Is your body’s rhythm trying to tell you something? Does it sometimes shout at you to slow down or keep going?

Your body has natural rhythms called energy cycles. You’ve heard people say, “I’m a morning person.” “I’m a night owl.” Throughout the day (or night), the level of your energy circulates up and down. When your energy cycle is up, you’re at your peak performance. When it’s down, your body wants to rest and recover. By maximizing your cycles, you’ll achieve better productivity. Instead, if you try to force your cycle into a different pattern like you might have during college days studying for exams, you might be temporarily productive, but that high energy won’t last. Paying attention to your energy cycle allows you to consistently stay at your peak over longer periods. Your body has natural rhythms called energy cycles. Discover your energy cycle by planning it. Learn your energy cycle patterns. As you plan your energy cycle, be aware of your eating and drinking behaviors.

When you’re in a down cycle, you should avoid powering through it if you can. These slumps can get you in trouble because as a task-oriented entrepreneur, you want to do more. Those times are danger zones for eating, drinking, or taking medication to stimulate and try to push your body to work longer. Instead, try walking, using relaxation techniques, or even taking a short nap. Your energy can renew, and you’ll be ready for your high-energy cycle.

Draw a line starting at the beginning, representing your usual time of getting out of bed. Draw a line that reflects your high and low energy during the day until bedtime. Maybe you’re a night owl – and you perform best at night. Your line would show higher energy during those nighttime hours. This timeline shows someone becoming sleepy right after lunch. If you catch a dip during the day, acknowledge it when it hits and go with it. Rest. Walk away from the fridge.

If you don’t set a boundary or stop when you know there are too many balls in the air, your available energy will disappear. When you know you’re nearing rust-out, you also know burnout isn’t far behind.

Routine helps, even determining a bedtime.