We found in Part 1 that Native Time is a combination of times in our daily 24-hour cycle when we feel at our best.
Morning people, night people … you’ve heard these phrases and probably already know if you’re a morning person or not.
Scientific research supports this, and at Lead On, we developed Native Time as one way to talk about building grit and resilience.
The good news: You’re more than a morning person or evening person. You have several times throughout your waking hours when you’re more “on” than not.
Upon waking, my first Native Time is early morning. I discovered this in my early 20s and confirmed it later during graduate school. When I go to bed early (9:30 pm to 10:00 pm), I’m naturally inclined to rise by 5:00 am to 5:30 am without an alarm clock, and I feel energized, creative, positive, and innovative for about six hours – Native Time for me.
After a lull, I rally in the afternoon for more activity – more Native Time! – and the mid-evening brings tiredness. That brings my total Native Time per day to about 11 hours.
Importantly, that’s when I make sure to get to sleep early. If I fall for the temptation to stay up late, or if I’m managing stress badly, the next day is off. Noticeably off.
So – my own actions can sabotage my Native Time. What else throws off my Native Time? At times, my environment.
I’ve noticed that when I’m in situations – job, relationship, cognitive or emotional dissonance – that are significantly out of sync, not a fit with my values and life philosophy, my Native Time is off and I’m not at my best at all. When those environmental forces are resolved, I’m back to Native Time. It’s amazing, and it’s real.
Why does this matter? Let’s explore a couple of compelling reasons related directly to resilience and grit.
First, there’s a strong interest today on personal and professional effectiveness. Optimizing your strengths and managing your time get a lot of attention. How many time management systems exist? I narrowed the advanced specific Google search to “time management app” and saw about 117,000 results. The more general time management search?
About 2.76 billion.
How many time management systems or programs or tools are customized for you?
About zero.
Taking your Native Time into consideration, regardless of what time management system you use, is personalizing it for you. That means you’re more likely to successfully manage what you do with your time.
Secondly, science tells us that our wake-sleep cycles have major impacts on our lives, including health outcomes. Our resilience increases when we’re physically healthier. And we know that when we sync our time management with our Native Time, we’ll be healthier. That’s a strong argument for optimizing your Native Time.
Optimizing – the practical part – making Native Time work for you. Here’s what Lead On suggests.
Begin with being self-aware. Pay attention to when – what specific times of day – you routinely feel energetic and when you feel tired. In particular, watch for trends on days when you had sufficient sleep the night before (both quantity and quality).
When we pay attention, we become a support system for ourselves. With the following three keys, we’re thriving in our Native Time:
Identify your Native Time: Morning or evening? Does your Native Time begin very early, moderately early, or later? Maybe a lot later? One of these will likely resonate with you more than the others. If you’re not sure, think about the times in your life when you’ve been the most productive, successful, and satisfied – and look at your daily schedule during that time. This will give you clues about your Native Time. Ask someone who knows you well – they’ll have useful information for you.
Decide on a daily schedule that optimizes Native Time for your life: Your work, social life, personal time. At a minimum, determine ideal bedtime, rising time, prime work times, meal and exercise times – all based on your Native Time. Remember that your waking hours, whatever they are, will include several “sets” of Native Time hours. Cycles of hours.
As much as you can, keep to your schedule. The more consistent you are, the better. Especially when it comes to bedtimes and rising times – keep those about the same each day. But get this: Dr. Jan-Dirk Fautek, a renowned chronobiologist who works in this field, says (video here) that if we stick to our optimal schedule – our Native Time – just two to three days a week, we’ll see benefits! The pressure to be perfect is gone. We can be our best selves with really moderate effort.
That last part is amazing – it’s not about being perfect, it’s about having solid moderate consistency.
That’s it. Three things: Identify, Decide, and Stick to It.
Stick to It mostly or in moderation – it’s effective either way.
With these three keys and this approach, you can launch your best self and operate in your Native Time.
Summary
Universal principles are useful and informative, and the concepts of sleep-wake cycles apply to all of us. When we also overlay these universal principles with our own individual preferences, we find the complete picture: our Native Time.
Native Time. It’s your time to shine.
Lead On.
Afterward: At the end of Part 1, we included a few research and scientific citations in this area of study. There are many more. Contact me if you’d like to discuss or read more research material.
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