I’ve said this before: Do the hard things when you know you have the energy for it. If your best hours are in the morning, do your writing, cooking, or planning then. Don’t wait till the afternoon slump.
As I age, I realize I have limited energy during the day. By 3:00 PM, I’m ready to get in my pajamas! 4:00 PM? Maybe I have energy to go for a walk, ready, or tidy up. But by 5:00 PM? If I haven’t already prepped dinner, I’m the one saying, “Who wants to order pizza?” But all this changed this year because I decided to make dinner in the morning or around lunchtime. I’m serious! If you want to enjoy your afternoon and early evening, either prep everything for dinner in the morning, or make the entire meal so you just have to pull it out of the fridge and heat it up.
I remember this today when my daughter and I decided to make the stuffed spinach shells at 9:00 AM. Why not? Sure, the whole house smelled like garlic and tomato sauce when maybe I would have preferred coffee and cinnamon oatmeal, but the benefits far outweighed the costs. Now, I enjoy a late afternoon of a clean kitchen and plenty of time to relax in my pajamas if I want. I’ll pull out the stuffed shells and let them bake peacefully.
If you haven’t discovered the wisdom of making dinner after breakfast, try it on the days when you know you’ll be zapped of energy by afternoon.