Morning Routine Followed by Tim Ferriss Himself
Crafted from the advice of Tim Ferriss himself, this routine will kickstart your day
To be as productive as I can, I have tried many morning routines, but this particular routine I’m going to discuss in this article is the most effective one. I have been following this routine for the last 6 months now and they have been the most effective and rewarding months of my life.
“Each sunrise gives hope to your dreams and light to your plans.”
Morning is the most important part of your day, and how you spend your morning defines your whole day. So let’s discuss how you can make your morning as productive as possible, step by step.
What’s the first thing you see in morning, your mobile phone right? You pick it up and what’s the next thing you see? Notifications, not if you have managed it properly. The worst part is you don’t know what you will find. May be a text from a very negative conversation you had last night, or an urgent mail from your boss, or maybe some articles that seem so appealing you start reading them right away. Notifications snatch your focus when you need it the most. So the night before, when you go to bed, put your phone on Airplane Mode and see the change next morning.
👉🏼 Personal Experience: I felt so light and stress-free after doing it for just a few mornings. It’s a great practice and I highly recommend it for everyone.
From top performing US Army officers to the most focused Monks of India, everyone recommend this one practice “Make your own bed”. I also wondered how this could help, but there is a very logical reason behind it. By setting this as the first task of your day, you have made sure that no matter how bad your day goes, you would still have completed one task successfully. Not only that, it helps with staying disciplined as well. This is first task that army men do in their camps. And as a perk, every night you will be rewarded with a clean and comfy bed.
👉🏼 Personal Experience: Very very effective I would say. It will give you an urgency to get out of the bed and get ready for your day.
Any kind of workout would do. There’s no need to get an expensive gym membership. The idea is to increase your heartbeat. Doing 20–25 pushups can also do the job. If your neighborhood is green, go for a quick sprint. Remember, the idea is to get the blood pumping. As the blood starts pumping throughout your body, it reaches every vital organ and muscle, including your brain. More blood means more oxygen in the brain that gives it an instant recharge. You can also try Yoga. My friend Courtney just wrote this beginner article, check it out.
👉🏼 Personal Experience: I love this part of my day. I wake up at 4:45 am in the morning and by 5:15, I’m in the gym. I do intense workout for about 90 minutes while listening to some great podcasts.
So now that you have a charged up brain ready to rock, you’re set to start working. But if you jump into your workspace without a plan, that’s a disaster waiting to happen, my friend. That’s the most common mistake one can make. Having a clear vision of your day saves 40% of your time and makes you more productive. Having a simple to-do list is enough, but if you want to take things to the next level, try this very popular journaling technique called Bullet Journal. Journaling helps you plan and organize your whole day.
Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.
👉🏼 Personal Experience: I have been using Bullet Journal since 2015. It’s very effective, but of course after so many years, I have personalized it a little bit, and you will do it too I’m sure. I might write an article about that soon.
The last and the most important task is to calm your mind before leaving for work. The key to a controlled mind is Meditation. I know what some of you might say “No thanks, I’ve already tried it and failed”, or “I’m not into spirituality”. Well, the thing is it’s not related to spirituality at all, it’s related to your mind. Meditation increases your focus because meditation is all about controlling reigning in your mind and controlling your thoughts. If you have failed in meditation before, try guided meditation. You could also use an app to do it. There are some superb apps available, like Calm and Headspace. Another app that I discussed in my Best iOS Apps article was Tide, also a great app for starting off.
👉🏼 Personal Experience: I’m still in my beginner stage. I took a 7-day challenge and really enjoyed it. Check my experience here. I think one should keep experimenting with things like this, because you never know what habit can change you and your life completely.
Still hate meditation? Okay, no problem. I have something else for you to set you in a positive mindset. A very simple yet effective trick and that’s the mighty Motivational Videos. When my gym trainer recommended it to me, I was like “No thanks, I’m good”. But believe me, the energy of these videos is so high that you can actually feel yourself getting pumped up. Watch one video every day before leaving for office and you will know what I mean. You can find some good videos here: Be Inspired, Ben Lionel Scott, or Video Advice.
I know you are all excited to give it a try, but I recommend taking it easy and trying these things one step at a time. Don’t push yourself so hard that you give up. You don’t want to overwhelm yourself. Start with one habit and add the next when you are comfortable with it. I started with one habit only, waking up early and going to the gym. Did it for one week straight, and that was the hardest time for me, but after that, adding other habits got gradually easier.
Remember, the key to success is consistency. Be consistent, be efficient.
On a similar note, something I’ve noticed with a lot of startup founders is they try to do too many things at the same time and that leads to lower productivity. Are you a startup founder planning their MVP and feeling stressed out because there’s too much to do? It’s incredibly hard, I understand. My team and I specialize in helping young startups launch their MVPs faster and better. Get in touch if you’re looking for an awesome technical team.
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Wait ! Before you leave, I want to ask you something. You do remember the saying that a sound mind lives in a sound body, right ? You can do all the exercise in the world but unless you’re doing enough to provide yourself with proper and timely nutrients — you’re doing yourself a disservice. If you want to get started on your nutrition journey, try our Notion Meal Planner and watch your life change right before your eyes ;)
