The Topeka state journal., 1922-11-09
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
WEATHER AND EFFICIENCY

Q
day, or when you find it hard to con-
centrate on a difficult problem right
after lunch, don't get nervous and
think that you are on the verge of a
breakdown. You are merely a living
example of tie natural rhythms of
efficiency.
Almost everyone has preferred
time for brafh work and for-exercise.
You hear a man say, II wait until
late at night to do my 1eading because
it is quiet and can cf cfnCsntrate. My
at any other tirre"F Another person
holds an-equally decided opinion that
early in the morning is the best time
for brain work. Opinions or this
sort have been held for centuries.
But for the past few decades science
has been making tests of the actual
abilities of human beings in varying
circumstances. The effects on effici-
ency of the weather, the time of day,
and the season of the year have been
tested by numerous investigators
The results have shown that. these
factors do have an influence on effici-
ency, and that certain rhythms pre-
vail. If a large group is tested thru
out one day almost all are found to
reach the peak of mental ability at
about the same hour, and If the tests
are repeated over a long period of
time the tendency of the effict tency
curve 10 1OdlOW Lne same course SdCI
day is still more apparent
The interesting fact shown by such
tests is that comparatively few people
are at their best when they think
they are. College students asked by
Professor Arthur Gates to tell at what
hour they could study best showed a
decided preference for 8 and o'clock.
Comparatively few chose 10 or IL in
the morning, at which time. according
to scientific tests, the peak of mental
DR.. Gates says, appreciated the effici-
ency of the afternoon hours, notice
ably 3 o'clock. =
His conclusion is that "one's sub
jective feelings with regard to the
time of greatest efficiency are not re-
liable indications of real efficiency.
The organism may be able to produce
the greatest amount and the best quail
ity ofwork at a time when feelings of
fatigue and kindred factors lead us to
believe that our efficiency is low.
Brain Power Best After Noon.
According to DIR. Archibald Peaks,
who made a study of thi: subject,
1t drops considerably around noon
and then rises to a maximum around
p. m after which there is a gradual
decrease until the close of the day.
Physical ability rises to a similar
high point around IL and drops
slightly from noon to 1 p. m-,<then
rises again to maximum sometime
between and 6 o'clock.
DIR. Peaks says that Sin speed and
accuracy tests, accuracy is better in
the morning and speed greater in the
afternoon, a result which seems to
show that speed is often gained at
the expense of accuracy"
This refutes to a degree the popu-
lar idea that when a person has been
working a while fatigue pulls down
his efficiency. but it is explained by
some scientists that many people give
in too easily to weariness. They
allow themselves to sink into a semi
conscious state in the afternoons
vinced that their effioienc.- cannot
be as great as in the morning Sub
perhaps they say to them
selves, Il always am tired in the
to slow down then" And because
they believe that conditions are pull
ing against them they give in.
People who have this complex may
find themselves more alert if they
reflect that around two and three
over, conditions are very nearly as
favorable for efficiency as at the
nigh point of the mornings work.
Those who allow themselves to drag
thru the middle of the afternoon and
pull themselves together at night are
not taking advantage of the best
hours for alterness. or so the results
Of numerous tests would indicate.
There may be, of course, other factors
to consider in special cases There is
in favor of night hours as
conducive to mental effort. If dis
fractions are removed and the brain
Is not charged with items of the daily
routine to be gone thru with, the
mental relaxation may offset the dip
IN the efficiency curve.
The. Sun and Suicides
Some of the effects of weather on
energy and alertness as traced by
Investigators are decidedly unexpected |
% most laymen- Thus most of us
occur on bright sunny days than on
the kind of day we think of as de-
pressing. Yet comparison of weather
and suicide records in New York City |
for a period covering five years
showed that persons who intended to
take their lives screw up their del
On a bright afternoon.
The deed may be meditated on a |
,ittingly dismal day, but the sun
brings the energy necessary to action
the sun stimulates constructive as
we'll as destructive activity. Dexter, |
who made a special study OF weather
found from experiments |
hat a high degree of accuracy might |
be expected on day that is sunny |
0r on one that combines cloudzness |
with dry atmospheric conditions. |
Damp days in banks are recognized |
rs bad for complicated bookkeeping, |
Dexter says. and he adds;
During LONDON fogs, and on days
when the weather is particularly de-
pressing, in the Bank of England, /
certain sets of books, an error in |
which would be cumulative and pro-
luce disastrous results further on, are
ocked up, and the clerks set at tasks !
ess intricate and important in char /
acter."
This represents unusual precaution. |
Most people have to do the days work |
of weather. Knowing that |
lamp weather is bad for accuracy is /
Taluable only in that it enables them /
% put forth a special effort to guard /
1zainst carelessnesS