Sunday, September 30, 2012

Creativity: the best time to do everything

In "Your Body's Best Time to Do Everything," The Wall Street Journal provides a little pop psych that I can believe in, more or less.

  • 8 a.m. Write upbeat tweets. [No thanks.]
  • 9 a.m. High energy and clarity; have difficult talks now. [No thanks. Use that energy ]
  • 10 a.m. Do cognitive work. Working memory and concentration tend to peak mid-morning. [Good writing time!] 
  • 2 p.m. Take a short nap. Sleepiness hits its peak. [Don't we wish we could all do this?]
  • 4 p.m. Do physical work. Eye-hand coordination rises in late afternoon.
  • 5 p.m. Work out. Muscle strength and flexibility rises later in the day. 
  • 9 p.m. Work creatively. People's freshest, most original thinking may occur at non-peak times of the day, which for most people is evening. Fatigue may lower inhibitions and open the mind to offbeat ideas and solutions. [Finally a research finding that confirms what I've experienced for years.]
Here's a writing inspiration post from Inside Higher Ed

2 comments:

Z said...

This is fascinating, and justifies me.

undine said...

Thanks, Z! It justifies me, too.