1. The mistake: You don't realize how much you "morally disengage" after lunch.
Puff up a resume, cover up a problem, deceive a spouse, take credit when it isn't due...If it's shady, you're
likelier to do it in the afternoon rather than in the morning, found a study from Harvard University and the University of Utah. A series of experiments revealed that people—
good people who normally try to do the right thing—lied, cheated and bamboozled more in the afternoon hours. (Unethical people did so at any time of day or night.) We only have a limited amount of mental energy, the researchers theorized—and as it diminishes, temptation grows.
The solution: Reorder your tasks so that you—and the people you're working with—are at your ethical best. Anything that requires moral judgment (say, negotiating a deal where you're relying on others to be honest) gets slotted for early in the day.
