A classic performance curve includes greater performance capability in the morning after waking up and reaches a high-point somewhere between 8 and 10 o'clock and then typically rises again after lunch. In the late afternoon, the performance curve reaches a second high-point at about 4-6pm but not to the same high performance level, and then continues to until we are sometime too tired and go to bed. Within these large fluctuations in the up phase we go through smaller 90 to 120-minute cycles in which our energy typically swings up and down.

7 tips on how you increase your efficiency:

1. Intentionally make use of the performance curve

If you know your personal performance curve, you can tackle your day better: You have tasks that require special performance or high concentration, be sure to complete these in the times of the day where your performance is peaking, where they are usually more performance-boosting. Of course, this is best accomplished if you are self determined, to a large extent.  But what if you are only defined by others and only to a lesser extent self-determined?

Then, plan B has to come into play: Influence on the performance curve. If you should be required to make an important presentation to a specific time of day, for example, where your performance is typically not at the highest point, it helps to know how you can influence your performance curve so that you can better meet the requirements. There are various influencing factors.

2. Enough sleep

Sleep remains at the top of our list of priorities It is one of the most important factors for personal performance. This may sound banal, but it is neglected by many people. Various studies have shown that among all the influencing factors of productivity at work sleep is sometimes the most important. Sleep seven to eight hours as optimal sleep duration, so that the brain can recover and support cells can eliminate waste materials produced throughout the course of the day. Of course, there are people that can function well with less sleep based on genetics, and for which this specification does not apply. For the majority, however, lack of sleep directly impacts performance.

3. Power napping

Again, to arrive at the performance curve, make use of distributed sleeping throughout the day, for example, with a power nap, a NAP outside the main sleep phase. Our grandparents called this the still afternoon nap and that worked as well. Here, we often have a short rest period of 10 to 20 minutes, where you sit down or lie down, close your eyes and either really dive into a nap or recharge the batteries using conscious relaxation exercises. Is important here to wake up again, before you go into a deep sleep, or it may be that you are feeling worn instead of fresh and recovered.

4. Balanced food

In addition to sleep, also, diet is very important for personal performance. If I know that I have an important presentation in the afternoon or important coaching conversations where a high presence and concentration are needed, then I do not opt for Mignon with potato fries and herb butter and then for dessert. If something of the kind is made, I eat something easy and am still performance-boosted as well in the afternoon.

5. Physical activity

Physical activity is another influence factor on the personal performance curve: Sports, walks, and movement of all kinds. It eventually leads to a better balance – especially in sedentary activities, sport is very helpful for a balanced performance curve.

6. Take breaks

Conscious pauses are another important factor in good self management in order to get out of the current mode and remove itself from the current activity and to enable the brain to compensate. Briefly leave the workplace, go out, take a lap around the block or get a drink, get into a brief conversation with a colleague, - a colleague who can help clear your head and who can go again with you with new energy to work.

7. Disruptions

Then there is yet another form of disruption which affects performance. Disruptions. It is obvious that work that is focused and smoothly carried out will be better than one which is constantly interrupted, and usually is completed in a shorter time and with better results.

Positively teeming with impulses (on the phone, looking around, rambling thoughts etc.) and outside (phone rings,email notifications, the boss or colleagues want something, etc.) discourage and challenge you to be concentrated and focused on the current task. The need to complete multitasking is an absolute killer. It's actually a type of naughtiness. Simply seen from a biological, we cannot take on multitasking. What is most likely possible is a quick jumping between various tasks. The quality and amount of time of the corresponding tasks tend to suffer from multitasking. Likewise, the focus and the ability to focus on a task is challenged.

So, you deal best with errors:

Systematically analyse your working days:

• Are there activities for which you need too much time?
• Are there activities in which you invest too little time?
• Do you have any time thieves that you can identify?
• What are the most common internal and external errors?
• How can you channel these errors in the future or reduce these?

In the next step, this means:

• Take on conversations with colleagues who repeatedly interrupt.
• Arrange fixed meeting times - this provides for self-determination instead of determination by others.
• Let colleagues collect their topics and discuss at an agreed time.

If you have a leadership position, you will want to communicate that you have at least one solution to any problem. If other staff or employees do not find something and asks you for these things, then you should ask where the employee or staff member has read to double-check. This will prevent employees who have a problem from facing you and who have not thought about a solution themselves for more than five minutes

If you follow these tips, and you manage to make these tips part of your everyday life you will significantly increase your efficiency. I wish you much success!