Confession: I am an introverted morning person. My favourite thing to do at 3 pm is lying in the fetal position in my bed or on the couch (which doesn’t always work as I have a job and a family). Knowing these things, however quirky, can give great strength to how I organise my life and, in particular, my days.
As the saying goes, if you continuously organise beautiful days, you’ll end up with a beautiful life.
In a previous article, I talked about values and how they should guide how you organise your life and how it fits into your personal finances; now we’ll explore how you can add value by organising your perfect day(s).
How to Plan Your Day
The best way to plan your day is to work with your energy, not against it. Do the hard but valuable work when your energy peaks, keep simple tasks for your slump, and share the load with the people you live with.
First question – are you a morning person or a night owl?
Utilise your predisposition; you don’t have to be a hardcore 4 or 5 am convert. I don’t always leap out of bed unless I have a clear purpose. However, I find that the days I wake up early, do some work, and spend several hours in solitude are my most productive and favourite types of days.
By the time everyone wakes up, I have my serenity, probably produce more than I would in a normal 9-5 schedule and have more flexibility to deal with whatever unexpected thing the kids, work or life throws at me.
Do what is valuable but hard in your peak energy states
I like having a clean, organised home, learning, producing good quality work, etc., knowing when I have most energy, I can tap into that. Hard thinking, writing, cleaning, exercise, food prep you name it- what I can do between 5 am and 10 am seems superhuman to my husband, who is a night owl. It seems superhuman to me because at 3 pm “there ain’t that much happening”. The kids are used to me saying for an hour in the afternoon that I can’t adult right now but will come back soon.
If inspiration strikes you, you could even become an uber nerd (like yours truly) and make an energy schedule; notice the red block. It helps me accept that during that time of the day I should be kind to myself rather than push through and create mediocre/bad work.
Slack off when you are already slacking off anyway.
If you “know thyself”, you can organise accordingly. I feel less guilty taking a moment at 3 pm when I have produced good-quality work and moved forward with my job, study, business, or home project in the morning. I often gift myself either the plan for tonight's dinner or some food prep, a clean house, etc., so for practical purposes the overall effect of my very strong 3 pm slump is not noticeable to anyone (who doesn’t live with me).
Share the load
If you figure out who is most energetic at different parts of the day, you can organise accordingly. For example, I don’t ask my husband to unload the dishwasher at 7 am; he doesn’t expect me to clean up after dinner at 8 pm.
Some research into this phenomenon
I loved the book The 20-Minute Break by Ernest Laurence Rossi; it talks about the human circadian rhythm. It says we can produce good-quality work for 1.5–2 hours; then the body needs to rest for 20 minutes. I’d like to add that it could benefit potentially from doing something very different, letting your subconscious roam and getting back to the task at hand maybe one more time today, noting also that there are strong arguments that we are kidding ourselves about being productive for 8, 10, 16 hours a day; most people can produce between 3- 5 hours of high-quality brain power. I think someone should build a sign for us, since a lot of us are now in the knowledge economy.
Warning – knowledge work is only feasible for 3-5 hours a day; don’t kid yourself, go out, chat and play the rest of the time.
If you link this to when you feel more energetic, you are onto a very powerful combination of working with your strengths, rather than fighting “your own systems”; this, in turn, makes you a very organised person.
Example Daily Schedule: How I Plan My Day
I wake up between 5 – 7 am depending on what I have on that day and how many 5 am mornings I have done recently.
5 – 6 am Wake up
Don’t talk to anyone (for a while). I often start with a coffee, do some reading or computer work
8 am Early morning
The time normal humans start to function
I do some exercise, cleaning, tidying and eating
9 am*- 1 pm – Daytime
Meetings / Outings
* Note: I have already done one bout of work and some exercise or organising the house when 9 am arrives.
2- 4 pm - Rest
Where possible, do simple tasks that take little energy
4 – 8 pm - Wrap up the day
Sometimes we have our evening exercise here/ Dinner / Chat / socialise
8- 9 pm – Transition to sleep
Go to bed early with some reading
These are clearly just ideas; the fact that you are reading articles like this means you are pretty bright and can figure out what works for you. I hope, however, that you take a few ideas away from this page. Use whatever autonomy you have over your own schedule to work with your energy levels, and watch your results in organising and other areas of life unfold.
Do you like this post?
You’ll love the book “How to organise your home and paperwork”. I’ll explain the Essence of Clarity organising system, which will help you break decluttering and organising into simple, manageable steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Work out whether you are a morning person or a night owl, then do your hardest and most valuable work in your peak energy hours. Keep simple, low-energy tasks for your slump, and plan breaks and rest into the day.
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Most people can produce about 3 to 5 hours of high-quality thinking work a day. Work for 1.5 to 2 hours, then take a 20-minute break and do something very different. Listen to your body; it will let you know if you need a break or keep going.
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No. Use your own natural pattern. Night owls can plan their hardest work for the evening. What matters is knowing your energy and organising your day around it.
