6 Small Steps to Structure your Day for Sustained Success
Series on Structures | Episode 1 of 5
Why Structures Are the Start to Success
Successful species, structures, and individual people on a human scale, all share a similar core concept. That is the fact that they possess or have evolved to possess a strong structure about them. Like any great structure, through and throughout, there are several angles to observe and admire. In this five-part mini-series, we will start by breaking down the relationship of our mind and actions with the arches of architecture. Here we will build a foundation in this article and continue to construct a deeper understanding in terms of how structures are significant in the sense of philosophy, physiology, erudition, and finish with a glimpse into the future.
Assess and Evolve
Now that you have decided to build a better map for your life (step one), let’s break down how to make the plan into a reality. Look at your life and your habits specifically. Isolate them and really question yourself whether they are improving your mind, health, relationships, etc. Ultimately, is there a positive correlation with performing that task and bringing you closer to accomplishing your short and long term goals? If yes, then keep it, write it down (on paper or digitally). If the habit or task is not beneficial to your goals, then circle it and either remove it entirely or make a plan to limit it to a minimum. Yes, this includes all the Tik Tok scrolling if it leads to zero output on your end. How do you expect to make a positive impact if you spend hours a day doing a combination of tasks that drain your mental state and lead you down the path of a stagnant sloth (no offense to sloths).
Deconstruct it tactfully with a controlled demolition by the meaning of implementing limits (step two).
If it’s a relaxation task, but may not be productive, then allocate certain times in the week so you can spend more time focusing and prioritizing helpful tasks. It’s simple in the sense that if you’re not growing, you are merely existing.
Action Plans and Breaks to Reset
By creating an action plan, you are able to follow through and create positive routines and change. If you are not extremely satisfied with your existing plan or habits and goals, then I would recommend you reassess them first before reading the rest of the mini-series. Whether it’s a calendar on the wall above your desk, a digital calendar, kanban, or synced task list, make conscious efforts to stick to the vertebrae of your day (step three). Notifications and reminders can aid your efforts, but follow through and time constraints are proven methods to ease the stress in your life and facilitate a healthier and more productive day.
A good routine allows for time to decompress, so don’t think it is all work.
The mind needs short breaks throughout the day to recharge in the sense. Meditating, reading a short educational article, or mini exercises are beneficial for the brain to reset. It can be in spurts of 90 minutes of work and five minutes of destressing, or three hours of work and 10 minutes of meditation. Change it up to fit your needs, but as Forbes points out, short breaks are key to a better mental state and more efficiency.
Based on statistics on time management, this is how we spend time during our entire lives (likely to change):
- 8 years and 4 months watching TV
- 7 years trying to fall asleep
- 6 years either on social media or on holiday
- 4 years and 6 months eating
- 1 year and 4 months exercising
- 1 year and 3 days socializing
This data will change in the sense of how the average person currently spends 145 minutes a day on social media in 2019 and 2020. However, the realization that if a majority of your social media browsing is unproductive, then learning to change that time into positive momentum for yourself is essential to being successful. This is not a harp against social media, but an example of assessing personal behavior and the evolution of maximizing one’s own potential by reconfiguring the day.
It may be something else besides social media, but there is always a culprit of stagnation, lurking in the shadows ready to take precious productive time away from your day.
Throughout the morning and afternoon, unexpected fires may very well rise and require your attention. It is pivotal to limit these distractions and maintain focus. While the day is segmented out for different activities, the night provides an oasis for recharging and spending a small, yet important, amount of time dedicated to planning and visualizing the day ahead before you lay your head down to sleep. By reflecting on the current day and reviewing the next, you will be better prepared to transition into a proper sleep cycle. We will explore the science behind optimizing your sleep cycle another time, but do take note of how everything is correlated with proper sleep techniques and quality deep REM intervals.
Find Inspiration
If you are struggling to make the change alone, then observe other successful people (step four). Now I say this with caution because what may be successful for someone is not a surefire bet for transferring one to one. While some people are excited to wake up at 4:30 am every day to get a run in before the chaos, others prefer to stick to keto diets or go full vegan.
Just as a structure in the Antarctic will need to be different than one closer to the Equator, or a plane versus a boat. The laws of physics and materials can be molded after one another to a certain extent. The concept of getting up early or sticking to a diet and exercise routine is just that. It is the ability to find positive behavior that churns out productivity by the means of establishing the foundation and ensuring you stick with it for a prolonged time. This doesn’t mean you can’t make tweaks here and there, that is actually encouraged.
As long as there is progression, that is a good start. Stick with it long enough and the task will transform into an easier, consistent habit. The inspiration can even come from your favorite scientist, actress, chef, influencer or motivational speaker, but at the end of the day, it is the actions that speak loudest. Modeling parts of your behavior after them is fine, as long as you assess your own behavior to adapt to your needs and your intrinsic motivation stays solid.
Test out high-IQ meetings before lunch, and observe how much more efficient and productive you are.
Jeff Bezos offers this advice when scheduling “anything that’s going to be really mentally challenging — saying that’s a 10 o’clock meeting.”
Reflect On Progress
It can be one week, a month, or anything in between. The idea is that while making tweaks along the way is helpful, having a set time for full evaluation is necessary (step five).
“Constantly think how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself” — Musk
This allows for you to assess the direction you are heading on your map. You can check your routines, habits, production levels, health, etc and adjust as necessary. By tracking your progress in the way that makes sense for you, (remember those notes, calendar, time constraints with built in decompress time) you have built a foundation to assess and continually improve on.
The subsequent key to building on top of a solid plan is the columns and struts that stand on it and keep it together. Sticking to a new habit just as it is to try and climb Mount Everest in one day.
The key is momentum, small steps that build up over time.
Even three weeks is a good start to propel you for the next 90 days, but several studies show it takes even longer to form stable, long-lasting habits. Like structures, gravity is working against you, so you will need to be prepared with the proper materials listed below for your foundation.
- The Cue or Trigger: This is the part of the habit loop where you are triggered to take some sort of action through a cue in your internal or external environment.
- The Action: Good or bad, this is the part of the habit loop where you actually take action on the habit you want to adopt or drop.
- The Reward: This is the part of the habit loop where your brain receives a reward for taking the desired activity (or not as you will see in just a second).
Everyone wants a reward, (which can distract from the process) but sometimes they can be used to your advantage, as laid out by Andrew Ferebee. Can’t get yourself to wake up early? Give yourself a small reward like coffee for doing so. It may even be a small piece of dark chocolate after you workout. Eventually, that process will become a habit and the reward will be the fact that you woke up or worked out, phasing the physical reward out in many cases.
Transfer the reward to your internal bank of intrinsic motivation and watch it compound over time.
Most people try to change too much too quickly.
The real key to making a habit stick is to make it so small that you can’t say no.
If you want to get in shape, start by doing one push up.
If you want to become smarter, start by reading one page.
If you want to build a business, start by prospecting for one minute a day.
Set yourself up for success and make your new habits so easy to achieve that they are impossible to fail. Then, take one step and build up from there (step six).
Find Your Structure and Build on It
As we ease ourselves into the concept of building a structure for the day, we have learned that all living and nonliving things perform better when there are a rhyme and reason to them. We can learn from nature and history that starting with a vision is great, but it takes constant evaluation and small changes to evolve and reach short and long-term goals. Next, we will elevate our understanding of the physiological and technical aspects of structures. Remember, it’s a psychological process. Building your vertebrae for the day starts with one small step and ultimately leads to sustained success.
