Is it just me, or do the days just seem to be getting busier? When I asked the Dewynters creative team about habits they wanted to embrace in 2026, some recurring themes emerged: meeting-free periods for uninterrupted, focused work; screen breaks to recharge and stimulate creativity; and proactively exploring ways to stave off fatigue in the face of the accelerating pace of work.

Their suggestions perhaps reflect the ever-increasing pressure to squeeze more and more into the workday, sometimes at the expense of space for deep thinking and mental clarity. In 2026, can we still simply ‘time-manage’ our way to greater productivity?

It seems our creative team isn’t alone in facing these challenges. A recent study found that, since before the pandemic, communication expectations have intensified drastically. Message response times have dropped from four hours to two minutes; time spent in meetings is up 288%; and 32 days were lost last year due to digital tool overload i.e. the overwhelming number of apps and channels causing us stress and lack of focus.

These shifts suggest that when looking at ‘productivity’, we need to look beyond simply ‘hours worked’ or ‘in-office presence’. We need to ask how modern work patterns impact our well-being, job satisfaction, and meaningful work. Emerging insights suggest that not only do workers believe they’d be more productive with greater job satisfaction, but that the stats also back it up.

In fact, studies show that happy, satisfied workers are up to two times more productive.

This will come as little surprise to creative teams, who know only too well that creative well-being can directly impact design quality. Generating creative solutions is emotional labour – it requires energy to take risks, be vulnerable, have empathy for users and audiences, and sell bold ideas to clients. And we know that when creatives are exhausted and stressed, creativity can suffer.

This is all supported by research that highlights the vital role personal energy plays in all of our lives. ‘Energy expert’ Erin King defines this as ‘the physical, emotional, and mental capacity we bring to our daily tasks and interactions – the driving force behind sustained performance and well-being’.

King’s research, drawing on data from over 10,000+ participants, suggests that our personal energy is a greater indicator of success and achievement than our skills or intellect. Again, as creative teams we know that it’s creative energy – not hours – that drives the breakthrough concepts, stronger storytelling and more original visual activations.

In short, really great creative work is the result of the mental space to create; not simply grinding through.

Yet, we also know that creatives are highly individual in how (and when) they’re energised to generate their best work. While some may thrive in a busy, frenetic environment, others may be drained by constant alertness and stimulation. Similarly, while some may be supercharged by working in isolation, others may find themselves stymied by a lack of human interaction and collaborative connection.

Each creative works best in the environment that energises them personally – not a one-size-fits-all rigid workflow. King’s research can help creative team members pinpoint their own personal energy types, and what triggers charge or drain their creative energy.

‘Energy’, however, constantly fluctuates in response to moods, environments and daily rhythms. As many of us know, the body experiences an evolutionary-programmed cognitive dip around lunchtime, roughly seven hours after waking, before rebounding over the course of late afternoon-early evening.

Author Daniel Pink suggests that by aligning tasks with these natural biological rhythms, rather than against them, we can boost productivity, creativity, and satisfaction throughout the day.

So, practically, what might this look like for creatives? For starters, a day that’s structured optimally to match task and energy levels could be:

• Morning Peak:  High alertness, focus, and analytical ability. Protected, uninterrupted blocks. Best for demanding cognitive tasks and focused, individual creative work, eg, concepting, drafting, coding, designing, problem-solving.
• Trough: Midday/early afternoon dip in energy, attention. Best for routine admin or low-stakes tasks, eg, internal communications, project tracking, updates.
• Recovery: Late afternoon/early evening rebound. Good for collaborative, exploratory or reflective work, eg, collaborative ideation, brainstorming sessions, prototyping, innovation sprints, reviews and next steps, small win celebrations.

Finally – with 40% of creatives in the UK being women – it’s also vital to look at how we can support those going through the menopause. Just like circadian rhythms, dips in energy and focus arising from menstrual cycles and/or the menopause are hormone-driven, not motivation-driven, and so there’s no real way to ‘power through’ a rigid work schedule and come out the other side intact. This can lead to stress, exhaustion and burnout – which will of course deplete energy, well-being, job satisfaction and overall productivity.

An energy-management approach, however, acknowledges these physiological fluctuations and makes room for them. Perhaps it could be a lifeline to the 1 in 10 women who leave the workplace during the menopause.

Needless to say, the ideas here sound great in theory, but there is much more thinking to be done to translate them into practical solutions. Inevitably, there will be challenges in even the smallest of shifts toward accommodating these ideas.

The key will be encouraging a proactive and curious exploration –  both together and individually. As a creative team, we can’t pretend to be there yet or have all the answers, but with time energy, we can at least begin to move forward.