Speaker #0Hi, welcome to The Pulse, the podcast where we explore the heartbeat of life and work. I'm Julie, your host, and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey. Every two weeks, I will bring you a regular dose of inspiration, practical tips, and regular stories about personal development, wellness, and career growth. Whether you're looking for motivation, fresh perspective, or just a reminder that you're not alone, you are in the right place. So welcome and let's dive in. Hi, welcome to the polls. I hope you're doing well. I hope my voice and everything will be okay. I have to say that I'm actually sick and it was a bit unexpected. I used to have, you know, backup episodes. Just in case, you know, I was in a world where I was going on holiday and then late last year, I kind of started to feel like I was using those episodes and therefore some, because I was giving some updates or some information, it felt kind of already like too late and I wanted to share them right away. And I also felt like I was using it sometimes to not record on a regular basis. And then when I would stop recording, it would give me that feeling of difficulty to restart. And so this is why I was like, okay, no, I don't want to have too many episodes ahead in order to be able to record on the go and to keep the momentum. But then when you're sick, you realize, okay, I need some backup. Just in case. So I hope my voice will be okay. I know I had a backup already, I think two episodes ago, because it was an episode that I had recorded in December and that I brought up because I thought it was the right time. It took us some time to edit. But this time I really have nothing else so it's time to record as I said I hope my voice will be okay it sounds on my headphones at least a bit more rogue than usual so we'll see and yeah I hope you enjoy it I mean we've not talked about what's the episode all about so I'll be talking today about productivity and more specifically about understanding when are your peaks so we sometimes talk about being an early bird or a night owl. But I think there is a lot more to know when it comes to who you are, how you use your energy for your productivity, what do you use it for, potentially having different type of productivity depending on the day and the moment. So let's dive in and I hope you enjoy today's episode. Let's start first with the topic around early bird and night owls. So very often we associate two type of people the people that are either like early bird meaning they tend to want to wake up five six seven and are very productive during that phase and some but those people are usually going to bed a lot earlier nine ten even sometimes eight but then you have the opposite you have the night out that sometimes even are gonna wake up i've heard even 12 and that can until midnight one two three AM. stay up and having the productivity peak more towards the evening time. And overall, this is sometimes related to the field, first of all, where you work in, but it's also what you need for your day to day. So let me explain. Basically, very often, we at least I've seen in my circles that the people that are night owls are more people that require creativity. And the people that are early bird are more people that need structure in their job that are more type A. But I don't want to generalize at all. You can be a type A and still be a night owl or vice versa. But overall, I do feel it's highly related to your job. You can't wake up at 12 if you work in a corporation that expects you to be in the office at 9 a.m. Right. But. you can also not be an early bird if you're working for a nightclub or a bar, right? So how do you work on this? I think it's not only about when we wake up and when we go to bed. It's more related to when are you more energized within the time span that you are awake. In general, we have moments within the day, within the awake time. Where we're going to be more productive, we're going to be more open to certain type of tasks and have more... needs and it's important first to understand what type of task we have because you can end up having tasks that requires more of a structure so doing taxes doing laundry doing I don't know like taking care of regular day-to-day life and then you're going to have moments where you're going to have work-related tasks, you're going to have then your personal activities and each of those are requiring a different type of energy, requiring a different type of needs from you. If you are someone that is creative or that is in a creative role, you need that moment of freedom and space to be creative. You need your brain to get in the mood of being creative, for example. And that can come at a certain point in time and sometimes it doesn't come at all. So you have to embrace the moments it comes in. And it's very true that often you get it in the moments where you are in a calmer environment, where you potentially have a bit of time also to breathe when there is nothing else to do. So it's well known that boredom helps you being creative in a way. So it's important to find that spark and that creativity. And I do have it right now, for example, with my teeth, that sometimes I'm in the middle of a walk or I'm in the car driving or... I'm even late at night and I'm ready to go to bed and actually ideas sparks. And so based on that, you have to adapt and to be able to use that creativity and that time spent. So most of the time, this is why having creative space isn't like you need to not plan for it, but you need to kind of learn when your brain goes into that mood in order to figure out what makes sense for you. When it comes to other tasks which require more, I would call it type A needs, so very structured tasks, then this will require a different type of part of your brain, requires a different need of energy from you. And this is where potentially it's going to fit at a different time within your day. So what does that mean? It means that it doesn't matter if you are an early bird or if you are a night owl. It's more about when are your energies or your productivity needed and for what type of task and how you're going to organize it. I am someone that have learned that as soon as I wake up, I'm awake, I'm ready to go. You might be the opposite. You might be someone that requires a lot of time to get up, a lot of time to get your body into the day and therefore you're going to have a different morning routine. Based on that, if you're one or the other, or you can be anywhere in between, you're going to be able to do certain tasks and not being able to do others. So if you have to be very early at work, either you're going to have to wake up a lot earlier, or you're going to have, if you need more time to wake up, or you're going to have to, you can wake up a bit later and be very quickly ready. So that's one point. but also what energy do you need during the morning time when you wake up and when you start your day? Is it something that you have the energy for day-to-day work or is it something that you will have potentially energy for sports or for some music or for maybe creative time? This is where you have to start to look at the whole day as a whole and understand how do I feel in the morning? What does my brain, where does my body gives me when it comes to energy and needs and in order to be the most productive and for what I can be productive during this time. So if I take my morning routine, I tend to wake up very fast and sometimes I'm able to straight go into running and to sports because my physical body is ready to go. My brain still needs usually... an hour to be ready to do some day-to-day work or to think of actual work or to think of personal life and things that I have to do for the day and therefore having this moment of going for a walk with my dog or running or getting ready and driving to work gives me about an hour to be fully what I would say, functioning, or in order to be able to get work done. Some people are going to need more time, some people are going to need less time. So even though my body is physically awake and ready to go, and this is why, therefore, I can potentially do sports in the morning, for my case, then it's maybe not a time for me to say, okay, I get up and in five minutes I start working. I used to be able to do this a lot faster, but as... We evolve as we grow, as we get older. Your body changed, your way of being changed, and therefore you have to learn to adapt to that. I have to say that I'm still an early bird, because usually I'm awake between five and seven. So it's definitely an early time, but I don't need two hours to feel awake and start to work from the time I'm awake. But I also don't, cannot... do only like 20 minutes and start working. So during this time, no matter what tasks do I do during that one, one and a half hours, it's usually going to be related to my energy level. And that energy level will either get me to do, as I said, sports or walk with my dog. I mean, both overall, but it will be used for that purpose. And now when I am in my working time, I know that my mornings are the most productive moments for me. So between 8 and 12 is where I'm going to get the most things done when it comes to ticking boxes, getting decisions and doing things. In the afternoon, it's harder for me. And that doesn't mean that I'm not productive. It's just a different type of productivity. So... Now you have to understand within your workday, when are going to be your peaks and when are going to be your lows. So as I was mentioning about me, my peaks are mornings. Then I have lunch and after lunch, I need to digest. And therefore, the beginning of the afternoon, having more meetings, conversations where I chat with people, where I still need brains and energy, but a different type. It's more valuable for me. And then I usually have a peak again around three to four, where I could also get some presentation done and get some work done and work on my computer in focused mode. So based on that, I usually organize my day. And very often, even though I have to say that these days I have meetings all day long, I usually try to catch and to have, if I have to have meetings within a day, is I usually will have them in the... early afternoon when I know it's my less productive time and I will not schedule to have a focus time most likely from one to three unless I really need it that I have no other choice with my calendar but if I can avoid it I'm gonna avoid it because based on my personality this is what makes sense for me and this is where I would advise you to do the same when within your work day when are you the most productive to do focus work. When are you the most productive to do conversation, catch up with people? I have, just giving another example, I have some friends that you can't do any meetings with them until 10 because they're still like waking up, they're still getting there, so they can do some tasks. But being conversional, being able to exchange with people, being... in that mood, being social, is harder for them. And that doesn't mean in any way that they're not great at their job. It's just that during this time, they're still waking up. They need also to focus on their own task and they need to be in the bubble. And therefore, asking them to chat with someone is a harder piece. So they really need that space to get there within the day. And so this is what you have to define for yourself as well. What is... this balance? How does this work for you? Another element, of course, I mentioned it a bit earlier, you have your personal hobbies, you have also your personal time for yourself. So work takes definitely quite some hours within your day, but the day is long. And even more now that we're coming in the summer and that you have light and it's getting bright and it's until 8, 9 p.m. you have lights it makes it that you still have a lot of opportunities to get to do things to get things to potentially be social etc so here again i would advise to understand for yourself when i use the most productive for work but also when i use the most productive for are productive i don't like the word productive for personal time or hobbies or activities but when do you have the most energy in order to to get and to do those things that you also you enjoy and get things on. So for example, this podcast is for me, it tends to be the Saturday morning where I am energized. I had time to reflect. I'm not anymore like a Friday night or afternoon in the work mood. And so it's like my weekend has started and my mind is fresher. And usually I have the energy to talk. I wake up a bit later, I'm in a different setup. And so it feels right. That doesn't mean it's the same for all of you. So you have to figure out when those timings are the right time for you. And then after this, I have friends also that loves to do brunch on Sunday, but don't ask them to go out on Saturday nights. I'm the same, to be honest. I don't go anymore out too much on Saturday night. I like to wake up early and go for a run on Sunday. But it doesn't matter. It's like you have to figure out your routine. You have to figure out when is your energy for this. and for things overall so that it fits you. Your calendar doesn't, so you don't fit your calendar in, your calendar fits you, your energy, your perspective. That's the overall idea behind. So again, just to give, I gave an example and I was running, but also you have to figure out everything around you. I know if you have a family there, sometimes that you have no choice. I was at my brother last week and was awake at 6 a.m. because the kids are awake at 6 a.m. And therefore you wake, you go to bed a bit earlier, but you also break your day in a different setup and in a different way. So we had to have energy when they were doing the nap and the little ones were napping, yeah. And it was not easy because potentially it's the moments that you would like to rest as well. So you can also build some of those routine within you. But if you can make it work, for you then try to make it work for you as best as you can and as I mentioned as well you're gonna evolve along the way your routines are gonna change you're gonna also learn from others and adapt I know that for a long time I struggled to wake up a bit later and go for a run and then go to the office and now sometimes I do that because I know that if I try to run after work, I'm going to be so tired that I'm not going to have the motivation or the energy and then I'm going to miss my session. And it doesn't mean that I'm putting less importance toward work. It's more that I'm ensuring that my day feels the right way for me. I still provide as much energy in my workday. It's just at a different time and the plan is slightly different and my energy is adjusted for it. But that gives me that freedom. And when you have that freedom, and again, I know I'm lucky, I can be a bit flexible in my working hours, which is not the case of everyone, but finding that flexibility, it's quite positive, important, and can bring you a sense of calmness because you don't have to rush or you don't have to think of to-dos or what is pending of what you have to do at a certain point. That is not the right... moment in time for you. The last thing I want to talk about and I'm actually surprised that already I'm in more than 18 minutes or at least on the recording but of course usually when I break it down it might be a bit less but you know what I mean. It's about seasons and one thing that I've always done and I even got used it in a higher level, I would say in the last two years, is to play around with the seasons and to adapt to what is available. So just to explain to you, if I'm in winter, I know that there are some tasks that I have to do inside the house that are going to be still potentially requiring some time, some energy, some setup. But if I have to do a task in the winter inside, I'm going to do it when it's dark out because I'm not going to go for a walk with my dog when it's dark. I'd rather go when there is light, when there is sun, when the weather is good. Even if it's cold, I'd rather go outside when I have the opportunity to have daylight than to go do my walk in the middle of the dark time night, even if it's 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. So what I did all this winter is all the tasks that I needed to do at home. I did it when it was dark. And so that allowed me to be outside as much as possible and to do things that I needed to do when there was light, which was easier, which was also a bit warmer. And I could get some sun and some vitamins. And that was helping me going through the day. The other way around, now that we are in spring and summer is coming, I know that with the heat, there are some tasks that I'm going to have to do at night. And for example, my dog... And any dogs is struggling when it's too hot. So this is a recommendation. Don't walk your dogs at 2 p.m. If it's 40 degrees, just be aware. And for me, I will do shorter walks during the day, like when it's really like the hot hours, if it's hot. And I will do the bigger walks almost at night when it gets dark or very early in the morning. So in that case, for example, I know that I might take a nap. because my days are going to be longer. I will wake up most likely at six on the weekend and then I will take a nap in the afternoon in the hot hours and then I will walk him again very late at night, 9, 10 p.m. I will, of course, do smaller walk within the day because it would be too long between those two times. But for the longer walks that he needs, I will do it at very specific span. And I know not everyone has a dog, but... You have to adapt to the season. It's the same thing for running. I know that the heat is difficult for me to run in. So I will do my run in the morning as much as I can, because also in the evening, the hotness remains and potentially only the night cool things. So all this will have to change and will have to evolve potentially my calendar. So maybe I was coming in the office at 8 a.m. most days. in the winter now maybe I will switch it to 9 a.m because I will have to have my run-in in the morning and walk my dog for a long time all those things have to come into into play and in no way that makes you being less good or less organized or be difficult to understand or to plan it's actually making you very aware of what makes sense when it comes to your calendar your need depending on the season, depending on the mood, depending on... what you're doing as well. As I was mentioning at the beginning with my thesis, sometimes I have bursts of knowledge that comes in or like bursts of ideas that comes in in the random time. And then I, if I can stop and put it, I do, because if that moment of inspiration comes in, I should use it as much as possible. This moment of creativity is quite important for me when it pops up. So think about it. This would be, again, as I always try to say, it's my perspective. But think about when is your energy coming? When are you more energized for what task? And what makes sense for you during the next few months and during this summertime? And also adapt to the situation. I mean, as I said at the beginning of the episode, I'm unwell. And I think I have never slept so long. I woke up at 9.30, which for me is very late. So I'm adapting my day to it and it's fine. And tomorrow will be completely different. Talking about it today, it's sunny, 23 degrees. Tomorrow it's going to be nine degrees and rain. So I will not do the same task today and tomorrow and I will adapt to it. So the message behind it is adapt to your energy, adapt to your needs, adapt to your productivity moment and to your different. as I said, energy, but really creativity, etc. Adapt to... your calendar as much as you can and be flexible when you can be because that will bring you more forward and helps you get into a different productivity I felt like I said productivity and energy the whole time but yeah I hope this helps and if you are a night owl don't know earlier bird I would love to hear from you in terms of what does that mean is it um only about having energy in the morning and then nothing in the afternoon if you're an early bird or vice versa or is it you know for me in a way it's two topics one topic is when you wake up and when you go to bed and the other is when you have energy within your day and how you balance it so yeah i will stop here still make it short i hope it was still okay for today and you liked it and i wish you a very nice day at weekends and springtime And we talk to each other in two weeks. Bye. And that's a wrap for today's episodes of The Pulse. If something resonated with you, I would love to hear about it. So drop me a message on Instagram, LinkedIn, or leave a review wherever you're listening. Your feedback fuels this community and I much appreciate it. Make sure to follow The Pulse on your favorite podcast platforms and on social media so you never miss an episode. And if you're craving for more... Check out the show notes for links, resources, and ways to connect. Until next time, keep trusting your journey because growth happens one step at a time. See you soon. Bye.
