Find Your Natural Productivity Rhythm
There’s a myth out there that morning people are the most productive and that if you want to be efficient and effective, you need to get up early and hit the day running.
It’s not true!
The reason it seems that way is because society is set up to run during relatively standard hours and morning people’s natural tendencies happen to align with those hours.
That doesn’t mean that non-morning people need to change their tendencies or that they can’t be successful and productive. All it takes is a little awareness and intention.
First, figure out when YOU work best. You may already have a sense of this, but if not, paying attention for a week or two should narrow it down for you. When do you naturally feel most alert and motivated? When do you get the most accomplished? When do you tend to do your best work? If you can’t clearly see when this time is, it might be easier to narrow it down by determining when you are NOT at your best. For example, many people find they are least productive right before or right after lunch. Using the process of elimination could help you determine when your best time is.
Second, plan to work on cognitively demanding and high-value work during your best times. If your best time of day is later in the day, it helps to set an alarm or have a routine transition point to remind you to switch to your important tasks or projects. For example, if you find you work best in the evening, you could use dinner with the family as a transition routine where you go straight into your important work after the meal is finished.
Finally (and possibly obviously), don’t do easy or low-level tasks during your best times. Save your email, phone calls, and other low-concentration items for your non-peak hours. Don’t waste your best energy on the least important things you have to do.
Just because your natural rhythm doesn’t seem to align with ‘the norm’, doesn’t mean that you have to suffer through early morning work or just give up and never be as productive as possible. Try working with, instead of against your natural tendencies and I think you’ll find that you’re getting more accomplished in less time.
