5 WAYS TO A BETTER DAY
How I learned to hold myself accountable and use tools to make my life be more solid and productive.
-PREMISE-
I’ve always felt like I could have a more productive day than I do. Now, don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I want to have more “things” to do, but I would like to maximize my time management or cultivate energy and see the results of these activities. I’ve done my share of research of “Life Hacks” and “How To’s” and have been able to use and apply some of their techniques to the daily routine. Some things worked; for a while. Or I couldn’t get the hang of it.
Through trial and error, perhaps a continuing revision and practice I have nailed five things that have helped me tremendously. I can’t say it will work for everyone, and in fact, they may be things you already do “inadvertently”. However, I thought it would be a good dialogue to start with and see how diverse it grows.
No. 5 | Sleep. But planned sleep.
Everyone already knows they need sleep. Non-negotiable. Everyone knows how much is generally required. Consequently everyone knows when they get too much or not enough sleep and what actions, events, or reasons cause these sleep irregularities. So to make this work you must be cognizant of what type of sleeper you are, or why you can’t go to bed by midnight, or why you snooze all too often. But I’ve been using a “sleep timer” that helps me plan my sleep.
Generally it’s a calculator that will allow you to either tell it when you have to get up and tells you what times would be most optimal to go to sleep, or you tell it you are going to sleep “now” and it will calculate when it’s the most optimal time to get up.
This has to do with light and deep sleep cycles and normally when you feel like you got enough rest, and you wake up feeling lazy, and tired its because you woke up in a deep sleep cycle.
I know initially I thought this was complete bulls**t but then I tried it, and it worked!
For the iOS lovers I use: appzavr.com/st but if you search your App store for anything “Sleep Cycle” or “Sleep Timer” you should comparable options both paid and free.
If you don’t use a smartphone, don’t do apps, or at least have a dialup connection there is also a web calculator at: www.sleepyti.me
Try it.
No. 4 | Mirror Post-Its!
I’ve noticed lately I’ve had a hard time stay optimistic. I won’t go into detail about that, but I started realizing I do some of my best thinking in the shower (and you might too). But I also spent a lot of time in front of the mirror (and not because I’m vain) but you know “brushing your teeth,” washing your face, putting your contacts in, etc. I have all this real estate that I really don’t need (and you might not, you may have a hand mirror that you use, and that might be challenging) but you do this virtually anywhere, I used my mirror. I keep a stack of different colored mini post-its and a sharpie right next to my toothpaste. Every morning I write one thing I want to reflect on. It can be a quote, poem, word of choice, doodle, or just action of something you want to do, or a reminder. This helps anchor my day, and when I get up each morning there is one more post-it reminding me to “slow down and take a deep breath” or “smile often” or “make good use of time”. This helps me, and its simple and easy, you can trash them when you don’t need them, keep them, archive them to a composition notebook, whatever. I keep them there until I fill up the mirror (which I have yet to do, mind you I have a “hotel” sized mirror). I like to see progress.
Post it.
No. 3 | To-Do Lists and then some.
Now at this point you probably think I’m a perfectionist and have a touch of OCD. I do. But to-do lists do wonders. I didn’t use to believe in them, but they truly help map out your day, especially if you have a busy schedule. Now however you like to do this is entirely up to, Reminders in iOS are great. Post its work. Paper and pen is tried and true. I use Reminders in conjunction with task management app called “SLOTH” (LINK: Sloth) What I like about sloth is that it allows me input tasks, give them a set duration of time and then it sets an alarm to let you know when you need to move onto your next task. Its super flexible allowing you to add “5 mins” to a task, or allow you to pause a task, or move it down the list. This helps me with procrastination, it helps me with labor intense tasks that can be done more efficiently or in multiple time slots. An example of my sloth is:
“Laundry — Timed for 30:00 mins”
“Email Clients — Timed for 15:00 mins”
“Mediation — Timed 10:00 mins”
“Work on big project — Timed for 01:00 hour”
Etc.
I am then giving myself real expectations of things I need to do with flexibility to prioritize them with ease. Because let’s be honest, you start laundry with the intention of it not taking up half the day, and it ends up taking up all day. Unless of course you’re reusing you underwear and you have to spend half the day doing a months worth if laundry.
To-Do it!
No. 2 | The Plan.
An easy thing to do these days is say “I’m gonna do this . . . . . When I . . .” and it dissipates to what we call the back burner. “I promised myself I was going to get a new car next year”; you never get the new car. “I told myself that I would change my career 5 years ago,” or “I will go out and buy myself that new shirt I’ve been wanting”. Any of the relatable things sometimes never happen and that’s because we put in our minds to be forgotten. So I started doing the “3-Month, 6-Month, 9-Month, etc” plan where I write down goals, milestones, purchases, events that I’ve been wanting to do or have been putting off to keep my goals in perspective. Putting them on a time frame helps keep them realistic and attainable. How mine are set up are the easier and quicker goals go to the shorter term plans, whereas life events or purchases go into the longer one. Think of it like your “5 year plan,” but less time. It does require you to sit down and actually think. It requires you to devote time to it but they are your goals after all and it will help you stay on track. You can apply this model to the day, make a daily goal, weekly, monthly, yearly. As long as you do it so you can evaluate frequently your accomplishments and goals.
Plan it.
No. 1 | Habits.
Another thing that can sometimes be good or usually bad are our habits. More importantly it’s how poorly we don’t keep track of our habits. For most of us, we don’t keep track of how much coffee we are drinking. Honestly, we don’t keep track of how many times we go to the gym either. Do you remember the last time you actually did something for yourself, or someone else? Track all of this.
I have been using the Coach.Me app (or site) www.coach.me to help track good and bad habits, as well as general things I want to get better or consistent at.
I have it track my 2 liters of water day, calling my mom weekly, taking my daily vitamin, eating out so frequently, waking up early, reading for 30 mins, etc.
It shows me how many strides I’ve made, and it also reminds me at said dates, times, and re-occurrences. It helps me stay accountable so the bad things get less bad, and the good things get better.
It does require time out of your day to log and review but it can also be a 5 minute to-do added to your list, or part of your morning or night routine.
Track it.
-CONCLUSION-
I know a lot of this sounds like work, and it is. I’m here to tell you that it’s work worth investing in because it’s for you. It helps you stay strong. It builds confidence. It keeps you accountable. It makes you feel defined and grounded. Even if you do one of these 5 things, I promise your day and life will prosper. It doesn’t work 100% quickly. You will forget a to-do list, or wake up in a deep sleep cycle, you might not make a 3 month goal, but the more you do it, and adjust it to your life and needs it will make more and more sense. It will become your faithful practice.
Let me know how this goes for you.
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Email: misspelledink@gmail.com
