When do you do your best work?

[sophiedoph]

Sometime in college I developed a very bad habit of waiting until the night before whatever is due to begin working on it. Since then this habit has persisted. Basically I think I doubt my ability to complete said task, and avoid it like the plague until I am forced to work on it. Since this is usually at night, I begin working on it when I am very tired and no longer have the energy/strength of will to think about how very awful it will turn out/how hard it will be/how I will never be able to do it right. And I finally do it, and usually it turns out pretty well!

I wish so much I could change this and just work on stuff when I need to, but I can't get over the mental block that I will perform poorly and it will never be done to my satisfaction.

Thus I do my best work usually in the middle of the night, before it is due.

Just curious... anyone else have this?

[disregard]

When my mind and body are relaxed, I write best. It's not a certain time of day, but after I take my walk.

[Jack Flak]

Sometimes I get interesting and creative if I've been up for about 22 hours. Don't count on it.

[Kyrielle]

If I know that it seriously won't take more than an hour to do, I'll wait to do it before I go to bed. Otherwise, for most artworks (and projects, if you just change it from drawing to writing or what-have-you) it goes like this (assuming I have 10 days to do it):

Day 1-2: Do lots of little drawings involving all the random stuff I can think of related to the topic. Time: As soon as I get the topic or in the morning, since ideas seem to come best to me in the morning.

Day 5-6: Flesh out 2 or 3 of the better ideas in 1/4-1/2 size drawings. Time: After 8PM for 1-2 hours.

Day 7: Pick the best of the bunch and make a final drawing (much like a blue print). Time: Afternoon, 2-3 hours.

Day 9-10: (or sooner/later depending on the materials and drying time) Finish the product, and cross my fingers and hope I didn't get too much tunnel vision towards the end. Time: Usually starting in the late afternoon, working until 1) I get really antsy and tired and absolutely sick of working on it, 2) it's finished.


But a lot of the time getting started on the final part is a process of fighting with myself to do it, because I just hate the "getting started" part of most things. I always make sure I have LOTS of play time while working...except when I get in a groove and am enjoying myself while working, in which case it's no longer work really.

Hmm, and with a lot of stupid little bits of work I don't care at all about, I'll usually wait until the night before and until I begin to realise, "If I don't do this now, I'll not get much sleep, if any."

[cloakofsnow]

Originally Posted by sophiedoph

Sometime in college I developed a very bad habit of waiting until the night before whatever is due to begin working on it. Since then this habit has persisted. Basically I think I doubt my ability to complete said task, and avoid it like the plague until I am forced to work on it. Since this is usually at night, I begin working on it when I am very tired and no longer have the energy/strength of will to think about how very awful it will turn out/how hard it will be/how I will never be able to do it right. And I finally do it, and usually it turns out pretty well!

I can relate to this a lot. I use to do that all the time back in my university days. But lately I'm surprised that, even though I now no longer have to do homework because I'm no longer in school, I still find myself working best at night. I think it's because I'm generally in the best mood when I'm at night. The worse for me are mornings when I'd feel depressed and completely directionless and everything about my life seems pointless and boring. But the later it gets in the day, the more interested in things I start to feel, and the more I am able to think and be creative. As the hours go by, I even start to have fun ---- and then, of course, it's time to go to bed again so that I can prepare to get up in time to for another pointless morning.

[sophiedoph]

I think I work best at night because there are fewer distractions. My mind is more creative than analytical (I'm right brained I think?) and for me to get into the "left brained" mode I need to concentrate purely at the task at hand, with few or no interruptions.

Hard to get during the day. I hate the mornings when I've stayed up all night working, too. I feel sick and nauseous with a fever all day.

Happily, this happens very rarely.

[Angry Ayrab]

Where are all the ENFP's at? This is the main ENFP tactic... All throughout 4 years of Biochemistry undergrad I never once did anything earlier than 6-12 hours before it was due. I ended up with a 3.8 GPA. I work really well under pressure but personally I know that if I could ever get the power to work on things early on and not procrastinate that I would be like all those 4.33 GPA kids and the go getters. Will I ever do that, well I have to come to my senses enough to accept that I won't so I just kinda go with the flow. Even for my MCAT, I had all summer to study, but no.... I had to wait till the last week to do all the practice exams... I did well but I know I could have done much much better if I studied.

[animenagai]

i hate doing things in the last minute. unnecessary pressure.

but i do anyways

[Apollanaut]

I do my best work in the late morning (the hour or two before lunch) and in the evenings. For this reason I tend to start work later than most of my colleagues and to finish later. As an Introvert, it also benefits me to have a quiet hour to work when most people have already left.

[InaF3157]

I have churned out my best when pulling an all-nighter to write something to meet a deadline (not to study in preparation for the next day . . . zzzz). Something about coffee and the late night/early morning calm -- it gets me to a high and clear state of mind, and the energy is amazing.