Work out when you work best

Working alone gives you the luxury of working when you work best, especially if you work from home like me.

Personally I do my best thinking alone and between the hours of 530am and 10am.  I get up at 5am, make coffee and then spend about 30 minutes checking emails from other parts of the world, reviewing my To Do List and so on.  So around 530am I can get a clear run at my most important tasks; ie. the ones requiring the clearest thinking.  By my calculations, by lunchtime I've achieved more than most of my office-bound competitors will in the entire day.

Whenever I can I also schedule any meetings (phone or face-to-face) after lunch.  Personally, I've never had a problem with getting focused for client interactions so I'd rather not 'expend' my best thinking time in that way which is why I have them later in the day.  Not that I could convince many clients to meet me at 530am anyway...

I'm not suggesting that early rising is the only successful work pattern, its just the one that works for me.  However, understanding when your brain works best and making every effort to protect that time for your most important tasks is vital.

In the consultancy game what you're actually being paid for is the thinking you do before you get in front of the client.