How to Optimize your Daily Routine

 Watch your thoughts, for they become your words.
        Watch your words, for they become your actions.
        Watch your actions, for they become your habits.
        Watch your habits, for they become your character.
        Watch your character, for it becomes your path.

In General

Drink Water Prior to Meals

  • More people in certain countries, such as the US, die from overeating rather than hunger. By drinking a glass of water before your meals, you will feel fuller (and prevent overeating).
  • Keep a jug of water with lemon and cucumber slices in the fridge overnight, as it creates a refreshing, lightly infused drink that supports hydration, provides a gentle boost of antioxidants and vitamin C, and helps improve flavor so you drink more water throughout the day.


Introducing Habits & Habit Stacking

  • When introducing a new habit, only take on one new habit at the time. Wait until you have fully incorporated the new habit (typically about 2-3 weeks), before introducing the next one.
  • Stack Habits to Save Time:
    • Example of 3-in-1: take a call while going for a walk in the sunlight in the morning.
    • Listen to an audiobook/podcast while driving to work, doing the dishes, going for a walk/run.
  • If you at some point mess up your routine a couple of times in a week, don’t beat yourself up about it. Allow your mind to zoom out and consider the long-term perspective. By being consistent over a long period of time, you will experience tremendous positive change. A slip-up here and there does not have a significant impact on the long-term.
  • Learn more about habits from the key points of the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.



A young man, in a grey singlet and grey shorts, with his back facing us doing jump ropes while gazing into the morning sunlight on his porch staring into the lush nature in his backyard.


Morning

  • 🛏️ Make Your Bed
    Complete a small task early (a quick win & small dopamine release), build momentum and set the tone for the day.

  • 🚿 ~5 min Cold Shower
    • Turn the water cold for the first 1-2 min and last 1-2 mins, and don’t flinch (e-book: The Flinch by Julien Smith). You will feel wide awake, full of energy and ready for the day. Cold water boosts both your mood and your immune system.
    • Cold enough that you really want to get out, but you can stay in safely, for minimum 11 min in total per week.
      Learn more about the health benefits of cold exposure

  • ☀️ Early Exposure to Sunlight
    • If possible, combine with ~5 min jump rope / small trampoline to activate your mind and body, and quickly boost your energy.
    • A healthy tide of cortisol is released when you step outside at daybreak, allowing you to become more alert. You will reset your circadian rhythm.

  • 🧘 5-20 min Meditation
    • Consider the Waking Up app by Sam Harris.
    • Consider the Muse Headband or similar device, to further motivate you by being able to track progress by looking at trends of calmness (especially useful when you are first starting out meditating)

  • At Least 4 hours of Deep Work on Your Top Priority
    • E.g. spending time with your family/ kids, working on your passion project, solving that key challenge at work, writing a few pages for your next book).
    • No interruptions. Phone in flight mode.




Midday




Evening

  • 🧖 Sauna
    • Post-workout Sauna
      Dr. Huberman suggests that taking a sauna 2-3 hours after exercise is beneficial as it allows your body temperature to return to baseline after exercise and then leverages the sauna-induced temperature increase for potential muscle recovery benefits.

      Studies have found that evening time heat exposure increases growth hormone release by 16 times.
    • Sauna for shortened sleep onset
      If your goal is to fall asleep faster, consider using the sauna 1-2 hours before bedtime. The core body temperature rise followed by a gradual decrease mimics the natural sleep cycle, potentially promoting sleep onset.
    • 86–100°C for minimum 57 min in total pr week
      Learn more about the health benefits of heat exposure

  • 👕 Lay Out Clothes for the Next Day (the best morning routine starts the night before)
    • Lay out your main clothes ready for the next day.

  • ⏰ Phone & Morning Alarm Setup (the best morning routine starts the night before)
    Charge your phone outside of reach as far from your bed as possible, but close enough for you to hear the alarm. The morning alarm will force you to get out of bed and all the way over to the phone, which will make it seem ridiculous to get back into bed. No more snoozing, the day has started.

  • 🙏 Gratitude + 📝 Learning Journal
    • Using old fashioned pen/pencil and paper notebook on your nightstand.
    • Looking back at your day, write down (at least) 3 things that you are grateful for (e.g. great food, streak of green lights to work, a presentation you did will, a moment of inner peace, a smile or hug from your kids or significant other).
    • Looking back at your day, write down (at least) 1 thing that you learned today.
    • Over time you will find that gratitude programs a mindset of abundance, and leads you to feel more happiness. You will also start to look for things to appreciate and be grateful for, as well as opportunities to learn, or appreciate the fact that you learned something.

  • 😌 Stimulate your vagus nerve to calm yourself using e.g. a Pulsetto device.




Once you have your daily routine dialed in, the natural next step is to start optimizing your local surroundings
How to Optimize Your Local Surroundings

Leave a Reply

Up ↑

Discover more from Accelerated Learning

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading