Have you ever dragged yourself out of bed and to your desk at 9am, wishing that your day started a little bit later? Or, when you hit an inevitable 4pm slump, wished you’d done the bulk of your work this morning when you felt raring to go? Enter: ‘Chronoworking’. Coined earlier this year by Stylist’s deputy digital editor Ellen Scott, creator of the Working On Purpose newsletter and co-host of the Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat podcast, the term describes the act of adapting your working day to your natural circadian rhythm, ie starting at 7am for early risers.

“I’m hoping that 2024 is the year we start to question the rigidity of the traditional 9-5, and instead consider working in a way that aligns with our body clocks,” Scott explains. “I want workplaces to allow early birds to work earlier shifts and to consider breaks in the afternoon when few of us are at our most productive. Maybe we could consider altering winter work hours so we get more sunlight exposure, too.”

“Too many of us are forced into working against our natural body clocks, and it harms not only our wellbeing but also our productivity,” Scott continues. “Research suggests we’re less productive and more likely to make mistakes at work after lunchtime. If we were to tie our working hours into the ebbs and flows of our focus and energy, I truly believe we would be more efficient, less exhausted, and far happier at work.”

While an 11am start or earlier finish may potentially sound like a hard sell to your boss, there’s plenty of research that points to the benefits of working with, rather than against, your natural circadian rhythm. One study found peak performance on cognitive tasks differed significantly between morning larks and night owls. Morning larks performed best at 8am, while night owls performed best at 8pm.

“Becoming more in tune with your body clock at work will only ever have a positive impact,” sleep expert Dr Lindsay Browning tells Stylist. “Whether we’re a morning person or not isn’t something we can really change, but we can adapt our behaviours to fit around our natural inclinations.”

As Dr Browning explains, taking control of how and when you work can also help improve your sleep health. While morning larks often get their full eight hours and can wake up for work the next day feeling rested, those who go to bed later but still have to rise at 7am often miss out on hours of rest. “Therefore, if you can choose to start work at 11am rather than 9am, your midnight or 1am bedtime won’t have as much of a detrimental effect.”

But it’s not just theoretically beneficial. In practice, it’s something Strong Women editor Miranda Larbi swears by. “I’m a typical morning bird; I wake up every day just before 5.30am and feel energised until around 3pm, so it makes sense for me to start work earlier in the day,” she shares. “For the past few months, I’ve worked 7am to 3.30pm on Mondays and Fridays, and those are by far my favourite, most productive days. I can get my hardest tasks done before anyone else logs on, which also means that I’m a more available colleague and manager during core business hours.”

On the other days, however, Larbi admits finding it difficult to maintain concentration and energy. “To get the best out of your staff, more freedom to work with your body clock has to be the way forward. For me, starting and finishing earlier has transformed my output and job satisfaction on the days I’m able to do it.”

How to incorporate chronoworking into your daily routine

Even if you’re not able to convince your workplace to alter your working hours just yet, you can still benefit from structuring your day with your body clock in mind.

“For those of us who wake easily, I always advise completing your hardest or heaviest tasks first so that your energy doesn’t fizzle out by the time the afternoon comes around,” Dr Browning suggests. “Similarly, the night owls among us should avoid scheduling 8am meetings when you just won’t feel or be at your best.”

“I’d recommend tracking your energy peaks and troughs throughout the day as a starting point,” says Scott. “You might find that you have energy for some tasks but not others at different times of the day, but figuring out your own natural rhythms is an essential first step. From there, you can get into timeboxing and consciously design your working day and, for example, slot in mindless admin around the afternoon slump and deep work at your personal productivity peak.

“Also, if your boss won’t adapt to more flexible hours, do what you can to shift the rest of your hours to be more aligned with your body and mind. Early birds should absolutely wake up at the crack of dawn and do workouts or side projects pre-work, but if that’s not you, don’t try to force it. Instead, you might want to create a really gentle morning routine to ease yourself into the day, then load more active endeavours into the evenings.”

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Images: Getty