The Work Revolution: Freedom and Excellence for All

Energy, Not Schedules

In the first few weeks at my new job, I showed up early and stayed late. I wanted to get a huge jump-start on my work and prove myself. Soon enough however, my energy level crashed; as I said before, I’m one of those people who don’t function well before 9:00 AM, unless I trick my body with jet lag by flying to the opposite side of the world. Consequently, I stopped going in to work early and finally settled into a schedule that coordinated with my rivers of energy. I started showing up 10:00-ish and worked however late I needed, to get the work done; and I stopped worrying whether the people around me were judging me.

I also learned that my best book-writing time was on the weekends. I found I couldn’t spend a full day at work and still muster the energy to write at night during the week. So I used week nights to exercise, have dinners with friends, and do most of my socializing. This is how I created the recovery cycles I needed, and I felt less inclined to go out on the weekends when I really needed to be writing.