The Best Time of Day to Do Almost Anything

We all know that decisions shouldn't be made on empty stomachs. The surprise is how much our fates might depend on this truth. Your best chance of getting a “yes” to any request—a raise, a date, a grant, a donation for your charity run—is right after your requestee has eaten. This certainly applies to judicial decisions, finds a study at Ben-Gurion and Columbia Universities. Right after judges had a food break, they were likelier to agree to a prisoner's request than any other time of the day. Credit the mood-lightening and brain-boosting effects of a short rest combined with a glucose surge. Later, as the judges' blood sugar levels presumably dropped, the “yes” rate plummeted—to nearly zero by the end of a session.