Hard thinking before lunch
Book the mentally demanding work for the morning and stop making big calls late in the day
Scheduling by mental energy rather than by whatever slot is free. The demanding problems, the ones that need real thought, go into a mid-morning block when the mind is freshest, and routine or low-stakes work fills the afternoon. The other half of the rule is knowing when to stop: a hard question that surfaces at five in the evening gets parked until the next morning rather than forced. It pairs naturally with a slow start and a full night of sleep, since both exist to make that morning block count.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Jeff BezosDoes it
Amazon and Blue Origin founder · Six-page memos and eight hours of sleep
Sets his first meeting at ten and does what he calls his high-IQ meetings before lunch. By five in the evening, he told Rubenstein, he cannot think about a hard problem any more and pushes it to ten the next morning.
Source: Economic Club of Washington, D.C.: Jeff Bezos in conversation with David Rubenstein, 2018 (transcript) - Shane ParrishDoes it
Writer · Farnam Street and The Knowledge Project
Keeps the morning for deep work and difficult problems, and pushes phone calls into the afternoon. Focus peaks earlier in the day for most people, he says, before distractions and worn-down willpower arrive.
Source: My Morning Routine interview
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus, productivity or energy.
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Deliberate cold exposure
Cold showers or ice baths used deliberately, usually a few minutes at a time
On record from 25 of 62 tracked people: 19 do it, 6 have discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Morning sunlight exposure
Bright outdoor light soon after waking, 5-30 minutes and no sunglasses
On record from 10 of 62 tracked people: 6 do it, 3 recommend it, 1 has discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Environment design
Change the room instead of relying on willpower
On record from 7 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it, 5 recommend it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Time blocking
Give every hour of the workday a job before the day starts
On record from 7 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it, 2 recommend it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Deep work blocks
Long, scheduled, distraction-free sessions on one cognitively hard task
On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it, 1 recommends it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Deliberate wandering
Unplanned, inefficient exploration kept on purpose as the counterweight to efficiency
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 recommend it
Protocol entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.