@drtrishapasricha: It’s called the “synchrony effect:” the finding that your cognitive performance isn’t flat throughout the day, it peaks at a specific window tied to your chronotype, and drops outside of it. Research has shown this effect shows up consistently across attention, memory, and decision-making tasks (PMID: 37369064). For many of us, especially as we age, that peak window sits in the morning —which is exactly when we’re most likely to fill our calendars with meetings instead of protecting it for the work that actually needs our brain. Studies using reaction-time and executive-function testing have found measurable performance differences when tasks are scheduled inside vs. outside that window (PMID: 22480320). So no, this isn’t a productivity hack. It’s just biology. I schedule ZERO meetings between 9 and 12 if I can help it. That’s when my brain is actually best set up for book writing and data analysis—anything hard or creative. Everything else in the day gets the leftovers my brain can offer. So pause and reflect on your own behavior. What time of day are hard tasks easiest on your brain? Find that window and protect it at all costs.

Trisha Pasricha

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Friday 11 September 2026 01:45:05 GMT