When to Decide: How the Time of Day Has a Big Impact on Your Decisions
On the retail side of the heavy equipment industry, the workday starts early. Construction sites are often up and running by 6 am, logging sites by 4 am, and mining and road paving applications can be 24/7. Dealerships are open by 7 am and maintain a frenetic pace throughout the day responding to customer needs. I remember on more than one occasion getting to work at 7 am and leaving at 5 pm with barely any time throughout the day to stop and think (let alone eat lunch)!
If you are a manager in a dealership, it probably feels like it's impossible to find time to think about and act upon the decisions you need to make throughout the day. This is normal. You're busy serving the needs of your team and your customers. More often than not, you're addressing issues and decisions as soon as they pop up. Unfortunately, this approach means that low-priority decisions often consume the lion's share of your focus and willpower, with higher-priority decisions pushed to the end of the day. This is a mistake and is having a negative impact on your results.
So how can you make higher-quality decisions that drive better results, excel at serving the needs of your team and customers, and still have time for lunch? By using decision science and your natural circadian rhythm to identify the time of day when you should make high-priority, medium-priority, and low-priority decisions.
Early bird? Night owl? Somewhere in between?
In my experience, the vast majority of folks who work in the heavy equipment industry are early birds. Therefore, the considerations that follow reflect this chronobiology (your internal clock) and assume you're the type of person that usually hits your stride by mid-morning.
Once you identify the type of decision you're facing and the type of tool to make the decision, the next question is when should you make the decision to optimize its quality? Here are some time-of-day guidelines.
High priority decisions: earlier is better
High-priority decisions require the greatest amount of focus and willpower. These are decisions that you need to get right. They often involve a lot of people, can have a significant impact on your business, and are quite complex.
For early birds, your highest decision effectiveness occurs between 8 am and 12 pm, though generally peaks about 4 hours after waking up.
For the typical manager at a dealership, this means high-priority decisions can be made faster and with a better outcome if you make them by 10:00 a.m. Make the most challenging decisions, and address the most demanding tasks, at this time of day.
Examples include an investment decision to upgrade your facility, pricing and margin decisions for a multi-unit machine deal, or a restructuring of your staff.
Medium priority decisions: before the afternoon crash
Medium priority decisions are those that require you to dedicate some brainpower to solve, but not too much. They usually involve just a few people (or only you), have a moderate level of impact on your business, and not overly complex. These are the decisions that you so often carry forward on your to-do list. They're important enough to write down and acknowledge that they need to be addressed, but you just can't seem to find the time to do so.
Medium-priority decisions are generally less mentally taxing than high-priority decisions. To maintain a quality outcome, it's OK to make these decisions at a time of day when you're slightly off you’re A-game. When made between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm, you should expect a medium priority decision to take about the same amount of time, with the same efficacy, as the high-quality decisions you made earlier in the day.
Examples of medium priority decisions include making a hiring or coaching decision, resolving a customer complaint, or determining how best to approach a machine-down scenario.
Low priority decisions: early morning or late afternoon
These are the decisions you want to make with as little mental energy as possible. Just decide, and do so quickly.
Low-priority decisions often consume the greatest amount of time, though not for the right reasons. These are the decisions that pile up in your inbox first thing in the morning and if you subscribe to the last in first out approach to decision making, these are the decisions that can consume the better part of your day.
Resist the urge to make low-priority decisions when your time is better used elsewhere. Make these decisions rapid-fire style first thing in the morning, wait until later in the day (between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm), or delegate these decisions to someone on your team (unless you've already made all of your high- and medium-priority decisions).
Examples of low priority decisions include point of sale discounts, short-term assignment changes due to a staff shortage, or vacation and time off approvals.
Decision bonus time: 1 hour before bedtime
Not that I recommend you check your email or make key decisions just before bedtime, but you should be aware of your hidden ability to make a slightly-better-than-average decision about an hour before the end of your day. Limit these decisions to three or less of the medium- or low- priority type, and no more than once or twice per week.
(Side notes: for early birds, the best time to brainstorm or troubleshoot a problem is between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm and the best time to learn something new is 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and again from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.)
To learn more and home in on your circadian rhythm type, including advice about the optimal time of day for you to make decisions, check out this questionnaire.
Summary
For early risers, carve out time to make the tough decisions early in your day.
- High-priority decisions: 8am-10am
- Medium-priority decisions: 10am-1pm
- Low-priority decisions: 6:00am-8:00am, 3:00pm-5:00pm, or one hour before bedtime
References
"Daniel Pink's 'When' Shows the Importance of Timing Throughout Life" https://www.npr.org/2018/01/17/578666036/daniel-pinks-when-shows-the-importance-of-timing-throughout-life>
"Is there an ideal time of day for decision-making?" https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/minds-business/is-there-an-ideal-time-of-day-for-decision-making.html
The Power of When by Dr. Michael Breus
When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Daniel Pink
Leone, M.J., Slezak, D.F., Golombek, D., Sigman, M. (2017). Time to Decide: Diurnal Variations on the Speed and Quality of Human Decisions. Cognition. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.10.007
"Persistent and robust daily rhythmicity and the benefits that come along with it" https://decisiontiming.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Article-Ideal-Time-of-Day-for-Decision-Making-Applying-Decision-Effectiveness-by-Felix-Sch%C3%BCrholz.pdf
"Morning evening questionnaire" https://www.cet-surveys.com/index.php?sid=61524&newtest=Y
LUKE SHEPPARD is the author of the new book Driving Great Results: Master The Tools You Need to Run A Great Business, which provides entrepreneurs and managers with nineteen practical and proven tools to build, launch, and manage a successful business. He is the principal of Sheppard & Company, a firm he founded on the premise of helping others to apply the proven business principles he's honed over his 20-year career in the heavy equipment industry.