How to find the right time for everything?

The success of your to-do list depends on when you choose to do them.

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In my first delivery, I told you that I've been thinking a lot about the relationship between creativity and productivity. I think creativity is one of my superpowers. When I'm "in the zone" I'm flowing with ideas, connecting people, thinking of actions, scaling them, creating and creating and creating...like turning on a power tower. I feel like I can do it for hours non-stop...but it's taken me almost a decade to realize that my relationship with creativity isn't exactly the healthiest.

It happens: You have a big deadline and on the same day you have meetings, team-related tasks, and errands. You work a little bit on the main thing but you quickly focus on meetings, other commitments and calls. Hours pass by and the next thing you know it’s 4pm, you haven't had lunch and the deadline is still missing. You take a short break and work into the evening and night to finish. The next day you feel like you've been beaten up.

It took me a while until I got to the realization that I was creating at the point of impulses and that my dynamic was that of a rocket: take off, create and burn! That was my relationship with Viajes Inmóviles, a podcast that I did in quarantine and dedicated all my love and effort until I decided that I really needed my weekends for rest, not for keep working. It didn’t had to be this way. I started thinking about how the hell I could create continuously, not in sprints, and then I found this idea that changed everything:

"The "what" and the "how" are necessary questions. But there’s another crucial question that must be addressed in order to make fast, dramatic, lasting improvements in the quality of your life. That question is "when". “When” is the ultimate life hack."

Esta es una idea del Doctor Michael Breus, un psicólogo clínico, autor de “El Poder del cuándo”. Llegué a este libro gracias a una diseñadora brillante que me dijo que había hecho su propia taza de café porque se dió cuenta que ese es el momento más importante de su día. Me quedé atónita. Entonces Vivian me habló de este libro que ha cambiado mi forma de relacionarme con mi rutina y mi propia creatividad. ¿Has escuchado eso de que alguien “es un eary bird” o es un “night owl”? Bueno, a Breus le pareció que había que respaldar eso con ciencia y que además, somos mamíferos, no aves, así que en 2016 presentó cuatro cronotipos para entender “cuándo” es el “cuándo” de cada quien. 

This is an idea of Dr. Michael Breus, a clinical psychologist and author of "The Power of When". I came across this book thanks to Vivian Padilla, a brilliant designer who told me that she had made her own coffee mug because she realized that this is the most important moment of her day. I was stunned. Then Vivian told me about this book that has changed the way I relate to my routine and my own creativity. Have you ever heard about people "being an eary bird" or being a "night owl"? Well, Breus felt that we had to back that up with science and besides, we are mammals, not birds, so in 2016 she presented four chronotypes to understand "when" is everyone's "when".

Source: Casper’s blog, referencing “The Power of When” by Michael Breus.