Why you should devote your most productive time to your most exciting projects.
Some days, the ideas flow easily while other days are a struggle. You’ve probably noticed creativity isn’t like a light switch—it can’t turn on at will. Be it writing, design, or any other artistic endeavour, we have times when it flows and times when it trickles.
I know some creatives who do their best work at 5 AM and others who peak after midnight. For others, the time of day is irrelevant and their creativity has its own offbeat schedule. Perhaps you’ve noticed a rhythm to your creative flow. If not, it’s time to pay attention. Whether you call it your muse, inspiration or something different, it’s a critical element of creating beautiful work.
Your challenge is to maximize your times at peak creativity by observing your body’s natural rhythm.
Ask yourself questions when your feeling creatively high and low. When does it happen? What encourages it and what blocks it? If you can predict your creative flow—or at least, notice when it peaks—you’ll know when to create your best projects.
Think of it like your friendships. What happens if you always hang out with the person who asks first? You’ll likely miss time with your favourite friends, leaving you feeling drained. A busy social life with the wrong people is unsatisfying. You won’t have time and energy for the friendships that boost your mood.
The solution: stop giving your Saturday night to a Tuesday friend.
On Saturdays you can play all day and stay up late; those are the best days. Tuesdays are shorter; you probably worked that day and don’t want to stay up late. That short time is for Tuesday friends. And you reserve Saturdays for your best friends—the ones who inspire and energize you.
Now relate this to your projects.
Think of Tuesdays as those days when you just don’t have it. You don’t feel like writing or designing, your brain is jumbled and your solutions aren’t coming together. Whereas Saturdays are the times that you’re flowing. The ideas, the words, the solutions, the magic. It’s all there.
Don’t waste your best time on a Tuesday task.
Tuesday tasks are the things you don’t like. It could be emails or meetings, anything that’s draining to you. Sure, those things need time, but they don’t deserve your best time. You’ll have projects that excite you and assignments that push your creativity to new heights. Those are your Saturday tasks.
As you observe your patterns and find your creative rhythm, you’ll discover your best time, your Saturdays. Those are the times you give to what excites you most. And your flow rewards you with your most creative work.
