My 6 daily must-dos!
A positive daily routine is both an investment in yourself and an effort to serve the world.
Maintaining sanity when you’re spending all of 24 hours in a 1000-something square-meter space for weeks, months altogether is not easy.
Health and longevity are predicted by a good routine, and happiness scales can be a powerful tool to track social progress and the effectiveness of public policies.
But improving your day doesn’t have to be about making one big gesture.
Instead, it typically comes down to the small things you do every day that can add up to larger growth in the long run.
Practicing these habits can help you build deeper relationships, reduce stress, decrease anxiety, become a healthier person (mentally, emotionally, and physically), and be happier.
Maintaining a positive daily routine is both an investment in yourself and an effort to serve the world.
Moreover, it provides a framework for building forward-moving habits and creating momentum to carry you on days when you are feeling down.
Despite feeling tired and drowsy, thinking about returning to bed, or wanting Friday at 5 p.m., it is necessary to get things done.
So how do I plan out my day? I make schedules, to-do lists, and timetables to chart out my day to ensure maximum productivity.
Below are my top 5 daily must-dos to stay sane!
Drinking water first thing in the morning
I avoid the glorified idea of coffee in bed.
Instead, I swear by drinking water first thing in the morning. For me, a lot of gut health issues have been frequent after the age of 25, a consequence of all the junk food and idiotic eating and sleeping habits I have had throughout my life.
Drinking loads of water firstly helps even with my metabolism!
It wasn’t ingrained in me at first. Before I used to function without a single drop of water. Nonetheless, just the fact that my body is asking for water today is wonderful!
Well, my goal is to have a fully functional digestive system as I get older.
Morning sports for a great start to my day
Physical activity of any kind helps me wake up in the morning so that I can focus better on my work, and I don’t feel shaky throughout the day. I end up drinking lots of water as well.
Believe me when I say that I can sleep so well even for 18 hours straight for days altogether. But breaking news! I am getting no younger and time waits for none!
Either I start practicing now, get my ass moving or I procrastinate and waste my mornings. Waking up in the morning usually brings such joy to my day, it makes most things better.
Ensure that your exercise/routine is sustainable and it’s best to chart out one for yourself during a time that fits your routine well.
Journalling every-day
Sometimes it feels pointless to write every day.
Journalling is a habit that’s personal for everyone. I don’t particularly journal to record daily events in my life. There are all sorts of technology to store that.
Neither have I felt particularly attached or emotional about the activity when I consider it from the perspective of “But there’s nothing like writing on paper”!
I journal mostly to combat mood swings. Writing helps me cope with tough times.
I have developed a nasty habit of journaling when I feel out of it or want to vent. So, if I disappear, my journal will probably still be of no help to you.
Taking in new content each week
The relationship between entertainment and culture is quite dynamic and complicated!
Forms of entertainment have shaped my culture and influenced my perception, opinions, knowledge, reality, and identity in the most profound ways.
I have and continue to learn a lot from movies, music, and any form of entertainment. It challenges the status quo in my head, influences my decisions, and makes me think.
A conversation over a piece of art allows me to discover aspects and sides that I never would have otherwise since I am not a big fan of reading newspapers.
I get my weekly dose of information from the piece of entertainment that I have consumed, and it usually is long-form.
My authors and directors are my teachers in this lifetime!
Improving my skill sets weekly
Am I futureproofing myself or is it simply the need to dabble in numerous pursuits at once? Upskilling is not only an act of learning new tasks but also constantly reaffirming my learnings.
Taking a lesson or coaching session or attending a webinar, every week to keep up with my skill sets helps. 4 years and I still find myself extremely mediocre. Sometimes it kills me to realize that my only true potential might be hard work.
I find most things difficult to understand and often find myself lost in the mere thought of updating myself with the market, understanding the world of a digitized space, to come in terms with the fact that if I don’t update myself today, I / my role soon too could get replaced by AI, ML and any form of advanced technology.
Practicing The Pomodoro Technique
Finally, I also recently came across the idea of The Pomodoro Technique from Alex Liberman, Executive Chairman of Morning Brew.
Essentially, the Pomodoro Technique is to work in short bursts that are extremely productive and intensely focused, and then rest for a few minutes.
It’s incredibly simple, in that all it requires is a timer, and it allows you to break down a large task into manageable intervals.
As a result, you can accomplish a significant level of work over the course of the day, and still take breaks. Moreover, due to the short duration of each session, you can focus intensely without becoming mentally fatigued.
There are a couple of more things that I do to get myself through the day like journaling, listening to podcasts, reading, etc.
Honestly, I am striving to improve as an individual with my practices every single day. I am well aware that sitting in my armchair during the pandemic, working from home,e, and not interacting with people will not benefit me.
Having said that, I realize that if I shy away from challenging and uncomfortable situations today, and if I don’t learn to handle the dialogue between different types of interaction, I won’t find a place anywhere.
In any sense, my day is much better when I have ticked at least 3 out of 5 checklists that get me through my day!
What helps you get you through yours?
Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
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Also, wait, am I a things-to-do listicle writer now? See you next week with more fun updates! :D
