As much as I would like to be, I’m just not a routine person.

Part of that is the reality of having a job that sits under a creative umbrella. Some stories come flying out of me in 30 minutes, others percolate in the back of my mind for weeks and take hours of coaxing to get on the page. But that’s still no excuse – Haruki Murakami gets up at 4am to write on a schedule, before a 10km run (show off). You can be wildly creative and still stick to a routine.

But, try as I might, time-blocking just doesn’t seem to work for me. I always get sent an urgent email that sends me off book, or a last minute meeting crops up, or the phone rings, or – let’s be honest – I go looking for inspiration and get stuck in a scroll hole.

But that’s where routine’s friendlier, cooler sister comes in: the rhythm. Based on following a pattern of activity rather than a set time-based schedule, the rhythm is more easygoing than the routine.

You’ve likely heard of circadian rhythms, the pattern that defines our natural sleep cycle. But you may not have heard of the ultradian rhythm, the pattern which determines the way our brains function throughout the day. “During these cycles, the brain enters peaks and troughs” explains Kobi Simmat, Director & CEO of the Best Practice Group. “The peaks represent optimal or even heightened levels of brain activity, while the troughs are the opposite, where the brain can be sluggish and operates on a lower frequency of sorts. During these peaks, blood circulation increases, which can cause increased appetite, arousal, and yes, the brain’s ability to function at a higher rate.”

By sticking to a strict routine, we may actually be signing ourselves up for an uphill battle, when we could be taking advantage of our bodies’ natural intelligence.

After all, we’re all familiar with that post-lunch slump when brain fog clouds the simplest of tasks.

That’s why Montessori-based learning practices recommend following a daily rhythm, which is helpful for children who thrive on repetition and structure. But it’s equally helpful for grown ups who find it hard or unpleasant to stick to a set routine. As time management coach Elizabeth Grace Saunders puts it, “increasing productivity [is] a process of finding and cultivating your unique creative rhythm — your life cadence, your beat. A way of being where there’s a central theme and recognizable melody, but also room for improvisation and blending in harmonies.”

That room to move is vital for me. Saunders recommends putting into place multiple rhythms, including weekly and daily. That includes, for example, “ramp-up time on Monday morning, so that the first few hours of the week are blocked out for weekly planning and processing after the weekend”, and “wind down on Friday afternoons”, which allows a few hours to focus on wrapping up tasks and completing anything that’s nice to have done before the weekend, for a sense of closure.

Your ideal daily rhythm will be personal to you, but here are a few touchpoints I’ve found have really boosted my productivity and sense of flow:

-      Morning admin

Starting the day by writing and replying to emails, populating my to-do lists, and setting tasks for colleagues, allows me to clarify my priorities and get on top of the day.

-      Concentration tasks

I typically have a productivity slump in the early afternoon, so I try to get any big writing tasks that require focus on concentration done early. This also makes me feel that I’ve accomplished something early on, which builds a sense of momentum.

-      Research tasks

I write a lot of interview questions, and this requires lots of research. After lunch I’m often at my foggiest, and I’ve found this to be the ideal time for the more ‘passive’ tasks of the day, like listening to podcast episodes and reading past interviews with the person I’m researching.

-      Wrap up time

As a parent to small children, I have hard deadlines with daycare pickup. I try to set myself a good window before this to tie up any loose ends and get back to people who may be waiting on a response from me, knowing it will be a while before I can log back in.

-      Late night burst

Unfortunately for my beauty sleep, I tend to do my best writing at night. I fought this for years before realising that if I accepted it, things would get easier. If I’m working on a story, I’ll often dip back in before bed, once our kids are asleep. It may be out of office hours, but what I can achieve at this time will probably take me twice as long if I try to do it during the day.

As Saunders put it, “there is no one right formula for having a great day. Some people say to never check e-mail in the morning; others have the exact opposite advice. The trick is to be honest with yourself about what works best for you to get the most of your 24 hours.”

Whatever gets you in the groove, I say.