Karl Craig-West

I've never really been a big fan of the biorhythm theory but there is a way to use your own body's way of working to help you get more done.

You see, I often find it very difficult to have a lie-in because my body starts to wake up around 6 o'clock in the morning. Even when I've been out for a few glasses of wine with my rugby team-mates I still can't sleep late.

I'm very much a morning person and tend to do my best work between 9am and 11:30am. So I often try and schedule my most important focus-intensive work for this time. I try to see clients and make phone calls in the mornings. After lunch I tend to feel less energetic, so I aim at more menial stuff for that time. I often do paperwork in the afternoon.

I love to exercise and feel as though I get better results when I go to the gym in the morning. I find evening workouts very difficult.

Another good example is my friend Keith, who is a commercial photographer. He's not a morning person at all and confesses to being at his most productive between 8pm and midnight. The only challenge there is that most of his clients aren't at work during those hours. So he often schedules work with clients as late in the day as is feasible.

But, what does this mean to you?

The point is this: try and do your most important work when your body is at its most alert and awake.

If you're self-employed then you probably have more flexibility than you do if you work for someone else. But it's definitely worth examining your work, and how it's organised, to see if there are ways you can work in line with your own body clock.