I work best in the early mornings. If you would have asked me about my “natural” productivity time table years ago, I probably would not have confessed to early mornings being the best time for me, but that is where it is now. If I get up early and jump right in to accomplishing work tasks–getting out articles, answering e-mails, managing other details–I know it is going to be a good, productive day. The more I can get done before the sun comes up and alarms start going off, the better. Once the family comes to life, the unpredictability of various individuals and schedules kicks in and I’m just trying to hang on until bed time!
Before my kids became teenagers, I could work well into the night hours–now they haunt the house until long after I’ve given up and sequestered myself into my room to make lists for the next day’s challenges. For me, it’s still quite tough to get work done when all three of my kids are scattered over the house-there’s just too many distractions–that doesn’t mean I haven’t developed accommodations, it’s just not optimal.
If I had complete control over my world, I would get up early and work until about 1 pm, then I would take a long break, maybe go to lunch, take a nap, etc. and after the dinner hour, I would return and work for a few more hours into the evenings. That would feel the most “natural” to me and make the most of my internal productivity time clock. Alas, juggling single parenthood and working doesn’t always lend itself to maximizing the internal productivity time clock.
In fact, juggling parenting and running a home business actually means were juggling several time clocks-our own, our partner’s (if we have one) and our kids. Finding our optimal time to work normally depends on many factors, including the type of business we are in, our other responsibilities, whether we hold down a more “conventional” job as well, etc. That doesn’t mean we can’t keep striving to discover our optimal personal productivity schedule and try to build a work world where we are making the most of our natural energy and focus levels. It just takes time and effort. Over time, I think most of us can find a way to work around all the details and discover when and how we work best–and then, watch out!