Most people — I used to be one of them — think they need a lot of willpower, should work harder and longer, and push through when they feel tired to get things done and be productive. However, what they don’t realise is that their body has a different plan — and the ultradian rhythm, the natural biological cycle that drives our energy and focus, has been running the show all along.

Perhaps, you ever wondered why your energy drops every 90 minutes or so? Why you feel brain‑dead after a long stretch of deep work? Or why “powering through” feels so hard?

The answer to all those questions lies in this biological rhythm — a powerful but overlooked part of energy management and sustainable productivity.

This blog post is all about understanding the ultradian rhythm. Once you understand what it is and does, you’ll stop fighting your energy and start working with it — helping you be more creative, gain clarity, and increase your output. It’s a much healthier, easier, and less painful option than relying on willpower and motivation.

What Is The Ultradian Rhythm?

Perhaps you’ve heard of circadian rhythms — the 24‑hour cycles that regulate sleep, wakefulness, and hormonal patterns.

Ultradian rhythms are shorter, recurrent cycles that run every 90–120 minutes throughout the day. They’re biological patterns that manage cycles of energy production, focus, performance, and recovery.

They regulate essential processes in your body such as:

• Sleep
• Attention
• Memory
• Decision-making
• Emotional resiliance
• Stress
• Mental focus
• Physical energy

During each cycle, your body moves through a natural peak (high focus, high energy) and a dip (tired, distracted, signals to rest). This is a core part of natural energy peaks and productivity cycles.

We’re designed like this on purpose. It’s how your brain and body maintain performance.

Why The Ultradian Rhythm Matters For Productivity

Here’s what most people never learn:

Humans are not designed to focus for hours and hours without a break.

After about 90 minutes of work (any kind of work), your body begins sending signals that it needs time to recover. These signals are subtle, and most people ignore them:

• You start rereading the same sentence
• You feel hungry or restless
• You reach for your phone to check Instagram again
• You get irritable

Most people interpret these signals as weakness or lack of discipline. They try to power through — and when they can’t, they blame themselves.

But it’s not your fault. It’s biology.

These cues simply signal that your ultradian cycle is ending and it’s time for a break.

What Happens When You Skip Breaks And Power Through?

It’s tempting to skip breaks — especially lunchtime. But this is counterproductive, and the cost of skipping piles up throughout the day and over weeks.

When you ignore your focus and recovery cycles, you can expect:

• A slump in productivity as everything takes longer
• Decline in creativity
• Reduced physical coordination (e.g. typing slower)
• More mistakes
• Slower thinking
• Emotional depletion
• Increased stress
• Health issues like blood sugar imbalance and insulin disruption

In plain English: The more breaks you skip, the less you get done — and the lower the quality of your work.

It also affects your life outside work. You get home depleted, microwave a ready‑made meal because you’re too tired to cook, eat something that zaps your energy even more… and suddenly you’re stuck in a vicious cycle.

Powering through might feel productive — but it isn’t.

4 Steps to Work With Your Ultradian Rhythms For Better Productivity

The best and most sustainable way to look after yourself and get more done is to align your work with your natural energy waves. Here’s how:

1. Work in 90‑minute focus blocks
2. Follow each block with 10–20 minutes of recovery
3. Protect your peaks for your highest‑value work
4. Ditch the belief that you need to be “on” all day

If you work in 90‑minute focus blocks, do your deep work during high‑energy peaks, and then take even just 10 minutes to recover — by reading a few pages of a book or doing a Sudoku puzzle — you replenish your internal battery and help your brain clear metabolic waste, reset attention, and prepare for the next cycle.

“Recovery isn’t optional. It’s required.”

Remember, you’re human and not a machine. Your energy is cyclical, not linear. And when you honour that, everything gets easier.

Let’s Recap

Your productivity isn’t about discipline, willpower, or motivation.
It’s about how you work with your biology.

The ultradian rhythm is your internal productivity clock. It’s always been there — guiding your energy levels and performance, giving you little signs and nudges that it’s time to rest.

When you stop pushing against it and start working with it, you unlock clarity, creativity, focus, and ease that no amount of hustle can compete with.

So follow the four steps:

1. Work in 90‑minute work blocks
2. Take 10–20 minutes of recovery
3. Protect your peaks
4. Ditch the “always on” myth#

If you take one thing away from this post, let it be this:

Don’t skip breaks. They are essential. Recharge your batteries.

An empty battery doesn’t power a lamp — and an empty you can’t run her life the way she wants to.

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