Do you have a daily productivity window?

[Markola]

Someone here said once about the FIRE lifestyle, to paraphrase, “If something can wait until tomorrow, it will.”

It’s nearly 6 years since I left full time w*rk, and I also turned 60 in December. I’m finding that if something on my to-do list doesn’t get done between 10am - 2pm M-Fr, it’s probably going to wait until the next day. Sometimes, I get motivated on late Sunday afternoons.

Do you have a natural productivity window?

 

[pacergal]

yes, usually mid day, similar to you.
early morning is my "coffee and computer time"--this forum, news, word/brain games, etc.
10-2 or so is usually the time I get around to errands/chores or garden/cooking/baking, etc.
late afternoon and evening is dinner and time with DH, watch TV/movies/reading books

 

[Just_Steve]

8-10 gym time 5 days a week, chores and errands afterwards.
Pool season coming soon, need to spend 10 minutes a day on maintaining it usually around noon.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I’m never productive before about 10 AM. Sometimes I do laundry in the evening while I am watching TV because it’s easy to take care of it and I fold the laundry while I’m watching TV. That’s probably the only task that I do in the evening.

 

[rk911]

I have a daily routine I follow. Help my wife get dressed, get breakfast on the table, we watch the news, read the paper...get the day started. Then it just becomes a matter of priorities...going thru the mail, keeping Quicken accurate, bed making, filling and emptying the dishwasher, laundry, grocery shopping, other errands. We hire out house cleaning, lawn care and snow removal.

 

[MC Rider]

It's about 10:00 - 10:15 AM.

 

[Markola]

It's about 10:00 - 10:15 AM.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!

 

[Aerides]

If I don't do it before lunch, it's not getting done.

 

[Jerry1]

Same as OP - late morning into mid afternoon. Nothing gets done on golf days which will be every Thursday starting soon. Friday is my 9 hole league, there's a slim possibility of doing something productive that day because we're done before noon.

 

[MichaelB]

I think the words “productivity” and “retirement” do not belong in the same sentence thread.

 

[Ronstar]

I don’t try to be productive, but I suppose I’m more apt to do something worthwhile before noon than after noon.

 

[jollystomper]

During the weekdays, it depends on the golfing weather .

On warmer days I will play very early to get back home before 11, and my productive time will be from then until mid-afternoon. Then a siesta before dinner, after which I can be productive from about 7-10.

On cooler days I will be productive in the morning before heading out to golf in the early afternoon. On those days I tend to be less productive in the evenings.

If not golfing my best productive time is 8-11 and 2-5. Middle of the day is usually gym exercise (though some days I go just after 9 to avoid the morning rush). After dinner it depends on the project - the more physical activity it requires, the more I will be productive.

BTW, for me those "productive" do not necessarily mean I am looking for something to do. If I have something I want to get done, I am more likely to do it during those times. But if something more interesting, and considered "productive", comes along, that will distract me if the "productive" task has no urgency .

 

[Taco]

Define "productive"...

 

[Dtail]

Pickleball then errands. On days with no Pickleball, will try to do one outstanding task that day, if it can be completed in one day. It could be a very minor one, but still gives me satisfaction.
Some days I do nothing and that feels good too.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Morning person here...in FL during the hot season, I do outdoor work between 8 - 10:30; then it's in the pool until lunch. The other three months, I hike, bike, work outside at will. My idle time is spent on the computer, cooking, gardening, etc. Typically, I will watch Jeopardy and ease down for the evening. I do venture outside of my routines and comfort zone when opportunity knocks.

 

[MarieIG]

Probably between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. It varies depending up how much sleep I get the night before.

 

[djsander]

I’m a life long procrastinator and a firm believer in the conservation of energy.

 

[NeilDH]

During the weekdays, it depends on the golfing weather .

On warmer days I will play very early to get back home before 11, and my productive time will be from then until mid-afternoon. Then a siesta before dinner, after which I can be productive from about 7-10.

On cooler days I will be productive in the morning before heading out to golf in the early afternoon. On those days I tend to be less productive in the evenings.

If not golfing my best productive time is 8-11 and 2-5. Middle of the day is usually gym exercise (though some days I go just after 9 to avoid the morning rush). After dinner it depends on the project - the more physical activity it requires, the more I will be productive.

BTW, for me those "productive" do not necessarily mean I am looking for something to do. If I have something I want to get done, I am more likely to do it during those times. But if something more interesting, and considered "productive", comes along, that will distract me if the "productive" task has no urgency .

Just substitute cycling weather for golfing weather here, and this is about me. Maybe shift everything an hour or so later because I'm not a morning person.

 

[Palmtree]

I wake up at 100% around 6:30am. Roll out of bed around 7:00. Get a cup of coffee and it's straight to my home office to get things done. (I've been retired for almost 11 years.) Anything that requires thinking gets done between 7:00am and 11:00am. After that.......I'll wait till tomorrow.

 

[OnTheBeach]

As snowbirds - this is generally most of the year

7-9am Walk Dog, Coffee, Read news, look at "to do" list
9-11am Work on "to-do" list
11-5 Either Golf or spend time with wife then tennis or tennis then beach
5-8 dinner and watch TV with wife

 

[street]

I like to start early 8 o'clock and if I have a larger project I may start earlier. I'm always having to man irons in the fire and never seem to find all the time I want to do everything.
I stay busy till late afternoon 430 or so then I usually call it a day. A bike ride/ walk early evening or putz till bed at 9.

 

[CaptTom]

Going on 10 years in, I still wake up around the same time I did when I was w*rking. And I'm still far more productive in the morning than the afternoon.

Oh, I've tried to sleep in. Most days I can sleep maybe an extra 1/2 hour. Sometimes as much as an hour and a half. Then I think I'm making progress. Until the next day when I wake up early again.

Somehow, the habit of getting up at the same time for 36 years is hard to break.

 

[ModestNestEgg]

As someone planning to retire within the next few years or sooner, I'm reading this looking forward to grocery shopping shopping at 8 AM on a Tuesday. The working stiffs (like me) certainly aren't out at that time and apparently most retirees aren't either since it's not the "productivity window" yet! I will almost have the whole store to myself!

 

[CaptTom]

You might wat to wait till 9 AM, if you're in an area with a lot of white-collar workers. But then you also have to consider the school start times. Not only to avoid getting stuck behind busses or in 15MPH school zones, but if you have a lot of stay-at-home moms, they all run errands after dropping the kids off.

Then there's the flip side: Now instead of driving with commuters who all know the way, know how to drive, and are in a hurry, you're driving with old people who don't drive as often, might not know where they're going, are just killing time and can't seem to find the accelerator pedal.

Some days I actually miss driving with the commuters. They know how to do it.

 

[freedomatlast]

Productivity sounds like a metric from MegaCorp. Glad those days are over.