Know Your Chronotype. It'll Change Your Life.

You're most likely working, eating, and sleeping at the worst time of the day.

ABOUT ME

Rían Doris is the Co-Founder & CEO of Flow Research Collective, the world’s leading peak performance research and training institute focused on decoding the neuroscience of flow states and helping leaders and their teams unlock flow states consistently. Clients include Accenture, Audi, Facebook, Bain & the US Airforce.

Along with being listed on Forbes 30 Under 30 Rian's thought leadership has been featured in Fast Company, PBS and Big Think and he hosts Flow Research Collective Radio, an iTunes top 10 science podcast.

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Rían holds a degree in Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) from Trinity College Dublin, an MSc in Neuroscience at King's College, London and an MBA. Rian is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Birmingham—focusing on how flow states affect perceived meaning in life.
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Prior to co-founding Flow Research Collective with Steven Kotler, Rian worked with NYT Bestselling Author Keith Ferazzi, and 12X NYT Bestselling Author Dr. Dan Siegel, distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

[riandoris]

Rían here. Thanks for watching! Feel like you're battling yourself to get work done? Your body has a built-in peak performance window – your chronotype zone. Most people fight against it, and it leads to endless struggle.

With the science-backed techniques in this PDF, you can strategically time your productivity to complete a month’s worth of work in less than a day.

[matthewmccourry]

Lucky you. Your chronotype fits the standard US work model. You will be seen as successful and a team player without even trying.

[stijnnoorman]

I tracked my hourly energy levels throughout the week. Been doing my deep work in the high-energy hours and it has been a game-changer for my productivity. Can absolutely recommend it to anyone.

[nrs]

Im probably a 4th bird . I have more power at 10pm to 2 am . But i think its because of lack of distractions at that time. However I tend to learn things easier and memorise more often at those times .

[maxbaugh]

One has to wonder how many billions of dollars of economic productivity are being left on the table due to corporations' insistence on return-to-office mandates with their one-size-fits-all, 9-5 Monday-Friday schedule.

[MahfuzurRahman]

The path of least resistance. Got this idea after adopting my cats. They live in the moment. they don't care about the future or past too much. they follow their instincts more than anything.
I've tried to mimic that since 2020 where I stopped thinking about when to eat, sleep, relax or work. Had a lot of backlash from my family since my meal and sleep times were vastly altered. Despite that I worked alongside my natural rhythms rather than fighting it.
It comes with some drawbacks like never knowing when I'm going to sleep or how long I'm going to sleep for. Hard to schedule anything properly. But in the waking hours I can be super fast at work. Still trying to figure out how to properly balance it and minimize the unpredictabilities.

[Feloogle]

I've known my peak performance time for years now. It's 11pm-5am. Every time I wake up during the day, I feel tired and my brain doesn't feel like it's working correctly. But as soon as the sun sets, I feel awake and my brain suddenly works really well. The only problem is, that I'm normally forced to sleep during that time.

[JQ]

I personally feel like choronotypes change with age and demand of your job. When I was a young investment banker and later a young startup employee, I was an owl. Now in my 30s as a finance leader, I’m 100% an early bird.

[catalinagalan]

I really wish I wasn’t a night owl 🦉
I feel like most of society’s work structure goes against my nature. I feel that in order to take full advantage of my productive periods I have to miss out on a lot of personal engagements, or miss out on a lot of productive days. I honestly wish I could wake up and be productive during the late morning/early afternoon at least. This sucks.

[hex]

Wow this was a very insightful video! I’m definitely a night owl and feel like I’ve been told my whole life that I’m lazy for “sleeping in” or going to bed late despite being extremely productive in the evenings. I’ve constantly been told to fix my 2am-10am sleep schedule even though when I’ve tried to go to sleep or wake up earlier, I end up wasting the whole day or have to push through using sheer discipline which leads me to exhaustion. While it seems that everyone I know is winding down at 4-5 pm, it’s like my day is just beginning, and I can work in flow state for hours, usually taking a break to go for a walk, and then finishing around 10 or 11pm. I then usually relax for about 2-3 hours before finally sleeping. This video made me realize that these things are inherent, and I shouldn’t stress about what other people think about my work/study schedule. I’m in college and have been able to maintain a 4.0 gpa because of my schedule, and now that I’m aware of it, I’ll continue to better optimize my peak productivity time. Thanks Rian!

[nathananderson]

This is one of the channels that gave me the courage to start my YouTube channel 8 months ago about self development. Now I have 1, 038 subs and > 800 hours of watch time. I know it’s not comparable with others but I’m still proud I started because I’ve been learning so many lessons that I could haven’t learned without getting started in the 1st place.

[abdirahmanabdinoor]

I'm an early bird most of the time, but sometimes if I wake up at 8:00pm my energy is high. I think it depends with when I wake up. The reason why I can't study at the night is because my eyes are tired. When I sleep tiredness leave my eyes that's why I'm more when I wake up everyrime. Man I wish I had a cure for my eyes, I know my brain wouldn't get tired easily

[Nick-Quick]

00:03 There are individual peak performance windows within every day.
02:20 Understanding your chronotype and chronotype zone can optimize productivity
04:38 Organisms have innate chronotypes, but humans can defy their chronotype.
06:49 Identify your chronotype and determine your chronotype zone.
08:49 Working within your chronotype Zone improves productivity and efficiency.
10:59 Working during peak productivity hours can significantly improve efficiency.
13:01 Mastering energy Arbitrage is about leveraging peak biological resources.
15:10 Work during your chronotype zone for optimal productivity
17:03 Optimal schedule for different chronotypes
18:43 Protect your chronotype Zone and focus on your most important work
20:35 Take short breaks to recharge your energy and optimize productivity.
22:24 Ride the waves of your chronotype Zone

[Enlisuka]

Btw, consider people with sleep-wake disorder like having a circadian rhythm significantly longer or shorter than a day-night cycle.
It's makes a game of catching the optimal state insanely difficult and also leads people to think they're "not good enough" in some sense when it really boils down to exceptional biology they have.

[InspandMotiNDZ-crcd]

I didn't think that I'll find a " favourite channel" but I can proudly say that ive found it, I've studied all of your videos in 2 days, ur points and researches are on point, ur delivery through the video, the hit of dopamine I get from your videos, your videos are not just talking about some topics its literally a series
I can say proudly that its the best series I've ever seen, amazing personality and a world class editing
Keep up the amazing work Rian
Would like to have a video about sleep bc u mentioned it in multiple videos before...

[DanToruno]

The score makes these video feel so cinematic, dramatic, and cutting edge... I love every second of it.

[jeeaspirant]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 🧠 Productivity is not constant throughout the day; everyone has a unique Peak Performance window determined by their chronotype.
02:29 🌞 There are three main chronotypes: Larks (morning people), Owls (night people), and Third Birds (in-between), each with their Peak Performance times.
03:37 🧘‍♂️ Your Chronotype Zone is the period within your circadian rhythm where cognitive functions are at their peak, ideal for entering the Flow State.
08:12 📉 Working during the trough (low-energy period) is inefficient and often counterproductive; tasks should align with your Chronotype Zone for optimal results.
10:36 🕰️ Adjust your daily routine to protect and prioritize your Chronotype Zone, avoiding distractions and non-essential tasks during that time.
13:10 📅 Energy Arbitrage involves aligning your tasks with your biological peaks and troughs to maximize productivity.
16:08 ⏰ During times of high demand, consider extending your Chronotype Zone to achieve a significant boost in productivity.
19:33 🏄‍♂️ Within your Chronotype Zone, honor your ultradian rhythms by taking short breaks to maintain focus and avoid burnout.
22:41 💪 Leverage specific substances or techniques to push through the struggle phase and enter the Flow State more rapidly.

Made with HARPA AI

[odettegibbs]

This is truth. For years, I tried to force myself into being a “Robin Sharma 5am club” gal. I would get a run, yoga, meditation and cold shower in all before 7am. Felt the high of accomplishment in the moment, yet I suffered from crippling anxiety and insomnia during that time.

Fast forward to today, I am an entrepreneur with ZERO set wake-up time. I literally wake up whenever my body wants to. I don’t make appointments for the mornings, specifically so I can do this. Anxiety disorder is long gone. My most productive hours are in the late afternoon to evening. This is the opposite of what everyone told me.

In addition, everyone tells you to “eat the frog” first thing in the morning. This advice just stresses me out. I benefit from slow, unhurried and non-stressful mornings. Once I am in the zone, then I can eat frogs. Or whatever. Why are people telling me to eat frogs when I am still waking up?

[MrLuigiFercotti]

I’m pretty productive in the AM, but I’ve always had a bad midday crash 12-2, I literally could fall asleep in the middle of class or the work day sitting at a desk. Then later in afternoon I would get back into a good productive space. If possible, I scheduled any walking around type work 12-2 if possible. One time a supervisor wanted to know why I didn’t go down to the factory line right away when called in the morning. Said I save that work for after lunch break because it was impossible for me to do desk work at that time. He didn’t get it.

[ThomasThings]

I love being at my peak from 11-12pm to 2-4am and having to stick to a "normal" sleep schedule because of society