Good health to the readers and subscribers of my diary. I want to share my experience of how I moved from chaos to an hourly daily routine. I took examples from the lives of successful people whose rhythm of life is scheduled minute by minute.
Previously, I worked for my grandmother. Served the allotted time from morning to evening and went home. I received a salary once a month. Grandmother always paid the same, regardless of the results of work. If necessary, I gave a magic kick to increase productivity. Now my grandmother is gone, I work on my own and for myself.
The poor results of my work forced me to analyze “Why I don’t have time to do anything and every day I run in one circle, like a squirrel in a wheel.”
Daily routine as the basis of a healthy lifestyle
What does it mean to lead a healthy lifestyle? A healthy lifestyle consists of several important components:
- proper nutrition;
- exercise stress;
- rational daily routine;
- hardening and strengthening the immune system;
- personal hygiene;
- maintaining mental hygiene (ability to cope with negative emotions);
- family planning and development of sexual culture;
- health promotion and preventive procedures.
Most modern people are susceptible to various diseases due to non-compliance with healthy lifestyle rules. This is why it is so important to maintain a daily routine for a healthy lifestyle.
“How ridiculous are the demands of people who smoke, drink, overeat, do not work and turn night into day that the doctor make them healthy, despite their unhealthy lifestyle,” - L.N. Tolstoy.
There are various technologies and channels for creating a healthy lifestyle. Among them:
- social: media, educational events in educational institutions and workplaces;
- infrastructural: regional and federal environmental control, preventive institutions;
- personal: standardization of everyday life, the individual’s value system.
Thanks to the above channels, improving the health of each individual person becomes a problem on a national scale. Various institutions are opened and funded that are ready to tell the population what it means to lead a healthy lifestyle: health centers, research centers, institutes for promoting a healthy lifestyle. It is here that the latest technologies for teaching a healthy lifestyle and the skills to maintain it are being developed.
Owl or lark: does it matter?
Scientists have long divided people into two categories, depending on their degree of productivity at different times of the day. These are "owls" and "larks". The latter wake up easily in the morning. In the early hours they are cheerful and active, but by the evening they are tired and cannot do important things. Owls, on the contrary, have difficulty waking up, and their maximum activity is achieved in the evening and at night. Obviously, when planning a daily routine, it is necessary to take into account the person’s psychotype. And, for example, important meetings for night owls should not be scheduled in the morning.
However, in the modern world, early risers have an easier time, since most of the work in the office or production begins early in the morning. Scientists are confident that any person, in principle, with a strong desire, can change their biorhythms. Each of us is capable of turning from a “night owl” into a “lark”. However, this will require willpower, patience and the ability to adhere to certain rules in achieving the goal.
Forming the right daily routine
There is nothing more important for a healthy lifestyle than a good daily routine. It allows you to comply with all aspects of a healthy lifestyle and use your time rationally. A healthy lifestyle day plan might look like this.
1) 7:00 – rise and morning hygiene procedures
You should wake up in a good mood. Try to get out of bed every morning with a smile and a positive attitude for the day. After waking up, it is advisable to drink a glass of clean water at room temperature, this will “turn on” your body and speed up your metabolism.
Doctors advise brushing your teeth before your first meal so that bacteria accumulated in the oral cavity do not enter the gastrointestinal tract. Read about other expert recommendations in this article.
2) 7:30 – light exercise
Tones the body and energizes you for the whole day.
3) 8:00 – breakfast
Breakfast should be hearty and include proteins and complex carbohydrates. The ideal option would be scrambled eggs with a slice of whole grain bread. Read about proper nutrition in this article.
4) 9:00-10:00 – peak mental activity
It would be best to devote this time to activities related to intense brain work, memory and intelligence. It is during these hours that such tasks are performed more efficiently.
5) 12:00 – 14:00 – break for proper rest and lunch
It's time to refresh yourself and give your brain a break from hard work. Lunch should give you strength until dinner, so it should be no less hearty than breakfast. For example, you can bake a chicken breast, complement it with boiled brown rice and fresh vegetables. Such a diet will perfectly satiate and will have a beneficial effect on the digestive system.
After lunch, it is advisable to take a short walk or at least stretch a little to circulate the blood throughout the body. Especially if you have a sedentary job or study.
6) 14:00 – 16:00 – excellent time for routine work that does not require special strength
At this time, the body is still busy digesting the food it received for lunch. All efforts are directed towards this process, but not towards mental assault to solve difficult problems.
7) 16:00 – 18:00 – another chance to work hard
Ideal time for brain sketches. The food is digested, all systems are working as normal, the brain is ready to produce extraordinary ideas. To bring mental abilities to a peak state, they can be trained. Special webinars will help you concentrate and produce maximum results in a short time. It is effective to apply these exercises regularly to improve your mental abilities.
18:00-19:00 – time to have dinner
Dinner should be light and consist of protein and fiber. For example, steamed fish with a side dish of boiled vegetables. You should go to sleep with a slight feeling of hunger so as not to overload your stomach.
9) 19:00-21:00 – time to practice
What does it mean to lead a healthy lifestyle? Don't forget about sports, of course.
A person who regularly plays sports endures life’s problems almost 3 times easier, he is 20% more proactive in work, creativity, and social life, he is more sociable, he is more self-confident and strives to achieve better results in any area of his activity.
For busy people, this is the ideal time to devote to sports. You should wait an hour and a half after dinner, take a walk in the fresh air or spend time with your family, and then go for a workout. It can take place both in the fitness center and on the street (if you are a fan of running, for example). Here are the basic rules for physical education.
10) 21:00-22:00 – time for evening hygiene procedures
You can take a relaxing bath with mineral salts and perform your own beauty rituals.
11) 22:00 is the best time to go to bed
Regenerative systems are launched in the body, metabolism slows down, and the body goes into a state of rest. Health promotion also occurs during sleep.
Daily routine of a successful person. Example: Winston Churchill on working at home
Everyone understands that Winston Churchill, as head of the British government, had irregular working hours. However, despite everything, he managed to keep up with everything and stick to his daily routine. You will be surprised, but waking up at half past seven in the morning, Winston was in no hurry to get out of bed: lying down, he read the latest press, had breakfast, sorted out his mail and even gave out the first instructions to his secretary. And only at eleven o’clock Churchill got up, went to wash, get dressed and went down to the garden to take a walk in the open air.
Lunch for the leader of the country was served at approximately one o'clock in the afternoon. All family members were invited to the feast. Within an hour, Winston could easily communicate with them and enjoy the company of loved ones. After such a pastime, he began his duties with renewed vigor. Not a single day of Winston Churchill's work passed without a long nap. And at eight o’clock the family and invited guests gathered again for dinner. After this, Winston closed himself in his office again and worked for several hours in a row. Thus, the head of the British government managed to combine work with personal communication with family and friends. And this certainly made him a person not only successful, but also happy.
Mobile assistants
Even modern technologies stand guard over teaching a healthy lifestyle. The following apps for a healthy lifestyle will tell us how to become a healthy person: “Fitness and proper nutrition”, “Pedometer”, “Time to drink water”, “Calorie calculator” . These healthy lifestyle programs will help you develop your own action plan to strengthen your body. With their help, you can create a rational menu for every day, count all the calories consumed so as not to overdo it, and also remind you when you need to drink the next glass of clean water to support all metabolic processes in the body.
Remember, just by following the correct daily routine for a healthy lifestyle, you will not only know what a healthy person looks like, but you will also become one. And a drawn up action plan for a healthy lifestyle will help you stay on the right path.
Time is money
Every business person knows how to make money. But how to manage time - only a few. There is even a special science - time management. It is taught by those who do not know how to create a daily routine so that time works for a person, and not vice versa. You need to start by analyzing your daily routine and identifying holes into which useless time is leaking. It may only be ten to fifteen minutes. However, even these are important. They may not be enough to complete the tasks assigned for the day. The second thing you need to do is outline your goals: both short-term and long-term. It is clearly formulated desires that move a person towards their achievement. Otherwise, success will not come. After this, you can plan your time. There are seven very effective tips that will help you cope with the task:
- The 70/30 principle. It is impossible to plan the whole day. Set aside 70% of your time and schedule tasks. Leave the remaining 30% for unforeseen circumstances and force majeure.
- Today - for tomorrow. Don’t be too lazy to make a written to-do list for the coming day. This will allow you to manage your time wisely and arrive at your scheduled meetings without being late. At the end of the business list, you can write praiseworthy phrases: “You did great! But don’t relax!” or “Keep it up! But there is still a lot to do!” They will motivate you to solve your problems.
- Remember that the main activity occurs in the morning, so try to plan most of your activities in the pre-lunch time. It becomes easier psychologically when you realize that half of the assigned tasks have already been completed, and there is still a whole day ahead. Then lunch time can be devoted to short rest and personal calls. And after the meal, hold a couple of not very important business negotiations or a small meeting.
- Take breaks! Be sure to rest every hour for 10-15 minutes. This method will allow you to work more productively and not get tired ahead of time. In moments of relaxation, you don’t have to lie on the sofa or smoke in the toilet. Use this time profitably: do a warm-up, water the flowers, rearrange folders on the shelf, read the press or get some fresh air.
- Be realistic about your capabilities. You will waste a lot of time and health on achieving unattainable goals. Set yourself tasks that you can definitely solve.
- Always clean up your work area at the end of the working day. This will help save you a lot of time in the future and will allow you to put your thoughts in order. Always keep important things in the same place and within easy reach.
- Get rid of those things that you don't need. A person is used to leaving things “for later”, in case they come in handy. Look around you, if you haven’t used something for several months, without a doubt throw it in the trash.
To plan your time, you can keep a diary, notepad or regular notebook. Write down goals and objectives, thoughts and ideas there. And be sure to create your daily routine. A successful person can be seen from afar!
Separate the important from the unimportant
Very successful people keep the number of decisions they make to a minimum. They manage to do this precisely due to a clear daily routine, in which various trivial questions already have simple answers. Clothes that you don’t need to think about choosing, like Steve Jobs’ famous blue jeans and black turtleneck, the same breakfast every day, the same physical activities at a strictly designated time. Having chosen something once (we are talking about simple daily decisions), they prefer to stick with it on a long-term basis in order to free up their minds for what really matters. When you constantly think about what to wear, what to eat, where to go to exercise, you are quietly wasting not only valuable time, but also mental energy.
Francesco Cirillo method
You may not be familiar with the name Francesco Cirillo, but you've probably heard of Pomodoro. Cirillo is the creator of this famous time management technique. At one time, Francesco had problems with his studies: the young man could not concentrate, he was distracted all the time. A simple kitchen timer in the shape of a tomato came to the rescue.
The essence of the Pomodoro method: periods of time allocated to work are “pomodoros.” One pomodoro = 30 minutes (25 minutes for work and 5 for rest). We start the timer and work with maximum efficiency and minimal distractions for 25 minutes. The signal sounds - it's time for a five-minute break. Then we start the timer again.
Thus, productivity is measured by the number of pomodoros completed per day. The bigger, the better.
In order not to spend 25 minutes coming up with something to do, you need to make a list of tasks in advance. In it you can also mark the number of whole “tomatoes” (a cross is placed next to the task) and distractions (an apostrophe is placed). This allows you to determine how long it took to complete a particular task and how difficult it was.
The Pomodoro method is accessible and flexible. If you want, keep a to-do list on paper and measure out 25-minute segments with a kitchen timer, or if you want, use special services and applications.
Windows | OS X and iOS | Android |
PomodoroApp | Pomodoro Time | Focus |
Keep Focused | Tadam | Pomodoro Timer |
Tomighty | Flat Tomato | Clockwork Tomato |
According to Cirillo, the optimal duration of a pomodoro is 20–35 minutes. But, having mastered the technique, you can experiment and change the intervals to suit yourself.
You can learn more about Francesco Cirillo’s method here.
Conclusion
At the beginning of the day, make a list of things to do and get them done, oh. If you get distracted within 25 minutes, put a ' symbol next to the task. If the time has expired, but the task has not yet been completed, put a + and dedicate the next “pomodoro” to it. During a five-minute break, completely switch from work to rest: walk, listen to music, drink coffee.
So, here are five basic time management systems with which you can organize your day. You can study them in more detail and become an apologist for one of the methods, or you can develop your own by combining various methods and techniques.
They create conditions for healthy sleep
Successful people place great importance on sleep. They know that sleep makes them quite productive. That's why they put away their laptop and mobile phone an hour before they go to bed. Media entrepreneur Arianna Huffington has banned all technology from the bedroom.
Joel Gascoigne, one of the inventors of the Buffer app, walks every evening. “It allows me to evaluate the day's work, think about more difficult tasks, gradually stop thinking about work and reach a state of fatigue,” he writes on his blog.
They solve large problems first
Research has shown that people can only work with concentration for four or five hours before productivity declines. Therefore, it would be fatal to waste this valuable time on administrative tasks or answering countless emails.
That's why successful people start with tasks that require attention and execution. For example, write a text, perform calculations, develop strategies. Thus, they invest all their effectiveness in solving global problems, leaving small ones for the time when their concentration wanes.
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No distractions!
In English, the term microdistractions is very popular. It is used when talking about a thousand little things that almost every minute distract the attention of a modern person - numerous push notifications informing about incoming letters, comments, links, and the like. Each time they take away minutes of time, they “knock down” your attention and prevent you from concentrating. That is why successful people usually have separate time for calling, checking email, and even social media. But what if there is something important in the messages? Outsourcing the work with incoming requests to a secretary or assistant - this is the answer of businessmen.
Hobby
Every person needs time that he can spend exclusively for his own pleasure, for himself and only. Man is a deeply social creature, but nevertheless needs personal space. A variety of hobbies will help you spend a little time alone with yourself and still have fun. For some, it’s playing musical instruments, others love beadwork, others find themselves in writing poetry. Your hobby must have a place in your daily routine. Half an hour or an hour of time that you can spend doing your favorite activity is certainly calming, relaxing, causes extremely positive emotions and can be an excellent antidepressant.
Tim Ferriss: “Your routine should be as flexible as possible.”
Tim Ferriss, productivity guru and bestselling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, is often asked what he actually does during the day. The interesting thing is that there is simply no concrete answer to this question, since Tim's routine changes at exactly the same speed as his plans.
However, Tim always adheres to several unbreakable rules: on Mondays and Fridays, Ferriss absolutely ignores calls from his assistants - in other words, his weekends last twice as long as the generally accepted norm; Monday is dedicated to setting priorities for the coming week and resolving accumulated administrative issues.
In addition, Tim includes a minimum number of upcoming events in his schedule, freeing himself from annoying thoughts about tasks and goals that have not yet been completed.
“The main goal is to do what you love and achieve maximum results while minimizing the time spent.”
The peculiarity of Ferriss's routine is its exceptional flexibility:
“I don’t have to do anything on this list. I only do something when I really enjoy it. None of my schedule is driven by financial obligations or regulations. If at the last moment I have a chance to do something more interesting, I always give preference to new opportunities.”