Have you ever read a productivity tip that said you have to get up at 5:30 and run for 3 miles? It’s annoying because that’s true for that person but you’re not that person! Your most productive time may be 9 p.m. and you might have running.
So how do you find the best time of day to accomplish things?
Well, an easy first step is to consider how you wake up in the morning. I am much more of a morning person, so I’m typically awake or mostly awake before my alarm goes off. I get up right away and start my day. I also exercise in the morning, partly because I have more energy and partly to get it out of the way. You may be the opposite, snoozing the alarm, stumbling to the kitchen for your caffeine fix, and generally easing into your day. Neither is better, so no worries there!
Next, start logging your alertness, energy level, and productivity. You can do this as often as hourly using a scale that makes sense to you. (I used 1-5 but a lot of the advice online says to use 1-10.) Use a chart that makes sense to you, and feel free to customize this one:
Time | Alertness | Energy | Productivity |
7 a.m | |||
8:00 | |||
9:00 | |||
10:00 | |||
11:00 | |||
12:00 | |||
1 p.m. | |||
2:00 | |||
3:00 | |||
4:00 | |||
5:00 | |||
6:00 | |||
7:00 | |||
8:00 | |||
9:00 | |||
10:00 | |||
11:00 |
Track this for a couple of weeks and you should see a pattern start to emerge. There will be variations, of course, depending on things like how you’ve slept, the external stresses of life, etc., but this is a great starting point.
When you know your most energetic and productive time of day, you can plan to accomplish the harder tasks then, leaving the easier or more energizing ones for times you naturally have a dip in your attention.
But that’s not all there is to it! You also need to be intentional about taking breaks. Get up and move around a little. Make yourself a cup of tea. Do something that isn’t task-driven, and also doesn’t involve your phone. We need breaks throughout the day, especially if we do a lot of sitting (I sure do!). To get into the habit, try setting timers or use my favorite and silliest trick: drink water nearly constantly. That means I need to get up and use the restroom loads of times during the day, and I use those mini-breaks to stretch out a bit, read a paragraph in a book, or let the dog out. (I work from home ,but I did this when I had an office, too, minus the dog-related tasks.)
Finally, don’t let other people tell you when or how to be productive. Like so many things, this is very individual, so someone else’s advice isn’t likely to work for you, and that leads to nothing but frustration!