READER QUESTION: “Best week of my cycle to be artistic or redecorate?”

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My Hormonology

19 Jun READER QUESTION: “Best week of my cycle to be artistic or redecorate?”

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My HormonologyEmily, a Hormonology newsletter subscriber, asks: “What’s the best week of my cycle to do things like paint and draw? And I think you have mentioned this before: best time to rearrange or redecorate?”

My answer: Which week of your cycle is best to do creative activities (like painting and drawing) really depends on what you want out of them. Research shows you’re more likely to come up with more unusual or “out-of-the-box” ideas during Week 2 of your cycle due to high estrogen, which revs your brain skills and makes you less likely to judge new ideas negatively, which helps prompt even more of them. So, if you’re looking for a big idea or a new way to approach an art project, take a stab at it during your Week 2.

However, if you’re looking to tap into and channel deeper emotions with your art or express pent-up emotions as a release, I recommend doing it during Week 3 and Week 4 of your cycle. In this phase of your cycle, lower levels of estrogen combined with progesterone are turning your focus inward so you’re more in touch with your thoughts and feelings. However, keep in mind that this is also a time when you are more likely to judge your creations with a more critical eye, so try to remind yourself to just let go and enjoy the creative process.

As for the best time to rearrange or redecorate a room, you’d likely enjoy it most and be best at it during your Week 3. This is when rising progesterone brings out your desire to “feather the nest”, which makes you enjoy finding ways to make your living area more comfortable, welcoming, beautiful and useful. By contrast, if you redecorate during your Week 2, chances are, you could end up with something wild and wacky due to experiment-loving high estrogen and testosterone that you could end up hating by the time Week 3 rolls around. (I know I’ve made this mistake after watching too many episodes of Trading Spaces!) And if you do it during your premenstrual Week 4, a down, critical mood could have you unhappy with everything you try, so you end up reverting to how it was originally!

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