I always over-plan in the morning and under-do at night, have you experienced this effect in your life?
I noticed a long time ago that I’m a different person at different times of the day. My energy shifts, my mood shifts, and with it go my ideas, decisions, and, often, my actions.
Over the years I got smarter about it.
I stopped pretending I’m a machine with consistent output. I started designing around the reality of being human, so I don’t make decisions I’ll regret.
I know nights aren’t my best.
I’m tired, less enthusiastic, not exactly excited to socialize. So if I need to show up for an event or record a podcast in the evening, I don’t rely on “feeling like it”. I rely on tools.
I ignore the inner monologue that wants to cancel everything, I put on energizing music, I prep in advance, might get some dark hot chocolate, and, inevitably, once I get going, I get it done.
I don't hope to feel good. I prepare to feel bad and put systems in place to work with it.
Same with snacking at night.
I don’t battle cravings; I set the stage. Hot tea. A minute of closing my eyes. A slow exhale. It’s ridiculous how quickly an urge dissolves when you stop feeding it attention, or stop fighting it.
Yesterday I listened to Andrew Huberman talk about how different times of the day are better suited for different habits. You you have a "different brain" for different parts of your day🧠
Mornings?
Perfect for high-friction tasks, your “eat the frog” moments.
Afternoons?
Better for actions that need a nudge, not a battle.
I use this with clients all the time. We wire new, difficult habits to the morning to increase their odds of success instead of forcing them to wrestle with willpower they don’t have at 3pm.
Later that day I spoke with a Behavioral Business Strategist for my Change Wired podcast, and we laughed at how obvious, and still radical, it sounds: work with humans as they actually are, not as we assume they should be. Our energy, emotions, and decision-making aren’t stable. But they are predictable.
Dan Ariely calls it “predictably irrational”. And if it’s predictable, you can count on it. Far more reliably than you’ll ever count on willpower.
Over to you, dear reader. Maybe it’s time to stop fighting your humanity and start designing for it instead?
Where are you pushing against your own biology?
Where do you keep struggling when a simple support system would remove the friction?
Where do you need to realign your best states, energy, mood, clarity, with your schedule so you can maximize returns and minimize unnecessary costs?
