Why you shouldn't make big decisions after 3 p.m.

photo courtesy of Flickr user sfllaw

Many people feel like they do their best work -- and are most focused -- early in the morning. Willpower is strongest then, before being depleted during the day.

Research also finds that we're happiest in the mornings. An analysis of millions of Twitter feeds from around the globe, published in Science this fall, found that the use of words like "awesome" and "super" peaked from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. After that, Tweets turn grumpier, finally hitting bottom from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Indeed, that's when words like "annoy" become downright prevalent.

In other words, not only are you likely to be groggy and less disciplined around 4 p.m., you're also probably not too happy, either. Doesn't sound like the best time to decide anything terribly important.

Analysis of Twitter yields insight into moods

The best bet for making good decisions? Don't go on Twitter from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.! Use that time to focus on work instead, especially if you're trying to think about long-term goals. The late afternoon is better spent getting a snack or going for a walk -- things you might Tweet happily about afterwards.

[harvyk100]

I hardly think twitter is a good medium to gauge peoples emotions. In fact I have my doubts that any sort of study based on social media can accurately reflect real world for two reasons.

1. How people act and think online is very different to how people act and think in the real world. In the online world people have no issues calling someone all names under the sun, and generally acting like an arse hat. You take those same people away from the computer and get them to meet in real life and how they interact with each other is totally different. (Ok so this last point is anecdotal evidence, but I have seen it frequently enough to believe it's not just a co-incidence)

2. Different times of the day is likely to attract different sorts of people, if I'm an unemployed bum who has no real desire to do anything other than live on social security payments, I'm probably not going to be up at the crack of dawn to post happy comments. If I'm working a 60 hour week, I might only post on social media a few times per day, furthermore I might have my reputation hanging in the balance and thus always post in a certain tone. (I know I'm certain very careful before posting anything negative, lest it causes me professional trouble later on down the track)

Finally, how people might feel, and their ability to make decisions at any given isn't just down to the person, it's down to a range of emotional factors, which are not necessarily dictated by time.

Besides I for one feel that I often get my best work done between 3:30pm and 5:30pm, where as between 9am and 11am I feel I often struggle. 7am to 9am I can be so so, depending on my reason for being up so early.