Double Time!

Taking naps and recognizing my own rhythm.

The other day I was on a call and the person on the other end remarked that they were stunned on how much I am involved in and how I get it all done and still have time for a ‘life’. I responded off the cuff, it’s because I work 14 days a week.

Over the pandemic, I had time to really recognize my own body’s rhythm and tune my days to how it just naturally works. I tweeted about napping and this lead to me being included in an article in the Wall Street Journal where I talked about the value of naps.

I try to take a nap after lunch every day. This effectively breaks my day into two separate days. I usually wake up, without an alarm clock, at 5am. I get up, have coffee, read articles, and respond to emails. I start zoom calls at 9am and try to have them done by 1pm. All of my ‘output’ work, whether it is writing, spreadsheets, emails, meetings, Twitter, LinkedIn communication, Slack chats, or whatever I need to ‘produce’ in the short term- it all happens in the morning, usually before 9am. Meetings from 9–12, quick lunch and nap.

And then at 2:00–2:30, the second day begins. I have a cup of coffee, and then I either read, write or think about longer articles, or work on a side experimental project (robots, electronics, LEGO, etc…). I also have meetings sometimes, but the afternoon meetings are usually very exploratory, and often over a glass of wine or scotch.

My body has always worked this way. In the morning I am ‘on’ and ready to do all the tactical stuff that needs to get done. I am in ‘produce’ mode. In the afternoon, I am usually getting into a more ‘dreamy’ state, which is better for reflection and deep thought, or to work on longer bigger projects that require thinking and strategy.

The addition of the nap to create a clean break between my ‘production mode’ and my ‘thinking and reflecting’ mode has made it easier for me to clearly bucket any task to where I feel I can get the best output. The break helps me to combat the ‘whiplash’ of the morning meetings, where I can be talking to several people about several unrelated topics or business ideas, often at different stages.

For the past 12 months, it has given me 5 days of ‘work’ in the morning, from 5am-1pm, and a second day of ‘think time from 2:00- whenever. I never feel stressed or overloaded, and always feel like I have plenty of time to relax. Working from home, I have claimed the ‘5am-9am’ slot for work and don’t feel like I lost 4 hours a day every morning ‘preparing for work’.. and because of the way my body works I feel sharp and productive the whole time.

This works for me. My hope is that it may help others to reflect a little on how they work best and tweak their routine to the extent that they can to make them feel productive and never feel overworked.