There are times of day when we’re more productive. Your time and my time are likely different. We all run on different cycles.

These productive periods tend to be the same each day. We repeat them day after day.

• I’m most productive from about 7 in the morning until 9. I can keep going until 11, but I feel myself slowing down as each of those two additional hours passes.
• By 11 AM, I’m done with my most productive period of the day. It’s time to check Facebook and Twitter and start planning lunch.
• I typically walk to lunch and back, and moving my body some revives me a bit, so I get another brief burst of productivity from about 1:30 to 2:30 (if I’m lucky).
• From 2:30 on, it’s all downhill. There are days when I’d be better off watching Dexter reruns than attempting to work after 2:30.

It took me years to realize that my brain/body worked on a schedule. I wasn’t aware of the pattern, so I used my time to work on whatever was the priority of the moment. It didn’t occur to me to reserve specific tasks for specific times.

Eventually, I tuned in to what was happening and came up with a schedule. I group my tasks and projects so I’m doing them at the optimal time of day.

Aligning Your Work With Your Internal Clock

AM: I use my early mornings for tasks requiring energy and creativity (I write a Divorce Discourse post each morning at about 7). I stack these types of tasks up in my task management system (Wunderlist) and hold them until I have time during that period.

PM: My afternoons are reserved for mindless tasks. That’s when I watch educational videos, read long articles, and organize things needing sorting.

Obviously, some days don’t go as planned. It’s not extraordinary for a client meeting or a doctor appointment to screw up my early morning slot. We shoot lots of website videos early in the day for the best light. Sometimes I’ll have a breakfast meeting that interrupts my use of that time.

It’s impossible to strictly adhere to a schedule built around your energy and creativity levels when the world intervenes. However, it’s not that difficult to become aware of your personal rhythm and take advantage of your productivity peaks and valleys.

What’s your most productive time of day? How should you take advantage of that insight? How can you schedule your activity around your natural rhythms? These are questions worth asking yourself. Shifting your day around just a bit might have a big impact on your overall effectiveness.