Decisions are a part of life. We all make them — large and small, good and bad. Living our best lives and reaching our greatest potential could be said to be directly related to making better choices. And, according to numerous studies, the ability to make the best choices may hinge on understanding the importance of timing in relation to making those choices. Recent research has underscored this concept, suggesting that your circadian clock can determine the best time of day to make a decision. Read on to learn how understanding your chronotype and how it impacts your brain and its decision-making processes can help you to make better choices when it counts.

The Relationship Between Your Circadian Clock and Chronotype

The circadian clock concept seems relatively simple – an approximately 24-hour cycle of activity that corresponds to day and night – until you realize that it impacts, well, everything. Timing is key to all things that occur in your body and mind, from the timing of the hormone production and release and other chemical interactions that transform food into energy to the very mechanics of cognition. Regulated by overarching circadian rhythms, which are cued by such environmental cues as light, physical activity levels and meal timing, your circadian clock helps to synchronize the countless clocks throughout your body, influencing activity all the way down to the molecular level and the daily activities of the individual cell.

Your circadian clock and overall circadian rhythm also help to regulate sleep timing. However, sleep timing also influences your circadian rhythm. This is where your chronotype comes into play. Your chronotype is your body’s preferred timing for sleep and activity. While having a preference can indicate choosing between various options, scientists have also found that there are genetic and heritable aspects to chronotype. Your chronotype can influence the timing of your circadian clock and overall circadian rhythms and vice versa.

Choosing the Best Time of Day to Make a Decision

While in the early days of chronotype research there were two chronotypes — the early bird or the lark and the night owl — today there are four primary chronotypes. These are the lion, bear, wolf and dolphin. Your chronotype – influenced by and also influencing your circadian clock – will impact what time of day you are most mentally alert and agile, something that can affect the speed and quality of your decision-making capabilities.

People that fall into the lion category tend to be early risers, often before the sun, and most productive before noon. Bears rise with the sun and are also most productive before noon, with a dip in productivity between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Wolves rise later and are most productive between noon and 4:00 p.m., with a second wind or boost in productivity around 6:00 p.m. Dolphins tend to be most productive between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

In general, peak cognitive performance aligns with our most productive periods. The more complex a decision, the more involved your prefrontal cortex is in that decision. In addition to handing the complex processes involved with decision making, such as weighing the pros and cons of various options and calculating the potential outcomes associated with each option, your prefrontal cortex also helps to keep risk taking and impulsive actions in check. Thus, making important decisions, such as those having to do with business or money, those relating to morality or ethics and other important, multi-variable types of decisions, is best done in the morning, as morning is defined by your own circadian clock and chronotype.

However, in life, not all decisions are pondered and made carefully. Some things are decided quickly, on the spot, in an instant. Indeed, some of those decisions involve or even require a certain degree of impulsivity or risk taking. According to a study involving online chess players – ideal subjects for studying decision making due to the nature of the game – there seems to be a diurnal pattern to decision making, with the slower, more deliberate and accurate decisions of the morning giving way to more riskier, faster decision making as the day advances.

Leverage Your Understanding of Decision Making

While many important decisions are best made by taking your time and thinking carefully, that’s not always the case. Some situations demand quick thought and assessment with a bit of impulsiveness and risk taking.

Understand your chronotype and the role of your circadian clock to be able to pinpoint your peak cognitive performance window and make your important decisions that require deep thought during that period. Try to avoid making final decisions of that type during the part of the day when you are likely to have reduced prefrontal control of your risk taking and impulsivity. Schedule projects or activities that require that bit of impulsiveness or risk taking for success for the part of the day when your frontal cortex is less likely to tamp those qualities down.