Zeniths for employee hustle¹ and productivity are Mondays before 11am in October, according to a study by California-based project management platform Redbooth published in November. The firm analysed project data from hundreds of thousands of users who used the service to plan and track their work.

根据加州项目管理平台Redbooth去年11月发布的一项研究，员工最忙碌、工作效率最高的时间是10月份每个周一上午11点之前。这一结论是该公司分析了来自数十万使用该平台计划并跟进工作的用户项目数据后得出的。

Generally speaking, if you’re feeling lazy on a Friday in August, you’re not alone.

一般来讲，如果你在八月的某个周五感觉懒散，你不是一个人。

“A lot of this aligns² with what past research on energy and productivity tells us,” says John Trougakos, an associate professor of organisational behaviour at the University of Toronto in Canada.

加拿大多伦多大学组织行为副教授约翰-特劳加科斯说：“大多数调查结果和之前关于精力和工作效率的调查一致。”

“For example, based on circadian rhythms, about 75% of people tend to be most mentally alert between 9am and 11am.”

“比如，根据生物昼夜节律，75%的人在上午9点到11点头脑最清醒。”

Circadian rhythms are our internal clocks that tell our bodies when to get up, eat and sleep throughout 24-hour cycles. Many studies have found that work which syncs with our circadian rhythms results in greater productivity and less fatigue³. Even space agency Nasa has monitored circadian rhythms to improve astronauts’ productivity and health.

生物昼夜节律是人体的生物钟，告诉我们的身体在一天中何时起床、吃饭和睡觉。很多研究发现，工作时间与昼夜节律吻合能提高工作效率，减少疲劳。连美国航天局也在监控宇航员的昼夜节律，以提高工作效率，改善健康状况。

“Once someone gets into work they likely take some time to check emails and settle in,” Trougakos says. “Then it takes time to become immersed in whatever task they are working on. So 11am as a peak productivity time for task completion makes sense.”

特劳加科斯说：“一旦人们开始工作，他们可能会花些时间查看电邮，并开始处理工作事务。之后还要过些时间人们才能沉浸在工作任务中。所以上午11点工作效率最高是有道理的。”

The afternoon between 2-3pm marks a low energy point. “This makes sense why many cultures take naps during the afternoon,” he says.

下午2点到3点人们最精神不振。他说：“所以在有些地方人们会睡午觉。”

什么时间我们的心智最敏锐？

As for the findings in regard to days, seasons and months? Those check out too, experts say.

至于按照日期、季节和月份方面的研究，专家表示也已经有结论了。

The findings “are consistent with considerable research on the ebbs⁴ and flows of mental acuity⁵,” says Don Drummond, economist⁶ and adjunct professor at Queen’s University in Toronto.

多伦多皇后大学经济学家、兼职教授唐-杜德蒙说，这些研究结果“和对于精神敏锐度周期波动的大量研究结果一致”。

Mondays make sense, he says, because “people are fresh, mentally and physically⁷ at the beginning of the week, and fade as the week goes on.”

他说，周一最高效是有道理的，“在周一，人们精神饱满，体力充沛。而在一周之后的几个工作日，精力逐渐衰退。”

The different phases of the year also reflect natural volleys between high- and low-energy levels. Drummond says people return from summer holidays fresh, so they are productive in early autumn, while winter’s early plunge⁸ into darkness each night might explain lagging productivity, mental acuity and dips in mood.

一年中的不同阶段也反映出精力充沛和精神萎靡的自然波动状态。杜德蒙说，人们暑假归来后精力充沛，所以在初秋工作高效。而冬天天黑得较早，因此工作拖沓，精神敏锐度降低、情绪不佳。

Drummond has some suggestions for capitalising on these findings: “Allow people to have the time required to flex⁹ their creativity early in the week and early in the day,” he says. “Don’t, for example, schedule a boring meeting then. Alas, that is when almost all boring meetings are scheduled.”

杜德蒙对于如何利用这些研究结果还给出了一些建议。他说：“让人们能够在一周前几天的清晨充分发挥他们的创造力。比如，在那时不要安排无聊的会议。唉，但几乎所有无聊的会议都安排在这些时候了。”