Zero commentary, just tips.
Introduction #
This guide is simply a small list of actionable decisions that you can make in your daily life to give your mind a break and your thoughts some clarity. It’s done wonders for my productivity and stopped the cycle of self-loathing.
- Delete all social media and clear out your notifications. Just try it for a week and you’ll realize how much you don’t need it. Stop looking at your damn phone so often.
- Charge all of your technology on your desk. Keep it away from your bed at all times. When you lay down to sleep, there should be no technology within an arms reach. As a bonus, this will force you to get out of bed when you turn off your alarm.
- Journal daily. It doesn’t have to be an extensive entry. Even a simple “highlight of the day” along with some habit tracking.
- Stop listening to music. It’s a relatively easy addiction to succumb to and it plagues our minds more than we would expect. Our brain is such a beautiful organ, and it enables us to have deep and emotional thoughts. Even if you’re having negative or “bad” thoughts, drowning them out with music will not do you any good. Process your emotions and let your thoughts carry out and finish. This is the healthiest way to be more mindful.
- Especially while driving, stop listening to music in the car and just sit with your thoughts and just pay attention to the road.
- Read books. Literally anything. Find something enjoyable whether it be a fictional mystery, biography, self help book, the bible, and just read. Reading and writing is the most important skill that we have. To let it go to waste is such a shame, and will be one of your most hurtful regrets. Reading is so powerful because of the way that we receive the information. We get to develop a relationship with the author and consume the content in the way they chose to present it. We delay our graitification and require focus and committment to feel the pleasure from a story. This starkly contrasts to the instant gratification of many pleasures of this world such as junk food, pornography, youtube, short-form video content, etc. for a good reason.
- Drink only water. It’s God’s gift and is the most nourishing for our bodies and soul. There’s a reason why we can drink water and go, “Yes this is what my body needed”, and yet not have that reaction to literally anything else. So keep a large water bottle with you at all times, at least 24 oz but preferably 32 oz.
- Get enough sleep. You should stop aiming for a certain number of hours, but enough for your body to not wake up tired. Another helpful tip is to set an alarm to go to bed, not to wake up.
- Take vitamins daily. Omega 3, vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, biotin, whatever it is that your body needs.
- Keep your desk and workspace clean. You feel more productive when your space is cleaned and minimal. Not sure how much research has gone into this but I can speak anecdotally that it’s true.
- I personally enjoy doing a 10-15 minute stretch every night. 4 deep breaths for every position and hit every major muscle group. Definitely do this if you exercised or sat in a chair for an extended period of time which is more than likely everyday for most of us.
- Take care of yourself and your appearance. Don’t forget to shave. Smell good. Maintain a nice hair cut. When you’re confident in yourself, you can be confident in what you do. It’ll inspire you to do more.