What is your optimal time of day, night owl or early bird?

There are many hours to choose from in a day, but not all are created equal when it comes to being productive, creative or simply awake!

With our hectic schedules, it is hard to respect the suggested work/eat/sleep guidelines or our own circadian rhythm, better known as our ''body clock''.

Most of us will say we are doing our best, but that might not be good enough. A research, done by the University of Southern California, shows that the disruption of circadian rhythms has been linked to such problems as diabetes, depression, dementia and obesity.

Hum...well maybe we should consider these guidelines (men/women in general):

Cognitive work: Best performed in the late morning. Working memory, alertness and concentration are at their peak.

Focus & concentration: Best performed no later than noon. Most of us are easily distracted between 12h00 and 16h00

Alertness: Best performed before a meal. Alertness diminishes after eating a meal. Sleepiness is nearby with it's popular 14h00 arrival. Time for a nap!

Creativity & insight problem solving: Best performed at off-peak times!? Yes, fatigue may boost creativity. Being less focused can allow us to consider ''outside the box'' ideas and/or solutions.

I'm writing a blog at 24h00, I might be living proof of this last guideline. ;)

For all the social media users, the following research results can be of high interest:

Sending emails: Sent at 06h00, messages are most likely to be read first and beat the inbox rush of the day.

Reading Twitter: Between 08h00 and 09h00, that's when users are sending their most upbeat and enthusiastic messages after a good night sleep. (On weekends, make that 1 1/2 hours later, we are sleeping in! :) )

Re-tweeting: For your tweets to be re-tweeted the most times, posting them from 15h00 to 18h00 will increase the chances. Users lack the energy to write their own, so they will turn to re-tweeting those of others.

Posting to Facebook: Posts published after 20h00 get the most ''likes''. People want to unwind after work/dinner, so they will turn to diversions such as social media.

Drama and strong emotions are shared between 22h00 and 23h00, you may want to steer clear of this time frame!

Care to take a quiz to find out what your peak and off-peak hours are?

Try the Automated Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire:

http://www.cet-hosting.com/limesurvey/index.php?sid=61524

I am a moderate evening type, 1 point away from being a definite evening type.

That makes sense, it is now 12h30, I'm off to have desert and watch Late Night with Seth Meyers!

Good night WA members (Good morning to the ones across the ocean)!