I had recently read about this concept called mechanical time and body time.

Body time moves by the rhythm of your heart and body. You eat when you are hungry, you sleep when you're tired. It moves fast when you are enjoying something and slow when you are not.

Mechanical time is the opposite. It's governed by the man-made clocks. You eat at a particular time just because it's lunch time even if you aren't hungry. You are governed by something which is not at all personalised to an individual's needs but works the same for everyone.

Ever since the pandemic happened and we were all forced to be at home, I stopped wearing a watch and I don't have a clock in my house. Soon I realised my whole schedule had moved from being a slave of clocks and calendar to working as per body time.

Nowadays I often sleep late, get up without an alarm (all meetings happen post 11 for me luckily), take a nap if I feel tired and even work out in the middle of the day if I feel energised. This schedule has made me more productive, left me with more energy and made me happier, counterintuitive to what it sounds like.

Would suggest everyone to give up mechanical time once in a while. It definitely helps!