Thursday 7 February 2008

My "work rhythm" in the morning vs. at night

Have you paid attention lately to how your "work rhythm" changes throughout the day?

I find that in the earlier part of the day my brain is best at receiving and retaining information.  This is the time when I am just starting out the day with my brain like a blank sheet of paper.  Anything written on it is ultra clear and stays for longer.

So, the first thing I do to start the day is to really think about what goals and tasks I want to accomplish today, convince myself that it is realistic, compelling, yet realistic.  Doing this in the morning helps me steer through the day before distractions occur.

Then, I jump to my tasks.  I usually do things that require intense reading/memorizing in the morning, because I can remember it well.

As the day gets closer to the end, I start to shift my work mode from "input" to "output".  i.e. from reading/memorizing to writing/reflecting.  At later part of the day my brain is not sharp enough to receive input efficiently, but this is when all the information starts to click!  All the experience, emotions, and facts during the day start to form pictures, ideas, and patterns.  My writings at night are generally more coherent and richer with context.  If I write in the morning, many times I'd hit a writer's block.

So this is my brain rhythm: morning = absorbing and night = synthesizing.  What's your work rhythm?

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