When I began my first corporate job after getting my MBA, one rule that was impressed upon me again and again was this:

We don’t pay you to do routine work!

This rule was especially interesting when it came to writing reports and memos (and when you’re in corporate marketing you’re spending at least half your time writing reports and memos).

Although it was the early 1990′s, management track  employees did not have personal computers. There were a few communal computers for tasks like data gathering and analysis but we were not suppose to use those computers for typing reports.

Instead we were all given microcassette recorders along with a box of 30-minute tape cassettes and told to dictate what we wanted to write, then give the cassettes to the department secretary who would transcribe and type for us.

The point we were told, was we should never spend time doing what our secretaries were paid to do.  Those of us on the management track were supposed to be engaged in loftier activities.

But we were forgetting something.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Information Age

Up until 100 years ago or so, making a living required a fair amount of physical labor. If you were a farmer, you worked hard during growing season. If you were a merchant you worked long hours in your shop.

Some of this work required creative thinking: perhaps planning to build a new structure, or negotiating contracts with new vendors.

And certainly if you were one of a small percent in occupations concerned with arts and sciences: law, medicine, research, or academia, you did far less manual labor. But that was the exception … not the rule.

Technology today has flip-flopped the equation in most industrialized cultures. Most college graduates are going to spend far more time on the computer, on the phone and in meetings than they’ll ever spend outdoors or in a factory.

Yet we hang on to the old standards of long work hours.

Your Brain Doesn’t Do Long Hours

Not only do we expect long hours, we expect ourselves to produce high quality, substantive work during those hours.

But our brains don’t cooperate because our brains just aren’t wired to be thinking great thoughts and solving thorny problems for extended periods.

In fact our brains are more like “slackers’ when it comes to highly creative problem solving activity.

Although it varies from person to person, in a typical 16 hour day, maybe 2-3 hours are realistically when we do our best thinking.

The rest of the time, we’re doing lower-end stuff: answering email, sitting in meetings, running errands, and messing around on Twitter or Facebook.

Our brains just plain need downtime.

Letting Your Sub-conscious Do Some Heavy Lifting, Too

In fact, when you are doing relatively low-involvement work, your subconscious is still working in the background on ideas and problems.

A large part of what I do for a living involves writing and consulting and when I get stuck and no amount of figuring is going to get me unstuck, I stop.

I take a walk or a nap or I do something useful that doesn’t require a lot of thinking putting away laundry.

And without any conscious effort, something breaks loose; the ideas come or the words come or the solutions come and I move forward.

The Truth of the Matter

Although senior management at my MBA corporate job had good intentions, the truth was that no one put in super-creative 12-hour days.

Most of the days were spent in meetings or on the phone dealing with mundane problems, or doing paperwork, even typing!

So where does that leave us in terms of what we can realistically expect of ourselves in terms of high-level productivity?

Keys to Having Highly Productive Days

Key #1 Know When You’re Most Alert and Energetic

There’s lots of research supporting how our energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. And that those energy cycles vary based on a number of factors.

For example, some people are “Night Owls”: they do best starting later in the day and finishing when most people have been in bed for hours. Other people are “Larks” who start early and are in bed by 10 pm.

I, myself am a “Night Owl” and I do my best work from 10 am after my coffee has kicked in until 1 pm or so.  I get a second wind around 5 pm.

So I manage my schedule so that if I have writing to do or strategic thinking to do, it happens during those times.

Key #2 Know When to Stop

If you own a small business you have more flexibility with your hours … especially if you work at home.

I’m a big proponent of walks and naps. When my brain feels like it’s going to explode, there’s nothing like a walk in the park to get my mind out of the “hamster on a wheel” mode.

Conversely, when I’ve tried to “gut it out” and force myself to get some creative work done, it’s almost always crap.

Key #3 Give Yourself Space for Routine Tasks and Don’t Feel Guilty

When I was in my management track corporate job I felt guilty for the time I took to do tasks “my secretary was supposed to be doing.” I would literally sneak off to find an unoccupied computer so I could type reports.

As your own boss, you get to do some of that less creative but useful work.

So file those papers and go through your email! Tweet away to your Twitter buds and chat on Facebook.

If you’ve spent your creative time wisely then you’re giving your brain a much needed rest.

Key #4 Take Time to Do Nothing in Particular

Since I started my business five years ago, whenever possible, I take off Fridays.

And I do as little as possible. Seriously. I don’t check voice mail. I don’t check email. I don’t go on Twitter or Facebook or scan blogs.

Nor do I read, watch or listen to anything remotely related to business or work.

I walk, I read, and I nap. Maybe go out to dinner later or see a movie.

That’s it.

My way of taking time off isn’t for everyone. Some people would go nuts with that level of inactivty. But my introverted nature loves the down time.

I literally see Fridays as my “recharge” days. I spend Saturdays doing chores and admin work and spend Sundays with my family.

Bottom Line

Our brains are not wired for high-powered, continuous creative work. Most of us get 2-3 hours for “big brain” output. After that, if you try to push on, you’re not going to be productive.

Cut yourself some slack. Know when you do your best work and do it then.

Know the rest of the time is meant for routine but useful activity or just plain rest.