Both methods work on a specific question, not a general mood. "Should I take this job" gets a usable answer; "will things get better" does not. The more concrete you are, the more concrete the cast.

I Ching builds a hexagram from the moment you ask — two trigrams, a changing line, and one of 64 named situations. It gives you the shape of things.

Xiao Liu Ren is the quick folk method, counted on the knuckles from the lunar month, day and hour. Six possible outcomes, no ambiguity — closer to "yes / not yet / wait" than to a philosophy. Use it when you want an answer, not an essay.

Either way the cast comes from the moment you ask, so the time matters here in the same way your birth time matters in the chart.