I’m at my best when I wake up in the morning, the world seems full of possibilities and I’m all nice and rested and ready to face them. Ink, on the other hand, is not a morning person. He’s a definite night owl and, on occasion, is still up when I wake up early in the morning. But this isn’t (only) a post about how annoying it can be to date someone who functions of the opposite sleep pattern to yourself, I really do want to talk about the time of day that you function best at.

Personally, I think my peak hours are before lunch. When I first open my eyes, my mind feels blank – in a good way. This feeling of blankness and freshness means that I’m able to quickly apply myself to tasks and get down to work. When I’m at home, this can be my best writing time and there have been plenty of mornings that have seen me grabbing the laptop and getting down to it before even getting out of bed.

Once it hits the afternoon however, I start to slow down. I get distracted by everything, the feeling of undirected hope and exhilaration that started the day has dissipated and I’m left feeling fidgety and doubtful. For Ink, it’s almost the exact opposite. He wakes up too fuzzy to concentrate, but his mind sharpens throughout the day until it hits his peak time – generally in the evening.

We joke that if we ever have a big collaborative project we’ll be totally sorted for 24 hour shifts. However, it’s actually quite handy for getting time to work when the other person isn’t around – fewer chances of distraction. What are your working habits? Do write better in the morning, evening or at no particular time? Do you have the same situation as me? Or have you found a partner who is in sync?