it, including the best way to use it.

Commuting makes everyone miserable. Try to avoid traffic or get a job closer to home, if possible.

You’re at the office. Don’t procrastinate. Here’s a ritual to start the day off right. Do important things first if you want to hear “yes” from people. You can be a productivity dynamo with the right tips.

During the day it might be good to know how to set goals, be a great leader, improve teamwork, give an awesome presentation, and deal with lousy meetings. And here‘s how to get through the work day without killing anyone. Need to do creative work? Do it at home.

Have lunch or you’ll be cranky — even if you don’t realize it.

Any way to sneak a nap in here? Naps increase learning, aid decision-making and purge negative emotions. Here’s how to make them amazing.

(Is it the weekend? We know what activities best help you recover from the workweek and what makes the weekend fun. Most important, spend time with friends and family.)

Do not just plop down in front of the TV. In the long term it will make you miserable. Wasting time on the internet might mean you’re not getting enough sleep.

Between 6-8PM is the best time to hit the gym. (Your body temp is at its highest and this is the peak time for strength and flexibility.) I don’t need to tell you that exercise is good for you but it might get you a raise and you might be surprised to find out that looking at porn, action movies and superheroes beforehand might improve your workout.

Now might be a good time to work on a hobby or build that skill you’ve been working on (gotta get to 10,000 hours somehow) Reading is great but it might be better if you did all your reading for the year in two weeks, actually.

The best thing to do to increase happiness is spend time with friends and family. Having a better social life can be worth as much as an additional $131,232 a year in terms of life satisfaction.

Between 10PM and 1AM is the best time for sex because skin sensitivity is at its highest.

Didn’t get enough done today? Feel strapped for time? You might want to consider volunteering. Ironically, giving away time makes you feel like you have more of it.

Exhausted? Oddly enough this might be a good time to get some creative work done. Or are you wide awake? Larks and night owls have different strengths and weaknesses.

These tips might help you get to sleep. And you should make time for the proper amount of sleep — you can’t get away with less. No, you can’t. Missing an hour can take points off your IQ and make it harder to be happy.

This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

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