⏰Revamp Your Routine for Peak Productivity. Circadian Scheduling to Maximize Focus and Creativity.

TUNE IN TO LEARN: 
What if unlocking your creative potential was as simple as fine-tuning your daily schedule? 
 
Discover the secrets of scheduling your creative genius for maximum success in our latest episode, featuring insights inspired by authors Robin Sharma and Gregory McKeown. 
 
We dive into the importance of a disciplined schedule and recovery routine, similar to the regimen of professional athletes, and reveal how identifying your "genius hours" can transform your creative, productive output. 
 
Do more in less starts with respecting your biology. 
 
By sharing my own early morning routine, I illustrate the powerful impact of harnessing peak cognitive periods for quality work. 
 
We also explore the concept of chronotypes to help you pinpoint your optimal performance times and provide resources to tailor your schedule for peak productivity. 
 
We talk about practical tips on integrating this knowledge into your daily routine.   
 
Prioritizing your prime hours for prime results, collaborating efficiently, and maintaining accountability will empower you to produce impactful work and build a lasting legacy. 
 
Tune in to master the science of circadian scheduling to unlock your full potential. 

 
ℹ️RESOURCES: 
Here’s a small little quiz to know what type you are. 
Here’s an article about it.  
 

Transcript

Biology of Optimal Productivity

Speaker 1 0:00

Hey guys and welcome back to another episode of your Brain's Coach podcast. My name is Angela Shurina, I'm your host, I'm your Brain's Coach and it is my job here to bring to you all the best recent, cutting-edge, most important, useful, practical and essential I wonder if I can add another adjective there brain-body tools so you could take better control of your thoughts, of your emotions and, most importantly, of your actions, so you shape your life experience closer and closer to the vision that you have for your most extraordinary life and folks today Extraordinary Life and folks today. I'm also going to share with you some information so you take a better control of your creative genius, of your best work, of your most impact and value that you can create and add to this world. And well, let me start with yesterday's event. A friend of mine invited me to go to this book signing event by Robin Sharma, the guy who authored the Monk, who Sold His Ferrari and 5am Club and a few other books. And after the signing there was a Q&A section and somebody asked in the audience. Somebody asked Robin, robin, I want to be as consistently creative and prolific as you are, as many other authors are. Like, how do you do that? What's your secret this hour? How do you do that? What's your secret and Robin shared his secret that he has quite a strict schedule of when he does his work, when and how much he recovers to then be able to again get into work and deliver great results consistently, like, for example, when you have a book deal. You have to deliver a book on a specific schedule, not sooner, not later, because other people editors and publishers organize, orchestrate the whole chain of events and teamwork in order to deliver in the world your book and being able to promote it so it gets more sales, et cetera. Right. So you have to be able to create on demand, on schedule, not when you feel like it. So the question that comes from many folks who have not done creative work consistently it's like how do you do that on demand? How do you do this elusive thing, this creative thing, consistently on schedule?

Speaker 1 2:55

People like myself who've been doing creative work and cognitive work for a while know that it has to do with simple fact that you know when you do your best work, you know what I like to call your genius hours and you stick to a schedule. You show up for your work on the time when you're genius when you muse show up and you prioritize it, you commit to it and then you also schedule recovery time, also schedule recovery time. So your brain has this need to, when you deliver cognitively demanding work, to recover, just like your muscles when you train in the gym or when you run, do any other athletic endeavor, you need to recover and professional athletes, for example, know and I worked with a lot of professional athletes at the beginning of my career professional athletes know if you want to deliver great performance, you have to commit to your recovery, just like you commit to your work. They both need to happen on schedule. And the same, believe it or not, goes to your creativity, to your cognitive work, to your creative work. You got to have a schedule when you do your best and you got to stick with that schedule and you got to show up and be super consistent with it. And then you got to schedule your recovery time and also schedule it. Like myself, 5 am in the morning, my prime creativity time I can just keep creating for the next four or five hours without stop that, taking into account the need to recover appropriately for that. So I go to bed usually 8, 8.30 pm and then I have those eight and a half hours of sleep, and that's when I'm in my prime time. Just like, again, any athlete, in order to perform their best, they also have their best hours. They know that if they want to set their personal best record, then they got to deliver their performance. They got to train, they got to perform at a specific hours.

Speaker 1 5:11

Here's a secret your genius, your best work, they have a schedule and you don't get to choose it. Your brain is wired a certain way, your biology is wired a certain way and you don't get to choose it after it's done. That's a hard-coded thing in your biology and that's where a lot of people don't get it. You don't get to choose when you do your best work, whether that's morning or a little bit later. So there are this what they call chronotypes, and there is a link in the show notes to take a little quiz absolutely free, and it will tell you like.

Speaker 1 5:49

You are a morning type, you are a in-between type, you are an evening type. They say approximately 20-25% of morning types, about the same, are evening types, and the majority of people are actually in-betweeners, when you wake up somewhere around maybe 8 or even 7, and then you go to bed somewhere around 10 or 11. So this is the majority of people, and then there are a fraction of people, more like 20%, of evening and morning types. That's where you get more towards extreme, like myself waking up at 4.30 easily, or somebody who needs to wake up at 10 to 12, somewhere in that window to do their best work. So when you understand your wiring and what type you are, then it's a matter of scheduling your best work.

Speaker 1 6:45

Things like doing creative work, doing writing, creating a demanding, cognitively demanding proposal or strategy, doing your best thinking and analysis and again coming up with something brand new. Having to take into account all of your experience and all of your learnings, just your brain doing its best work, composing something, whatever that is, in whichever form, whether that's writing, dancing or podcasting, or again coming up with strategy for your life and business for the next five years. Whatever that might be that most demanding work, it has to happen on a specific schedule, Like, again, for morning types like myself, these are very early morning hours and the beautiful thing about that, folks, once you understand your rhythms, you'll understand that this is how you get results faster. This is how you deliver more in less time, like my clients know, for example and anyone who works with me knows and I'm very open and communicative about that People I work with know that if they want me to do my best work, it has to be scheduled for the morning. Or if I need to deliver an amazing talk to blow people's minds, it has to be scheduled in the morning. And if I do a podcast and I want to do my best job, it has to be scheduled in the morning. And I do my absolute best to do it that way. And when I work with other people, I also let them know hey, this is the time when I do my absolute best. And so if you want me to deliver the best possible talk or workshop that I'm capable of, if there is a possibility, let's do it in the morning, as early as possible, and that's where you'll see me shine and you get the best results out of me. Right, you understand it, you work with it, you let other people know this is how you work and if they want the best for their project, then it's in their interests as well to work with you in that fashion. And also, a lot of people know that if you message me, email me somewhere a couple of hours before my bedtime and that is quite early, you know, 6 pm or later then probably what you're asking of me is not going to get done. I might not even reply because I'm already in my getting for sleep, reading and chilling time.

Speaker 1 9:22

But again, the beauty of understanding your rhythms and committing to them with your schedule and organizing your life and work around that, the beauty of it is you get to deliver, especially over time. Over weeks and months and years, you develop a profound body of work that will feel like genius to other people, but of course you got to show up, you got to be consistent. But consistent anytime is not enough. What separates the greatest creators in any arena that you admire? They know their time and they show up to work for the time consistently. And that's what Robin Sharma was talking about. I like to call it. Sometimes you know the date with my muse Like. I know it comes in the morning and I do my best to show up for it, prioritizing over the fluff that doesn't really matter, that comes and goes. You know there are these people or commitments that come and go and you don't really notice. So I eliminate those as much as possible and commit to my muse, because this is one of the most important parts of my life to deliver value, to make my life matter and to create something for other people, and that's why I know I gotta prioritize it as well.

Speaker 1 10:57

Gregory McKeown, the author of Essentialism and Effortless, his latest book, made this post on his Instagram yesterday. The post is use this rhythm for better results, and there are three items on the list Dedicate mornings to essential work. Break down that work into three sessions of no more than 90 minutes each. And 90 minutes, by the way, is also wired in your biology. Your brain, believe it or not, works on cycles. It sleeps on cycles of 90 minutes and it works on the same cycles. In between those, you need to take a break to allow your brain to recuperate, refresh, restart, to again be able to deliver its best work. Then you would take a short break or a little bit longer break. I often like to do meditations, yoga, nidra, going for short walks for these breaks 10 to 15 minutes, as Gregory McKeown recommends and then, in between sessions, rest, recover and then continue.

Speaker 1 12:03

So creators who consistently deliver work know that. Creators who consistently deliver work know that and they follow that. And again, you don't get to choose your best time. You can only understand it and, by the way, there is a link in the show notes that will allow to learn more about chronotypes and what chronotype you are. So you can understand it and then use it to be more effective with your work. Understand it and then use it to be more effective with your work. Use greater results, get more rewards for your results, because the quality of it will improve, and then ultimately, deliver more value. Build your business that you are absolutely excited about. Create the impact. Leave the legacy that you desire. Create the impact. Leave the legacy that you desire.

Speaker 1 12:55

All of that is only possible when you show up for your genius. That again has a schedule and you don't get to choose it. So prime time, prime hours, equal prime results. Now the question is do you know your prime hours and do you align your work with it? So take the quiz that is linked in the show notes and then create the schedule, work on it. Do your best to create this schedule where your genius is more likely to show up and commit to it consistently, which a lot of people don't do. They're like yeah, I know this is my best hours, but I usually I don't know need to do calls and emails and social media or do this and that.

Speaker 1 13:44

What I learned working with a lot of entrepreneurs and leaders and aspiring professionals what I learned from them is, when you decide to prioritize certain things, you have a lot more opportunities that you believe right now to make it happen. When you decide to commit to boundaries, to priorities, to special projects, you'll find a way to make it happen. And again, don't forget that you most likely are going to work with other people, whether that's personally or professionally. So respect other people as well as well. Let them know in advance what you're trying to do and why it's important, and collaborate on the best possible solution.

Speaker 1 14:37

Maybe you don't get to show up for your best hours every day, but maybe at least a couple of days, three days a week, see what's possible, because the quality of your work matters for the quality of the results you get in your career and your business, your leadership, your impact, your legacy and, ultimately, what you contribute to the world. So know your genius hours and show up for them, and don't forget prime hours, prime results. So what are yours and what can you do to align more of your work with this prime schedule Out and over. I'm done with today's episodes. Again, check out the quiz and a link to an article about chronotypes and learn more about when your genius does its best work. Then sit down and figure out okay, now I know this how I can prioritize my genius and doing my best work so I create maximum impact. Just sit down and start brainstorming all the different ways that you can prioritize your best hours and your yet-to-come-out genius work Out and over. Thank you for your attention. Thank you for your time.

Speaker 1 16:08

Don't forget, guys, that when you teach this, you get to learn it twice. You remember better, you retain information better you get to use it better in your work. So please do share this podcast with at least one friend who you teach it. You share it. You then figure out a way to keep each other accountable to commit to your genius hours. So please do share. We don't run any ads. We only want to help as many geniuses as possible to unlock their best work and their most impactful contribution to this world. So please do share with at least one other person. Screenshot, whatsapp, it share in whichever way works for you. Send me your questions, if you have them, to Angela at brainbreakthroughcoachcom and until next time, have an amazing day, hopefully most of which spent in your genius hours.