Summary
Outline the various tools I use to form new habits and how to maintain them. I make no claim that my strategies will work for everyone, however, most of the claims made are backed by scientific research.
Purpose
Every decision we make as humans fulfills an inner desire, conscious or not. Forming new habits is hard enough, but in order for you to sustain them, you need to attach some sort of, usually emotional, intrinsic motivation to each new habit or goal in order for it to become a reality. The role of emotion in our decision-making process cannot be underemphasized. You can read lifehacks blogs and make New Years' Resolutions till you're blue in the face, but like it or not, we are emotional creatures with a pension for bad habits, incapable of thinking in a completely rational manner, though we may certainly strive for it.
Note
If you try to implement any of the below suggestions into your routine, always make sure to attach a purpose to motivate you when you feel like giving up.
Health
Given that we are not yet bionic and our brain is still part of our body, a healthy body in necessary, but not sufficient, for optimal mental performance.
Diet
For everyone
- avoid sugar at all costs
- eliminate processed food, the fewer ingredients, the better
- reduce alcohol consumption, yes red wine has antioxidants, but IMHO, in 50 years alcohol will be viewed the same way we view smoking today. Just because we've been doing it for millennia doesn't mean it's healthy or OK.
- the more veggies, the better...but they're not always tasty, so add spices
For the data driven
- track what you eat and drink using the myfitnesspal app
For extremists - Bulletproof/Ketogenic Diet
Best summarized by the Bulletproof roadmap
Sleep
- Try to go to sleep and wake up +/- 30 minutes every day...this is hard, especially for college students
- Sleep Cycle app to track time, quality of sleep
- Room should be cold, ~65 degrees Fahrenheit is around optimal for most people, and completely dark
Exercise
- HIIT is optimal: better results in less time (sounds cliche, I know, but there's legit science to back it up). Could be anything like tennis, basketball, lifting weights or sprints. Google is your friend, find what works best for you.
- Any exercise is better than no exercise. So find something you like, hiking, walking the dog, biking, swimming, rock climbing, surfing, skiing, etc and do it!
- Again, doing it with friends will serve as extra motivation.
- Track you progress: app, journal, pictures
Meditation/Mindfulness (You don't need to be Buddhist or religious for it to work)
- Calms your racing mind and puts you in control of your brain
- Do it first thing when you wake up to focus and visualize your perfect day
- Omvana app for guided meditation, join a class, however you do it, find a meditation routine that you like.
Productivity
Software Tools
Do Not Disturb - this is a HUGE. Blocking, disabling notifications on your phone, computer, and from other people while you are focussing on your work increasing your productivity immensely. We may think that we are good at multitasking, but it is actually a detriment to our productivity.
Asana - Effectively creates a priority queue for your life
Asana for Personal Use
Asana for Team Use
Google Calendar
- at the end of every day, fill in your schedule honestly. Tracking your time serves as a reflection tool and forces you to reevaluate your habits.
- color coding each type of activity (blue for work, green for exercise, purple relaxation, etc)
- create goals that automatically are worked into the free spots in your schedule
- aggregate all schedules from different email accounts into 1 calendar
Pocket - store and tag articles you find useful online (use a read later tag if you need to get back to other work, and then go through those articles while waiting in line)
Inbox by Google Email
- bundles email by type (work, promotions, financial, etc)
- mark things you don't want to see as spam
- turn off email notifications, unless they're truly important, then set up another email address for those essential communications
While working on the computer
Have as few applications open as possible - Again, since our brain is terrible at multitasking, too many tabs, screens, applications, and notifications will distract you to the point of frustration.
f.lux - Blue light wakes you up and prevents the release of the melatonin needed to make you drowsy. f.lux tints your screen red to prevent this from happening.
Noise Cancelling Headphones - Without a doubt one of the best purchases I've made both for listening to music, and for silence when I need to focus.
Willpower and Forming New Habits
When we form new habits, our will (mental battery power) is drained at a much faster rate than when we are repeating a task we have engrained in our memory. For the tech savvy among you, our brain is training a new model of activity, which is very computationally expensive. Once that model is trained, it can be used to execute tasks on autopilot. This is why a ski bum can shred on the slopes, drunk and high, while you may struggle to avoid falling down going down the bunny hills completely sober.
Schedule the most mentally/creatively challenging tasks in the morning - Again, since your willpower is a limited resource, it is essential that the most important tasks be prioritized first. For those in the working world, this means scheduling meetings in the late afternoon or at the end of the week (if our willpower battery is drained to the max every day, we need time to reset). This is also called "Eating the Frog" (also name of a book) if the task is undesirable and will likely be procrastinated.
Automate Decisions - Old habits die hard. As such, it is important that we penalize our brain when it attempts to default back to the bad old ways, but we can only inflict a limited amount of punishment upon ourselves before becoming frustrated and giving up.
Examples:
- remove bad foods from the cupboard and substitute healthy snacks
- prepare meals ahead of time for the week when grocery shopping
- listen to an audiobook while commuting
Removing Ourselves from Environments Associated with Bad Habits - When we associate our bed with playing on our phone instead of exclusively with sleeping, we will have a harder time falling asleep. Same thinking applies to our work. If we are used to sitting in our chair and opening up reddit and email first thing in the day, ask your manager for a standing desk or a new location to help you focus better.
Make it Social
- Surround yourself with other people who will support your new habits.
- Publicly set goals so you feel accountable to your team, not just yourself.
Resources I have utilized/am utilizing in the past
There are countless internet resources I've utilized over the years to get where I am today and I will never stop learning, but below are a few that I have either pulled information from to form my habits, or extend upon what I have listed above.
Websites
Bulletproof Blog
Asana Co-Founder Productivity Tips
Asana Blog
Productivity Habits
Scheduling
Time Management
Google Calendar
Books
Tools of the Titans: Tim Ferriss
Mastery: Robert Greene
The Power of Habit: Charles Duhigg
Sources
https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf
http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx
http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2009/09/bad-habits.aspx
https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/HIITvsCardio.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470658/
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