Want to look confident? Pick your shine time

In the last decade, there has been an increasingly common theme in the US media and self development of the productivity benefits of getting up early. I mean really early. Like 5am early. And a few years back during the early pandemic, competitive ‘productivity porn’ became more prevalent than ever.

Now I like to think of myself as a reasonable person who is quite effective at times but also likes to sleep. I can't be my best self and shine if I haven't slept - not many of us can - so my honest question to getting up that early if you don’t need to is ‘Why!?’

I’m just not a believer in the philosophy that getting up earlier will make you the more confident, more successful, more productive, shining version of you. 

I don’t like getting up early. It’s not my time of day to shine. It belongs to others and I’m very happy for them to keep it and use it so they can shine.

I’m a 'toward afternoon' person. I come alive after 11am with a slow burn that grows to a confidence burst after 2pm and shines until 7 or 8pm, sometimes later if I’m in the zone.

I know this about myself. I use it to my advantage when scheduling because I’m far more confident and impactful at those times of the day. 

Yes, I have to get up early sometimes. And yes, I have to fit into the 9-5 days and I’m OK with that, I can turn it on for a client pre-work call because I will always show up for my clients when they need me. But if I'm doing a presentation or pitch, or writing and creating, you won’t get my best, most sparkling and confident self at a 7am breakfast meeting.

I find power in knowing this about myself and how I work. It’s liberating. I can be strategic around scheduling because, knowing when my more confident times are, I can guarantee I will shine.

I structure my time to maximise my day and my ‘shine time’. If I have presentations, need to write or create, I know I can have more impact in four hours in the afternoon than if I spend 9-1 at my desk staring at a blank page sucking on a supply of green tea and knowing deep down it's a waste of time.

What the mornings are good for is helping people. I hold almost all of my coaching calls after 10am when I know I can be a good sounding board, using my curious brain to bounce around ideas and my experience to offer guidance and help generate solutions. Helping my clients understand their confidence clock means they can get the best from our work together too.

Whilst working to our shine time might not be possible in all situations, try to work with, not against yours to ensure you feel you are at your best when it matters. So, think about what you say yes to and when.

If you want to look confident, think about when it's your time to shine.

If you'd like some help learning when you are most confident and how to maximise your shine time, why not book a free intro call and let's chat.

Click on 'Book a call' anywhere on the website or email me louise@careertherapy.co.uk to say hello. You can also follow Career Therapy on Instagram for tips, talks and tools to boost confidence.

What's stopping you?

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