Many people have to get to work at a precise time, like bank tellers. But if you’re among the few that gets to decide, like programmers or consultants, what time is best?People approach the problem from a variety of angles. Many people tell me they like to arrive and leave work early. Others would rather sleep in and enjoy a night life.

Good cases can be made for each side. But rather than get into a personality argument, let’s try to dig deeper and work out the analysis.

Run the numbers

Let’s consider someone who works 10 hours, who takes a 30 minute lunch break, and has complete freedom over start time.

The person is essentially choosing among the following schedules:

5 am – 3:30 pm
6 am – 4:30 pm
7 am – 5:30 pm
8 am – 6:30 pm
9 am – 7:30 pm
10 am – 8:30 pm
11 am – 9:30 pm

When I look at those times, I don’t see a clear winner. One either has to start early or stay late.

But not all blocks are created equally. Some have more risks than others, as I learned from my own experience.

Think about risk

The routine you pick might cause unnecessary stress on you. Here are some issues I’ve encountered:

–arriving when most people do means facing rush hour traffic

–an unnaturally early start might cause tiredness and decreased productivity

–a late starting time might be threatened by a string of morning meetings

I started, like most people, arriving during normal business hours. I soon felt the annoyance of rush hour traffic. I was commuting on a bus so I could read, but it was not as relaxing as reading in my bed. Plus, I was not happy spending an extra 30 minutes commuting in rush hour because time is too valuable when you calculate it out.

So I tried something else. I tried arriving at 6 am because I was tempted by leaving at 4:30 pm. The problem was that I was tired the whole time and missed my peak productivity, which comes later in the day. That meant I had to work extra hours. Plus, I had to sleep around 9:30 pm to get enough rest, and that was too early for me.

My most common solution was getting in a little bit later, like around 10 am. This worked until I had to make some 7 am morning meetings, so chosen to coordinate with other time zones. But the benefit was I could get enough rest and squeeze in a morning workout.

Think strategically

So if no single strategy works, what do I suggest? Game theory suggests you use a mixed strategy, which means using some randomization among the choices.

My ultimate answer was:

–rotate the schedule and work on surprise

I mixed between coming early, on time, and later in the day. The best part of this rotating schedule was I could make sure I got to the office when I felt productive. Some days I naturally woke up early. Other days I needed to rest more. Such a routine is flexible enough to accommodate early and late meetings.

There’s another benefit: when people don’t expect you to arrive at a given time, you avoid interruption from coworkers. They’re more likely to contact you through emails rather than phone calls.

And for most people commuting is a poor use of time, meaning it would make sense to avoid rush hour traffic. I weighted my arrival towards very early or very late times. If you walk or bike you work, you don’t have to worry about this of course.

You might also develop a preference for certain types of schedules over time. When things got busiest, I rotated between going into the office at 6 am and 10 am.

Impression: mix between all schedules, but weight towards very early and very late arrivals

What works for you? Fill in the points I overlooked in the comments.