Don’t Waste Your Day
Keep hustling to make the bad days, great.
We are currently living in unprecedented times.
COVID-19 is having a stranglehold around the globe as millions of people are working from home as we all ‘shelter-in-place’. For some folks, it could mean weeks, but for others — months.
Here in the northern hemisphere, Spring is upon us and the warm weather beckons us to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and socialize — but we can’t. Staying at home is the most important thing we can do right now to “flatten the curve” — it makes sense.
The Symptoms
However, as we all do our duty to help ourselves and others, it’s hard not to think about and comprehend our mental state of mind, being cooped up indoors. For a lot of people, this is undoubtedly a stressful and anxious time.
Distraction, laziness, procrastination, and even depression are all symptoms some of us may encounter right now.
Distraction is something we’re all susceptible to. For those, telecommuting, it can mean mixing up two different worlds between personal and work lives. This means that for personal activities like watching television, playing with the dog, and surfing the web — these can be intertwined with the schedule of work and manifest themselves as inherent distractions, preventing you to do critical tasks when it’s needed.
Laziness is innate in all of us and is completely normal, but, when prolonged can be dangerous to both the mind and the body. The comfort of people’s homes can potentially amplify this feeling of inactivity, especially during times of seclusion from the outside world. It’s especially devastating to those who are either out of work or furloughed in some manner.
Procrastination, like laziness, is a symptom that prevents us from doing certain tasks, however, unlike laziness, instead of being inactive, we choose to occupy ourselves with other tasks and activities. One example includes reading the latest news headlines when you’re supposed to be preparing a PowerPoint presentation for a client — we choose to procrastinate because it’s the easier thing to do for our minds and the path of least resistance.
Depression is arguably one of the most severe symptoms one can experience. The melancholic feeling of dejection can seem like a never-ending rabbit hole for people and can potentially lead to long-term psychological effects.
This is by far, not an exhaustive list of what people can experience when in isolation, but it does describe some of the primary symptoms people feel during these types of situations.
So how do we get out of this rut?
Mindfulness
It’s important to first acknowledge the fact that you’re in this rut — you can then make strides to transition into a different state of mind.
Mindfulness is having the ability to be aware of yourself and your surroundings.
Once you understand your current situation and your feelings in that state — you can then make thoughtful decisions about your potential future feelings, actions, and mental state.
Your thoughts are in your control.
Your feelings are in your control.
Your actions are in your control.
Being aware and mindful is one thing, but it’s not enough without appropriate actions put in place.
Scheduling
Now is not the time to be sitting around doing nothing.
Creating a schedule for the day either in your calendar or using a to-do list like Evernote, Notion, or todoist is a remarkable method of self-motivation. Setting goals will help better transition yourself into a more productive person.
I would recommend setting small, and achievable goals on a daily basis as a good start. You can then take this, and expand them out to weekly, monthly, and even yearly goals.
As you begin to achieve each goal, be sure to mark it off, so that you can visually track what you’ve accomplished. Hopefully, by the evening as you prepare to head to bed, your daily calendar should be filled with markings of several achievements. This simple task can likely result in a dopamine hit of pleasure to the brain, which in and of itself will motivate you to continue this trend for the next day.
Routine, Routine, Routine
Having a routine may sound pretty boring, but it just might be one critical attribute you will need to master and win your day.
We all have routines — waking up and going to bed, brushing our teeth, our morning coffee ritual, the daily commute to work, going to the gym, etc.
However, when it comes to making your not so good days, great, then it’s all about developing good and enjoyable routines that you can use to prime you for the day ahead.
Creating some basic and easy routines for one day is a good start. Place them in your schedule and make sure you follow them as best you can. Tick them off, in the same manner, you would with your calendar events.
Routine instills a sense of purpose.
Some of my key routines include;
- Making the bed — this actually makes me feel good
- AM / PM journaling
- Heading to the gym in the afternoon after the workday is finished
- Meditating for 10 minutes in the morning
- Reading 2–3 chapters of a book per day
- Moisturizing every evening after a shower
It’s all about consistency.
What’s even more important is that you should enjoy the process of each routine — don’t make it feel like a chore.
Adjust Your Environment
Extensive research has been conducted which suggests that simply changing your environment can ultimately lead to a change in your behavior.
There’s just one way to radically change your behavior: radically change your environment. — Dr. B.J. Fogg, Director of Stanford Persuasive Lab
What does this mean?
One example — sleeping with your phone next to you will probably encourage you to interact with it before sleep and after waking up — this is your environment. Want to change constantly peering at your screen? — put it outside of your bedroom, or turn it off before you go to sleep.
Another example — feeling lazy and apathetic as you work on the couch. For most, the couch is meant for rest and relaxation. It’s not designed for it to replace your office desk. The separation between work and rest should be made abundantly clear — try committing to only working on the kitchen table, or purchasing a dedicated small desk you can place in the corner of the room.
Simple changes to your environment can lead to significant changes in your state of mind, and ultimately your behavior.
Growth Mindset
Now, more than ever is the perfect time to learn and grow.
Most of our days are kept busy with short-term, immediate tasks for both our personal and work lives — paying the bills, emails, social media, meetings, working on that slide-deck, making dinner, grocery shopping, etc. But, day-by-day, it can get very easy to lose track of your long term goals and overall growth.
Just like setting those daily goals and routines that keep you on track and motivated, it’s also important to think about long-term ambitions and goals for your future self.
If you’re in a rut, whatever that may be, think about some ways you can find to improve — start reading a book for knowledge growth, daily walking for health and fitness, learn to bake to acquire new skills, paint, learn a new language, and the list goes on.
Ryan Holiday refers to this notion as — “Alive Time”.
“Alive time and dead time. One is when you sit around, when you wait until things happen to you. The other is when you are in control, when you make every second count, when you are learning and improving and growing.” — Ryan Holiday
As you begin learning new things, you will attain a sense of achievement, you will attain a sense of purpose and you will have better mental clarity.
Always remember, you control your thoughts, you control your feelings and you control your actions.
Stay safe and stay healthy.
