Want to boost productivity, sleep, lose weight and have better sex? The problem may not be with how you’re working, exercising or making love — it may simply be that you’re doing them at the wrong time.

“Most [self-help] books tell you what to do and how to do it, but they don’t tell you when,” says Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and author of the forthcoming “The Power of When” (Little, Brown and Company, out Sept. 13). “ ‘When’ is the ultimate life hack. It’s so much easier than trying to overcome an obstacle or changing the way you do something.”

The idea of “when” came to Breus when one of his patients was complaining about her constant fatigue. “I asked her to help me understand her situation, and she said, ‘At the end of the day, I don’t have a problem falling asleep or staying asleep —  I just fall asleep at the wrong time.’ ”

A light bulb went off, and Breus, who specializes in sleep disorders, had the woman ask her boss if she could go into and leave the office two hours later, so it would mesh better with her sleep schedule. After a couple of weeks, not only did her sleep improve, but she was more productive and got along better with her family. “I wondered, ‘What else could this work for?’ ”

According to Breus, pretty much everything. “The Power of When” breaks down 75 different activities, from drinking coffee to exercising to sex, and tells you the best time to do each of them, depending on your “chronotype,” or biological clock. “Everyone’s internal rhythm is different,” says Breus. He’s identified four different chronotypes (dolphin, lion, bear and wolf) based on an individual’s sleep needs and personality. “There are certain times when our body is burning calories or producing more estrogen, so it’s all about using that knowledge” so you can perform specific functions at your peak. Try for yourself, below:

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