We all have a Peak Activity Window. That time of the day when work flows from your fingertips, when life’s challenges become easier to solve, when you are the best version of yourself. The more you know about your own patterns, the better you’ll be at using that cycle to improve your performance. Finding your PAW and leveraging it can improve your business, your relationships, and your life. Answer the following simple questions to determine your Peak Activity Window:
- Does the clarity of a sunrise fill you with purpose?
- Do you like to get your email box clear before you can think about the big picture?
- Does the late afternoon sun have you thinking about a nap – or fired up and ready to go?
- Do you find the still of the night a calm and open sea for thinking?
I am a rooster, up and moving and thinking while my house is still dark and my kids are asleep. Some days it seems I can get more done in two hours than I can for the rest of the day. When I was writing “The Hunt,” the mornings were the times when my vision was crystal clear, when I knew where I was going and the words were right where I wanted them to be.
Those of you who are mid-day/afternoon types I call hawks. You use the height of the sun and the energy of the afternoon to focus on your big picture targets, and then work out the details or knock of the smaller goals during your window. This might be the hardest Peak Activity Window to manage, but be protective and proactive; block out this time from meetings and conference calls.
The bat owns the night. The quiet and stillness, the duty of the day is gone and now you can stretch your wings and fly. Maybe you carve out time after your children have gone to bed. As a bat, do not fill this time with television or time-wasters. That’s why someone brilliant created the DVR. So your treadmill time is entertaining and the night is for innovation and clear thinking.
You can’t stretch your PAW beyond its natural borders; remember humans are animals, not machines. As much as we have to march to other people’s schedules sometimes, we will never be at our best when we ignore the patterns of our own nature. Your time and energy are the most valuable commodities you control. Don’t waste them!
