Matching things that go together is a simple skill you were taught at a very young age. Whether it was grouping together all the words that started with the letter “B” or everything that was green in a picture, you learned to put like with like.
As you grew older, you learned more abstract matching concepts such as rules about behaving in different social situations. For example, loud and boisterous talking is inappropriate in solemn situations but welcomed in (most) athletic competitions.
Unfortunately, one thing you probably didn’t learn is how to match your physical and mental energy levels with the tasks you need to do throughout the day.
It’s much the same as wearing the appropriate attire for an event. You wouldn’t show up at a black-tie dinner in floral swim trunks with bright pink flip-flops. You would be woefully, and embarrassingly, underdressed. Likewise, if you showed up at a pool party in a tuxedo, you would be overdressed for the event (even if you added in the pink flip-flops.)
Putting this in the language of energy: attempting to do tasks that require high energy levels while you are firmly in the low energy hours of your day is the same as being underdressed and unprepared. Which can lead to poor results all around. Doing low-energy tasks while in your high energy zone makes you overdressed and can lead to wasting valuable focus and creativity.
Everyone has their specific energy pattern, but for most people, energy levels follow a relatively straightforward pattern of high levels of creativity and thought-processing early in the morning, peaking about mid-day. Afterward, there is a significant energy dip, only to have energy levels rise slightly in the hours before bedtime. (Night Owls have the reverse energy pattern, for the most part.)
My ideal creativity and focus time is in the morning, from 8:30 to 12:30. This is when I do my writing, speaking, and podcasting work. After lunch, I know I am in low-energy land. This is when writing and focus are most challenging to do, but I can research and plan and organize with ease. Of course, I can research, plan and organize with ease in the morning as well, but then I’m wasting my high energy on things that don’t need or deserve high energy to get done.
