Creative Entrepreneurship Basics: Create at Your Most Productive Times

It never really works to your most productive advantage to push through creative work when you’re sleepy . . . or distracted . . . or unmotivated . . . or (YOU fill in the blank ______________). It just never does. And over time, I’ve personally experienced the why to this statement. Here’s the deal: you’re never going to be at your peak creative performance when you’re in those states of mind or body.

Sure, you can muddle your way through creative processes and turn out work that’s totally subpar. But why do that when you can create something that’s flatteringly reflective of your true talents? Remember this: anytime you put your creative contributions out there, you’re adding another page to your professional portfolio for the world to see. Your creative reputation is on the line.

So, in order to present the best of your work where you are in your creative journey, take advantage of working during those times that cater toward your greatest productivity flow. As I stated earlier, I know from personal experience that it doesn’t pay well or pay off to work when you’re not in the work zone.

I’ve tried to FORCE my way into creative work mode by MAKING “other” times of the day work for me — those times outside of my productive work zone and I get distracted by inside (me) and outside (everybody/everything else that’s not me) influences, I get sleepy and actually fall asleep at my computer or on my comfy couch, I create work that I later look at and have to revamp because . . .  “What in the world was I doing at that point — it sure wasn’t putting my focus into the task before me?”

Been there and done the unproductive thing. And, I’m over it. Too old to be playing around with wasteful work timing. And quite frankly, it doesn’t make good business sense to work at my productive worst when I know my masterpiece hopeful is going to be a hot mess when it’s all said and done.

I don’t know about you, but I need the best working conditions I can muster up. And I might as well start with the time(s) in which I do my most creative thang. Wouldn’t you agree?

Okay, so let me ask YOU a series of questions and I want you to be honest with yourself while you’re answering them. Here we go. Do you find yourself . . .

• getting easily distracted by technology when you’re supposed to be working?
• getting constantly interrupted by emails, phone calls, face-to-face interactions, background noise, etc. when you’re trying to work?
• sleepy or tired when trying to work?
• not interested in the creative task before you?
• uninspired to create on the level in which you know you are capable?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, you might want to evaluate whether or not you might be trying to work during a timeframe that’s not your most productive one.

And let me ask you one more question — why do that? I mean why waste such a valuable commodity as time (which you’ll never get back) by trying to function in modes that don’t serve you or others well at all. Doing so is a BIG TIME SUCK. And I want you to stop doing it, if you are.

If you’re not, then kudos to you. You’ve figured out the times when your creative juices are flowing and you’re working those rapids. Excellent! I would totally be interested in hearing what times of the day and what days of the week are your most productive to do creative work. Let me go ahead and share mine with you.

My most creative times are during the weekdays (Monday through Friday) right after my husband leaves for work. It’s that sweet spot right between the time he leaves for work and my children wake up to get ready for (or to go to) school or work. That time is roughly between 5:30am and 7:00am. I know. I know. It’s quite early, and I’m not even an early riser. I’ve been forced to become one, though. Because this is the time where . . .

• I have no desire to get on technology to roam or peruse yet. (It’s just way too early. I’ve got the rest of the day for those distractions.) I’d rather just get to work while I have some creative thoughts running around in my head and ready to leak out. It’s odd that I have them so early in the morning, but that’s how my middle-aged mind is functioning right now.
• It’s still so early in the morning that folks are fast asleep, phones aren’t ringing, emails aren’t trickling in yet, and white noise is faintly playing in the background. In other words, it’s peaceful, calm, and quiet. Folks, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this time in the morning. Best time for me to get work done uninterrupted.
• I’m surprisingly WIDE AWAKE. I don’t know how this ability has come upon me during my time as a content creator. But, I’ve managed to function with the amount of sleep I’m getting (which is not enough — working on it though) to rise up early in the morning and get after it. I receive this jolt of energy early in the mornings that allows me to get into the most alert and attentive focus to the task at hand — a focus that I can never quite replicate at any other point throughout my day. (Too bad I can’t get all my work done during this early morning period of time. I’d be a productive genius if I could ever figure that one out.)
• I’m most interested and inspired to do creative work. It’s like I almost can’t wait for the alarm clock to go off so I can get my creative groove going. I don’t know what it is, but I love what I’m doing. I guess it has everything to do with being in the rightful placement in my professional life. Early morning seems to be the time where everything is right with the world and I’m creatively inspired and motivated to do the impossible. Well, I know that was a little dramatic. Let me dial it down a bit. So, let’s just say that I’m creatively emboldened to go where no content creator has ever gone. No. No. That’s not it either.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my best time for doing creative work. This creative work in which I’m addressing is the kind that takes focused concentration and attention to detail. It’s the work that involves such content as writing blog posts, writing material for books, and creating reading and writing products for the online stores as well as formulating the ideation behind the content. That kind of creative work.

But I also creatively function at other times of the day as well. Believe me when I say that it would be impossible for me to get ALL of my creative work done between 5:30a – 7:00a each weekday. IMPOSSIBLE! So, I tend to leave the creative work that needs less brain finessing to times later on in the day where I can just go through processes that are more mechanical in nature. Things such as written communications needing distributing, social media content needing posting, and self-education can wait until later timeframes throughout the day.

Now that I’ve shared my “best times to creatively work”, it’s your turn.