Color-coding my daily tasks revealed when I'm most creative

I began assigning colors to different types of tasks in my analog planner, like using blue for creative projects and green for routine chores. After tracking this for a few weeks, I noticed that blue dots consistently filled up my morning sections. This visual pattern made it clear that my brain peaks with innovation early in the day. For example, I'd sketch ideas effortlessly at 9 AM but struggle after lunch. Now, I deliberately schedule all my brainstorming during those peak hours, which has doubled my output. It was a humble dot grid that taught me to work with my natural rhythm. Who knew a few colored pens could lead to such a personal breakthrough?

4 comments

4 Comments

anthony1291mo ago

Aaron's perpetual sky blue dilemma hit close to home. I once wasted a morning choosing between cerulean and azure for email responses. Turns out, my creative peak is whenever I stop obsessing over Pantone swatches.

hannah_webb711mo ago

Have you ever tried breaking your creative blocks into sub-colors? Like light blue for drafting and dark blue for editing... might reveal even more about your process.

theagibson5d ago

Sounds like a great way to make procrastination look productive.

aaron_hayes781mo ago

Color-coding creative phases to that degree strikes me as mildly terrifying. If drafting is light blue, then my current project must be trapped in a perpetual sky, never reaching the dark blue of editing. Suddenly, writer's block isn't just a lack of ideas, it's a failure to match the correct Pantone shade. @hannah_webb71, this system might reveal that my process is just various shades of gray. I can see the appeal, but now I'm worried about what magenta would represent in this schema.