I was filled with a bit of anxious energy this morning that ended up working in my favor. By 11 AM I had:
- Run 8 mi (usual Thursday run with strides at the end, nothing fancy but felt better than yesterday when my legs were super fatigued from Tuesday’s workout — which was good!)
- Read ~15 pages of nonfiction
- Wrote ~3000 words (half a chapter draft)
- Strength trained (20 minute upper body workout that definitely felt like enough of a challenge!
I then had to deal with some kid related things. I am admittedly not sure how much energy I have left, but am mostly okay with that! Now i can pivot to email-responding/life-cleanup type stuff. It is actually kind of amazing how much can happen in a productive morning. When I work clinically, it’s kind of the same, in a way. During the morning I am on FIRE and feel pretty energized pumping out notes and going from room to room. The afternoon I tend to have a lot more . . . I don’t know, just drag. Ennui, maybe. I still get my stuff done but I am less motivated to do it in the most efficient way possible and I definitely take more breaks.
(I *hope* my level of care and attention to detail is consistently high, and I think it is! But it just feels more challenging in the afternoon.)
I don’t know if this is the effect of caffeine, just my natural rhythm, OR just a consequence of having a finite amount of energy and just . . . using it up.
(In contrast, I was reading with G last night and trying to get her to read some of the words, and she was not having it, and I gave up in about 30 seconds because I just couldn’t and also I realized that maybe she also just couldn’t at that time.)
I was super, super stressed yesterday and now I am feeling better / more hopeful so that is good. Onward and upward.
In other unrelated news
AHHHH I ordered some fun 2025 planning items to review (and use) and they are starting to come in! I got the Amanda’s Favorites monthly calendar (her video review here) from Ashley Shelley as I do every year, and I think it’s the prettiest and most well-made edition yet. This year’s is sewn (instead of stapled) and the photo Amanda took is just beautiful.
I am trying to decide what to use it for!! The Hobonichi can fit SO MUCH (and I have grand plans for my overall system next year . . . lol) so I think I want to use this for some kind of special tracking/logging rather than actual planning or calendaring. Ideas:
- Meal planning of some kind – except generally I use PrepDish and think of this weekly, not really monthly or longer term
- Workouts (strength + runs – though I have these digitally)
- Blog posts / pod eps! I actually DO NOT keep this on paper anywhere really and it might be cool to have a special place to record ideas and also track topics covered etc
- Reading – but I think this will go in my Hobonichi
- Travel journaling – could highlight trips. This could be kind of fun!
- Tracking FUN stuff – could keep seasonal lists in there and then mark on calendar when we make things happen
7 Comments
This is how my energy works, too. I have realized that I am much more easily distracted in the afternoons, and if I run into even a minor roadblock I am likely to give up on a task. Or if it requires figuring out a next step, I really struggle with it.
This is part of why I prefer afternoon meetings! The only trouble is that I work 12-8:30 every Thursday, but the early afternoon tends to feel like my work “morning” so I do get things done in the afternoon. The evening can be trickier, but I just try to do my best. Like Gretchen Rubin says—“accept yourself, and expect more of yourself.”
My energy patterns are the same so I try to organize my tasks accordingly. Evening commitments are hard for me!
My energy is the same, it is a circadian rhythm I believe? Peaks are in morning and early evening, troughs are mid afternoon and later evening. But the earlier you get up, the earlier the trough will be in the afternoon. I plan my day around this and try to only tackle challenging tasks in the morning when possible 🙂 looking forward to your planner reviews coming up
I am the same, super productive, energetic, optimistic in the morning and totally a lazy moody person after 4pm. I do wonder sometimes if I’ve used up 70% of my energy reserve by 8am.
You wake up really really early. Even if you get “enough” sleep it seems pretty natural to crash earlier in the day. You do a lot before your workday even starts…. just an observation!
I think we need to adopt the siesta system- like in other countries they all take a nap in the afternoon! I would totally be down with that.
I’m probably going to order the planner you mentioned in the last podcast- I’m blanking on the name but it’s the one designed by a runner. My idea is to use it to track all fitness-related things, like running (obviously) but then other things like how many times per week I’m doing strength, or stretching, or hip stability, etc. I always feel like it’s so hard to fit everything in, but I think it would be easier if I had it organized better.
Glad you’re feeling more hopeful!
3000 words before 11am?? Amazing!