A change in routine or expectation in the morning right after a full night of sleep and breakfast may feel easier to accept than a change in expectation at dinnertime, when everyone is getting snoozy, feeling hungry, and has worked all day to process the world. The things that drain our battery are cumulative throughout the day, and that can affect our behavior. For example, in one study, judges were “significantly more likely to deny parole to a prisoner if the hearing was just before lunchtime. . . . Immediately after lunch, the judges began granting paroles with their customary frequency.”7
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