More Creativity When Youre Tired?

When I explored the science of our body clocks and how they affect our daily routines, it was interesting to find that a lot of the way I planned my day wasn’t really the best way to tackle my to do list. The way we work best has much to do with the cycles of our own body clocks.

If you’re an early bird, you want to favor those morning hours to get your most demanding, analytic work done. Using your brain to solve problems, answer questions and make decisions is best done when you’re at you most refreshed.

For night owls, the time for these tasks is much later in the day.

On the other hand if you’re trying to do your creative work, you’ll have more luck when you’re more tired and your brain is not functioning as efficiently. Why is this so?

When you’re tired your brain is not as good at filtering out distractions and focusing on a particular task. And your brain is less efficient at remembering connections between ideas and concepts. These are good effects of being tired when trying to be creative, since this kind of work requires us to make new connections, be open to new ideas, and anew ways of thinking.

So a tired,fuzzy brain is of much more use when working on creative projects. Great ideas often come to us in the shower after a long day at work. At our off peak hours we are less focused and may consider a broader range of information. This wider scope gives us access to more alternative and diverse interpretations thus fostering innovation and insight. Follow your own body clock for a more productive day!