When’s your “Go Time”?

I just got more done in the last three hours than I did the whole rest of the day.
It’s 11:30 pm… Eastern Standard Time.

It’s a Pirate’s life for me!

I realized pretty much from the get-go of my semi-corporate life that I am not a 9-5er, which isn’t to say that I don’t work during those hours, just that my best work usually doesn’t happen within that time frame. Sometimes it’s at 3 o’clock in the morning when inspiration strikes and I just can’t close my laptop & shut down for the night. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the woods & I find myself excitedly typing notes into my phone about a great idea I just had while traipsing through the middle of nowhere. Sometimes it’s at 9am on a Sunday when I’m just waking up (though that’s the extreme exception, not the rule). It is usually not when I’m sitting at a desk waiting for an idea to appear.

Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom.

- Albert Einstein

 
When I worked in an office I was always the last one out (and truth be told, one of the last ones in). I’m not exactly driven by a burning desire to climb the corporate ladder, and it’s just not a place I tend to thrive. Working Independently has freed me of the mind games inherent in day-to-day office life, allowing me to deliver the best possible work without worrying how my process is going to effect my annual review. And honestly, I don’t have time for Monday morning staff meetings, wearing shoes, or busy work because I’m too distracted by actually Getting Stuff Done to worry about what I look like in the process. GSD isn’t always pretty, or timely; it’s a down to the wire, nose to the grindstone, do-or-die, for queen and country, gold and glory work environment that just can’t be encompassed by a TPS Report.

Get while the gettins’ good

On the plus side of working for myself, I get to make my own hours…
on the down side, I get to make my own hours.

It’s easy for me to loose myself in my work, especially when Z get’s home late from the gym, those days are the best because I can just keep crack’a'lackin’ till close to midnight if I’m lucky. But it also means that sometimes I have to remind myself to make time for myself, and honestly, the best time to focus on my needs is first thing in the morning, when I’m drinking my coffee and skimming the headlines, which is really a win-win situation for everyone involved cause truth of the matter is I am sooooooo not a morning person.

When I am working during the day, I deal with client communications, emails, and research, when I have to take the time to think creatively and be in my own space, that almost always takes place on its own time table (which usually means post afternoon coffee break or insomnia fueled all-nighters). It’s all about finding your “go time”, and rocking out like a rockstar, no matter how or when anybody else thinks you should be doing it.

“How To Be A Successful Creative” visual you see above came from Creative Something, go check it out, poke around, get inspired & make cool shit happen.

So… When’s your “Go Time” and how do you make the most of it in your day-to-day work life?