Limiting Daily Mental Burden via Predictability & Routine

Kameron Kales
Jul 25, 2017 · 6 min read

July 25th, 2017


One of the services I use to automate food is Shipt. Its great and saves me a few hours a week.

Over the last 6 months I have been experimenting with a variety of routines to lessen the daily burden of decision making. These routines range from exactly what I do when I wake up until the things I do prior to going to bed. They have evolved into time attachments of each activity and allow a large portion of my life to be predictable, enabling me to focus my energy on those portions that are not.

I wanted to share everything I have begun doing in an effort to track the routine today v. some point (y) in the future & ask for suggestions or improvements. I am very new to tracking what I put in my body and am learning what additives or ingredients to avoid. If anything sticks out as harmful let me know!

Over the next 6 months I am either going to run a full marathon or complete a half ironman and monitoring my body week to week is helping me standardize training conditions. I am exploring the possibilities of partaking in the Savannah, GA Rock ‘n Roll Marathon November 4th and will make a decision in a few weeks based on my fitness level.

I am 5–11 and hover around 175lbs. I want to say this is roughly 10–15 pounds heavier than what I played high school soccer at but I was also closer to 5–9 then. I could probably get back to my 17 year old weight if I wanted to but it is not a high priority for me at this point.

My current weight is measured daily with shoes & jeans and my pockets full so take it with a grain of salt. I don’t have a target weight other than I would like to get stronger & get my comfortable running pace down to 7min/mile instead of the 8min/mile I am currently at. With my current training I am able to run 7 min/miles for a 5k and then am unable to keep pace. Improving this to my target of half marathon pace will be a challenge. Over the next year I’d like to complete a half in 1:30ish but we will see how realistic this is with the other training priorities I have.

In addition to fitness tracking and food consumption, I have selected certain products to use on a daily basis. This helps me remove burden in what to buy and automates a lot of the shipping for me.

I am experimenting with Prime Pantry to set up as much of my monthly non-perishables & toiletries/cleaning supplies as possible. Ideally I would set up every product I use and the regularity of when it needs replacing to receive scheduled shipments. Some will say it is not hard to pick up toothpaste or deodorant from Harris Teeter but I would prefer not to even think about it.

Additionally, I have also begun using Shipt. Their membership plan for unlimited grocery delivery is great. I looked into Instacart (decided against because the items are more expensive) and Harris Teeter Online Ordering (decided against because you can’t have it delivered). Shipt will enable me to automate the perishable items I typically buy from Harris Teeter each week and gave me a $15 credit for my first order. This took my initial order down from my typical $35/week budget to $22.

Whether I stick with this thought process over time or decide I want more control & variety we will see. For now, I am comfortable automating this.

Products Used

  • Degree Men Extreme Blast Deodorant (daily)
  • Colgate Total Toothpaste (daily)
  • Ralph Lauren Green Cologne (daily)
  • Suave Professionals Men 3-in-1 Citrus Rush (daily)
  • Optimum Nutrition Naturally Flavored Gold Standard Whey Protein Isolate Chocolate (daily)
  • Folgers French Roast Medium Dark (daily)
  • Sleepytime Honey Herbal Tea Caffeine Free (daily)
  • Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar 5% Acidity (daily)

Clothing

  • Working Out:
  • New Balance Zante v2
  • Bought 2 pairs on Amazon for $55 each
  • Will last 1 year total
  • Nike 5” Running Shorts
  • Bought 3 pairs on Nike for $45 each
  • Will last a few years
  • Daily Wear:
  • J Crew Sutton Dark Wash Jeans
  • Bought 5 pairs on J Crew Factory for $40 each
  • Will last a few years
  • Hanes T Shirts
  • Bought 4–6 packs of shirts on Amazon for $10 each
  • Will last 6 months
  • Jordan Eclipse Grey
  • Bought 2 pairs on Eastbay for $54 each
  • Will last 1 year total
  • Dress Socks
  • Bought 10 pairs on Amazon for $20
  • Will last 1 year total

Comments:

By tracking every product and item I use I am able to gauge what needs to be replaced and plan to automatically have it replenished. I am also aiming at tracking the longevity of the items I purchase and determine where improvements can be made. We will see if this tracking lasts over the long term but I have been wearing & using these products for 6 months now and anticipate these lasting for at least another 6.

ROUTINE:

Mornings

  • Wake up between 7–8AM
  • Drink 1 glass of water (Contigo 24oz bottle)
  • Drink 1 glass of cold brew coffee (homemade via french press the night before)
  • Add a splash of 2% milk as creamer
  • Make 3 scrambled eggs w/ spinach
  • Read Hacker News (news.ycombinator.com)
  • Brush teeth
  • Shower
  • Wear:
  • Hanes T Shirt
  • J Crew Sutton Jeans
  • Dress Socks
  • Jordan Eclipse Shoes
  • Apple Watch
  • Work
  • 9:00AM-5:00PM (roughly same schedule on weekends as well-small variations here and there)

Comments:

I am experimenting with adding time to write each morning but have yet to condition myself to get up early enough to do so. This will be added over the course of the next month or so.

Afternoons

  • Work
  • 9:00AM-5:00PM (roughly same schedule on weekends as well-small variations here and there)
  • Drink 2 glasses of water (Contigo 24oz bottle)
  • 10:00AM
  • 12:00PM
  • Work out
  • Lift 4 days a week
  • Run 2 days a week
  • Swim/Bike 1 day a week
  • Listen to audio book (currently listening to Fooled By Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
  • Drink 1 serving of protein powder (in water)
  • Shower

Comments:

I would like to standardize my lunch every day but there is a large variety in what I am doing during lunch hours at this point. This could be a future addition but doesn’t seem to fit into my work schedule today. I try to do 2 workout activities a day once or twice a week. These typically are swimming/biking and running. This fluctuates some when I am traveling and is not yet a reliable measure. Hopefully over the next few months it becomes so.

Nights

  • Drink 2 glasses of water (Contigo 24oz bottle)
  • 9:00PM
  • 11:00PM
  • Drink 1 cup of Sleepytime Honey Tea w/ 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 10:30PM
  • Brew 50oz Cold Brew Coffee
  • 10:30PM
  • Read 50 pages (currently reading The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb)
  • 10:30PM-12:00AM
  • Sleep
  • 12:00AM-7/8:00AM

Comments:

I love drinking tea at night. Whatever placebo effect I have tricked myself into believing with the tea I will not be changing it anytime soon. I struggle to make it to 12:00AM after drinking the tea an hour or so before. I am getting better about reading daily and am holding myself to this vs scrolling on my iPhone each night. Sometimes I will substitute reading with watching a lecture on a few different subjects I am interested in but am working on the discipline to read nightly. This will be improved on over time. Soon I will be publishing my 2017 content consumption list to track what I have read, listened to or watched this year. Hopefully this will keep me motivated to track progress and review quality materials each day.

Summary

A large portion of my day is standardized so I can focus on other activities. In writing this guide I set up Prime Pantry to automatically deliver the goods I use on a monthly basis. I also added each activity to my calendar so I stay on schedule each day.

I intend on this guide being a test on myself over the course of the next 6 months. My intention is to gauge productivity across everything I do and determine if removing the daily decision making burden will be net positive. I was particularly careful to be realistic in my day and left out portions which are not repetitive to the point of scheduling.

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