What time of day do you let your creation demon out?

Ezra

So I am sure I am not alone in this...

But my creative little demon only likes to come out and play between the hours of 10pm and 4am. It is wildly inconvenient for "normal" societal living. I have tried to force it before, but often times it ends in frustration. I'm curious what others do.

What is your process? What is your "muse" if you have it? When do you feel the most creativity spill out of you?

mianngu

@Ezra

I'm exactly the same way and it's so incredibly inconvenient. My kids often times wake up at 7am and by 10pm I'm so exhausted that my muse maybe hollering but I just fall asleep writing. I don't know if it's the quiet house or my ADHD but I've always been like this. Even in high school, I'd couldn't begin until 10pm. Alas, it's a morning person's world though.

Alexander Salkin

I'm a night owl in all capacities. I find I focus better in that sweet spot within the hours before I pass out around 4am. The air is cooler, it's quieter, and I have the least amount of distractions. Tis the daydreamin' hours... but at night!

I also have a tendency to churn out creative material during my 9pm lunch break (I've got a pocket in my duffel bag devoted to keeping my notes made at work). I think it's a release from my boredom though, and less to do with the time. But I can definitely say I almost never do any writing or illustration in the immediate hours after waking up. My mind just isn't there at that point.

merlin

My creation demon is chained up in my basement and forced to ride a peloton. He might hide away in the shadows every now and again but I run like a protagonists alcoholic step in beat him with a newspaper until he gets back to work

Ezra

@mianngu I hate that so much lol. It really is a morning person's world and we are judged so harshly for not having the motivation to function on their time. I know I take crap at work anytime I am a few minutes late and am told I don't have "discipline".

But I would bet a kidney most of those people have trouble staying up and high functioning well past midnight...

Ezra

@Alexander-Salkin I have done that too. I used to keep physical notes, but I lost some once so now I keep them in my phone's notes. I am still annoyed because I can't recall the ideas I had. Which is very frustrating because all I can think is "it came from my brain, surely I can think of it again... right?"

It never comes...........

Mariano

@Ezra I am part of the reason for society to be like this I find that my peak productivity is from 7am to lunchtime. It feels amazing to have finished something really productive at noon and there's still most of the day left, so it's a great positive feedback loop.