Morning Person Tester: Are You Working At the Wrong Time?

Glen has recently posted an article on LifeDev that resounds quite true. My original peak-time was in the morning from about 7:30 to 11:30, but I stopped getting up earlier and have actually managed to collapse onto the time of 8:30 to 12:30. Sometimes I catch another sprint from 1:30 to 5pm, but that’s highly dependent on how much iced tea I drink and how distracted I got at lunch. One the best, and hardest, things for me to do was to stop checking my email first thing in the morning, as that’ll send me on a task goose-chase across the day, when, in reality, most of it can wait until I get into an off-peak time.

Hint: To be really productive, I’ve had to turn the auto-checker off on Mail.app. Despite the frequency of auto-checking for incoming email, I found myself anticipating the new mail and checking it anyways. By turning it completely off, I freed up the psychic energy being taken by that anticipation. I now check it either twice a day or in-between tasks if I’m waiting on an urgent email.

Take Glen’s post to heart and try working at different times of the day. If you notice a change, make it a habit with Steve’s 30 Day Trial Plan.
Good luck, and I’ll see you bright in the morning.

Potentially related posts:

1. R.A.F.T: Managing Email rather than letting Email Manage You
2. 15 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Working Another Day
3. When to Swallow Your Daily Frog
4. How Heatmapping Your Productivity Can Make You More Productive
5. Lifehack, The Power of Rituals, and Flourishing