My Daily Schedule during the Lockdown

Hope all of you and your loved ones are safe during this pandemic. I admit that lockdowns are very boring, yet they are an opportunity to learn and do things that you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have enough time for.

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My schedule during this lockdown can be divided into three different parts:
i. Morning rituals
ii. Work
iii. Rest
Here is my schedule:

……………..Morning Rituals………………

1. Meditation: I meditate for 15 minutes the first thing in the morning. This prepares my mind to be disciplined for the rest of the day. I know this because whenever I miss my morning meditation I struggle with my will power.
Currently I am using this guided meditation video from Eckhart Tolle as my meditation aid.

2. Listen to an Audiobook: The next thing I do is to connect my earbuds to my phone and start an audiobook. The two next items in my schedule (i.e cleaning room and working out) can be done while I am listening to an audiobook so I take this opportunity to learn about something new.

Currently I am listening to Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. It’s an amazing book that goes deep into all the cutting edge research on sleep. I highly recommend it.

3. Cleaning Room: A clean and well decorated room makes me feel good and aids in my determination to have a great, productive day. So, I take 10 minutes to make my bed, wipe some furnitures and sort scattered items.

4. Workout: While still listening to the audiobook, I get into my workout clothes and open my workout app. I am a huge fan of this app called-“Home Workout “. (They are providing free access to all premium features due to the pandemic, so definitely check it out). Each workout session takes 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Put my phone away: After completing my workout session, I stop the audiobook, disconnect my earbuds and put my phone away in a drawer. I don’t touch it untill my deep work session of the morning (which I will talk about below) is done. This aids in my deep work and keeps me from procrastinating.

5. Take a shower: Elon Musk did an AMA(ask me anything) on Reddit. Someone asked him to share what habits has the largest positive impact on his life. He answered: showering.
I live in a humid country and daily shower definitely helps me feel good for the rest of the day.

6. Wim Hof: I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Wim Hof method. It’s a breathing exercise that has been researched extensively in the recent years . What researchers have found is, it strengthens your immune system through making your blood slightly more alkaline. I highly recommend you try it out! Here’s the link to the official YouTube channel:
Wim Hof method helps me to feel calm and focused. Have you ever kept yourself from breathing for a while when feeling sleepy? It makes you more alert right? That’s how I feel after going through each session of the Wim Hof mehod.

………………………..Work…………………………

7. Deep work: Ok now we’re onto my favorite session of the day. This is what I look forward to everyday. But let’s talk about what deep work is first:
Cal Newport, a brilliant professor and bestselling author of many books, published ‘Deep Work‘ in 2016. Here he talks about the brilliant skill of working distraction free on a cognitively demanding task.

Deep work enables you to learn complex topics and perform your best work. Barbara Oakley, the brilliant professor behind ‘Learning how to learn’, talks about how distractions hampers your ability to learn. She, being a big advocate of chunking, encourages students to minimize distractions while studying.
After three sessions of the Wim Hof method, I sit down to study. I study for 4 pomodoro sessions, each being 50 minutes long. Currently I am studying ‘Tensorflow’ which is a machine learning library. The course I am taking is called: “Introduction to Tensorflow for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning “. (If you are interested in taking this course, I recommend you read the Keras documentation first).

8. Nap and Lunch: As I’ve learned from listening to ‘Why We Sleep’ by Matthew Walker, napping is a good habit to get into. It reinforces what I learned in my study session and refreshes my mind and body for the rest of the day. I take my lunch after waking up from my 20 minutes long nap. This is the first meal of the day for me, my latest being only 8 hours later, which makes me fast for 16 hours everyday. This is called intermittent fasting and it has been linked to many helath and cognitive benefits in numerous research .

9. Some More Work: After lunch, I work for 6 more hours. This is when I write in my blog, or make a YouTube video. If I am feeling particularly lazy that day (which sadly is most days), I work on finishing one of the courses that I’ve enrolled in Coursera. Currently, I’m doing ‘The Science of Success’ by University of Michigan. This is a great resource if you want to learn about how successful people are different form others and how to incorporate those traits in you.

………………………Rest……………………..

10. Entertainment:

Mob Psycho 100

After I am done working for the day, I pick up my phone and watch an anime or watch something on YouTube.
Currently I am re-watching Mob Psycho 100 and my absolute favourite YouTuber to watch is B-rad.

11. Sleep: I try to get 8 hours of sleep every night.

So there you go. That’s the routine I strive to live up to everyday even though it’s a struggle to maintain it perfectly, specially because my sleep cycle is all over the place at this moment.

I’d really like to know how your schedule looks like during this lockdown. Please share in the comments below.

You should read ‘The War of Art’

For the lazy, unmotivated people, ‘The war of art’ is a must. For any aspiring artist, ‘The war of art’ is like a bible. For an up and coming entrepreneur, ‘The war of art’ is the missing piece of the puzzle. Steven Pressfield is not only a bestselling writer; he is a father figure to anyone who dares to dream.

‘The war of art’ is the type of book that hooks you from the first page. After finishing the book, it will become a lifelong companion, whose wisdom will guide you through most hardships.

‘The war of art’ is practical, yet spiritual. It deals with psychology, while it preaches a philosophy. It’s a non-fiction book, yet it has a hero, a villain, a father figure and a prize. – just like any typical adventure story.

‘The war of art’ literally portrays your life as an adventure story. Where you get a call for something great, a prize that you really really want. But, the villain (named resistance) keeps you from it. Only after character development does the hero get the prize ( turning pro).

On the other hand, it is the farthest from a fiction. It portrays reality as a harsh, crude place… stripping any glamour off of it. It promises no rewards without hardship. It is not even concerned with the rewards. Rather it tells you to show up, no matter what. It tells you how to turn pro.

You are a pro when you work at Starbucks or Walmart. Because, you show up every day. Are you a pro in your own business? In your artistic endeavours?

How to Build New Habits and Stick to Them| Learn New Habits to Become Successful

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This post originated from a video I made for my YouTube channel recently. You can watch it here- How to Build New Habits and Stick to Them| Learn New Habits to Become Successful Please subscribe to my channel, if you like the video 🙂

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You can make or break your whole life with habits. Do you believe that?

If you do, do you use this knowledge in your daily life?

If you don’t, please keep reading.

Somebody one’s said that, ‘your habits determine your future’. I believe it. I believe that, little actions, done everyday, can compound into huge results. We all know, how money compounds with regular interest. Thus investing money is one of the wisest thing you can do. But, money is not the only valuable resource that we have. It’s not even the most valuable ones. The most valuable of your resources are your mental energy and time.

How you invest these three resources can easily predict the kind of life you are headed towards. As somebody once said, “if you don’t change the direction you’re going then you’ll likely to end up where you’re heading”.

how do you determine, the direction you’re going? Of course, by your daily habits.

So, where is it that you want to go? What is the definition of a ‘good life’ for you? I can not determine that for you. Obviously, you have to decide that yourself. What I can do is to show you how, daily habits are the key to you arriving at your desired destiny.

Let’s say you want to be a writer. Well then, you have to write everyday. That is what good writers do. They write every day. Muse or inspiration doesn’t come to the unprepared. If you sit down to write at the same time every day, then muse will visit you. Inspiration loves the disciplined.  Want to know more about this? Read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This logic applies to other creative endeavors too, such as- songwriting, painting etc.

If you want to acquire a new skill, well, practice it everyday! Want to be a blogger? Write on your blog everyday. Want to master the violin? Then do deliberate practice every day.

Now I have just said an important word that you should focus on. It’s deliberate practice. Only doing the things you wanna learn isn’t enough. You have to know how to practice as well. You have to know how to push yourself a little everyday.

This ancient wisdom from Aristotle sums up what I’ve been saying so far. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence therefore is not an act but a habit”.

Now, I’ve said a lot of vague motivational stuff so far. But let’s see some practical examples, of how you can easily incorporate new habits, in your daily life.

 

First I’ve to say, the tips I am going to share here are not my own. I’ve learnt them from B.J Fogg, Steven Duneier, Steven pressfield, Charles Duhigg and many others who have researched about habits and human excellence. I’ll have their TED talks linked below. I highly suggest that you watch them if you have enough time. If not then don’t worry I am going to talk about them briefly here.

The first tip is from B.J Fogg. It’s been a life changing tip for me so far. The idea is simple.

To integrate a new habit in your life, do it just after an existing habit.

For example, do 5 push-up after every-time you come out of the washroom. Or, maybe listen to an audio-book or a Joe Rogan podcast while in the transport. Maybe meditate after waking up, or floss teeth after brushing them.

But As B.J Fogg suggests, start small. Floss one tooth, read one page or do only 5 push-ups at the starting phase. You can increase the quantity gradually.

I myself learn French for 5 minutes in Duolingo every-time I come out of the washroom. I also write morning pages, just after waking up and then exercise and eat a good breakfast. Then I take a shower and sit down to study for 8 pomodoro sessions. I also floss every-time I brush my teeth. Here, each of my activity work as a cue for the next activity.

Now why does this work? Well if you read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg you will know that cues are needed to trigger habits. If you are not much of a reader then at least please watch his TED talk, B.J Fogg has a Ted talk too. Both are fun to watch.

Second Tip is to,

Break down the goals you want to accomplish to little steps.

This tip can be so helpful for students who want to have good grades with little effort. Just study for half an hour or 1 hour. But do it everyday. You’ll be surprised to see how far you’ve come. To know more about this philosophy, I highly recommend Stephen Duneiers TED Talk. I’ll have it linked below.

Please try these tips today. After just a week, you’ll be amazed at how far you’ve come. Don’t procrastinate. Give it a shot. See you in the next post. Until then, use your money and time wisely.

Resources,

Stephen Duneier- How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals | Stephen Duneier | TEDxTucson

B.J Fogg- Forget big change, start with a tiny habit: BJ Fogg at TEDxFremont

Charles Duhigg- The Power of Habit: Charles Duhigg at TEDxTeachersCollege