10 Life-Enhancing Habits to Boost Your Productivity and Well-Being

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Ten Practices to Outperform 99% of Individuals

Enhance your life and surpass your peers by following 10 straightforward habits.

The surge in the popularity of habits in recent years can be attributed to the personal development trend spurred by Gen Z culture. This trend has been further fueled by the publication of books like "Atomic Habits," which has gained significant acclaim.

Essentially, this movement emphasizes taking charge of one's life. Many individuals have been operating on autopilot, conforming to societal norms and fulfilling obligations without being mindful of how they allocate their time.

As the importance of mental health gained recognition, it was only natural to delve into the root causes of these concerns and scrutinize our daily routines, particularly focusing on habit tracking.

The Unrealistic Habits Movement

The trend towards highlighting habits has led to extensive scrutiny of high achievers, celebrities, CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors, and other public figures. This examination has been fueled by podcasts, books, and YouTube videos that showcase various habits and routines.

However, many of these habits and routines are deemed unrealistic and unsustainable, potentially leading to anxiety and physical strain, contradicting their intended benefits.

It is important to emphasize that individuals do not have to adhere to a one-size-fits-all approach. It is crucial to listen to your mind and body, selecting only those habits that resonate with you and provide tangible benefits.

"Life is not about conforming to the habits of others; it's about finding what works uniquely for you and thriving in your authenticity."

The 10 Habits That Improved My Life

Today, I intend to share with you a selection of habits that I have personally chosen from the multitude of popular habits. These habits have been implemented, tested, and customized to fit my lifestyle.

The sequence of habits presented will be entirely random. Let's get started:

Have a Good Sleep Hygiene

During my personal development journey, I dedicated time to various areas of my life such as fitness, relationships, and nutrition. However, I consistently neglected the importance of prioritizing sleep.

I often opted for activities like socializing, watching movies, reading, and staying out late instead of focusing on adequate sleep. This lack of attention to my sleep habits resulted in stagnation in my fitness and nutrition goals.

To address this issue, I introduced a new element into my routine by adopting a dog. As many are aware, dogs have early bedtimes and typically wake up early. This change compelled me to leave social gatherings earlier, place a higher emphasis on sleep, and establish an earlier bedtime to accommodate the early mornings dictated by my furry companion.

The key points to remember are:

Aim to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier to align with your body's natural circadian rhythm.

Strive to get a full 8 hours of sleep each night, with a minimum of 7 hours and a maximum of 9 hours.

Try to wake up at the end of a sleep cycle, which typically lasts 90 minutes. Set your alarm to coincide with the completion of a multiple of 90 minutes.

Maintain a slightly lower temperature in your bedroom compared to the rest of your house to promote better sleep.

Ensure your bedroom is dark while you sleep to facilitate a more restful and uninterrupted sleep cycle.

Commit to Daily Workouts

The vast body of research underscores the numerous benefits of exercise on both physical and mental well-being. In my personal experience, engaging in regular exercise has yielded several invaluable outcomes:

Discipline

Stress and Anxiety relief

Sense of purpose and goal-setting

Release of dopamine

Increased energy levels

Enhanced motivation

My exercise regimen typically consists of 3 to 4 strength training sessions lasting no more than an hour each week, participation in a boxing class or swimming laps, and walking 10,000 steps daily.

Drawing from my own experiences as a busy individual and insights from experts like Andrew Huberman, a beneficial practice is to schedule these exercise sessions in the morning before starting your workday. This approach can help maintain high energy levels, avoid the afternoon slump, reduce reliance on excessive caffeine consumption, boost daily motivation, and enhance mood.

Whenever possible, strive to incorporate exercise into your routine as a habitual practice.

Don’t Drink Coffee For The First 1–2 Hours After You Wake Up

Coffee is likely an integral part of your morning routine, providing you with the needed boost to start your day. Personally, I also heavily rely on coffee for that much-needed energy and would never consider giving it up.

Nonetheless, excessive caffeine intake can have adverse effects. To prevent the urge for additional cups of coffee later in the day, it is advisable to wait for 1–2 hours after waking up before having your first cup.

The book "Atomic Habits" highlights the significance of cues in forming habits. For many people, the act of waking up serves as the trigger to reach for that first cup of coffee. To modify or establish habits successfully, it is crucial to manipulate these cues.

For instance, I have associated waking up with getting dressed and heading to the gym. Upon returning home and preparing for work, I delay having my first coffee until I power up my laptop at 9:00. Given my usual wake-up time of 7:00–7:30, this strategy allows me 1 to 2 hours before indulging in my coffee fix.

Use to-do lists to plan your day

Whether you choose to do this at the beginning of your day or the day's end, this practice can be remarkably beneficial.

One significant advantage I have noticed is that it alleviates a great deal of mental burden, leading to reduced stress levels.

This is primarily because we are constantly striving to remember all our tasks and obligations, which can be overwhelming. By jotting them down, planning, and organizing tasks, we can free ourselves from the pressure to remember everything and avoid missing any important details. This approach allows us to navigate through our responsibilities more smoothly and transition seamlessly from one task to the next.

While I acknowledge that the unpredictable nature of work and life can make it challenging to foresee the day's events, I have discovered a solution. I include tasks I wish to accomplish, mandatory tasks and tasks I am aware of. Subsequently, I employ timeboxing to schedule specific time slots for each task, incorporating buffer periods in between for any unexpected occurrences.

Use timeboxing to structure your to-do list

Timeboxing, a technique frequently discussed in various articles and favoured by high achievers like Elon Musk, involves assigning a specific time duration to each task.

For instance, I dedicate the hours between 11:00 and 12:00 solely to reading and responding to emails. During this period, my focus is entirely on that task, without any distractions. This approach ensures that tasks are completed thoroughly without being rushed, leading to a more gratifying sense of accomplishment.

It is emphasized that multitasking is a misconception. The brain's capacity to concentrate effectively is limited to one task at a time.

Have a self-care routine

I must acknowledge that I also face challenges in this area. While I am uncertain if this is a gender-specific issue, research indicates that men may struggle with maintaining this practice.

Nonetheless, establishing a self-care routine in the morning and evening can be a potent habit, offering benefits for not only skin, hair, and overall well-being but also for mental wellness.

A morning self-care routine can serve as a signal that the day is commencing, allowing you to associate it with other habits such as heading to the gym or going for a run. This preparation can subconsciously set you up for the day's tasks, fostering a sense of readiness that can enhance productivity, particularly in a home office setting.

Conversely, an evening routine can signify the approaching end of the day, prompting your brain to relax and produce more melatonin in preparation for sleep.

While establishing a self-care routine is beneficial on its own, it can be even more advantageous when combined with other habits.

Avoid bright light before bed

Your body is naturally programmed to follow a circadian rhythm. In pre-historic times, it used to follow the sunlight. In more modern times, we don’t structure our days based on sunlight, and we are exposed to bright lights from devices up until late at night.

As it gets dark and late, our body will start to produce melatonin, the hormone that helps us with sleep. If you watch TV or scroll on your phone before bed, your melatonin production will drop significantly, and it will cause sleep issues such as insomnia or restless sleep.

Read every day

While you may have encountered similar advice before, I would like to offer my perspective on this matter.

I do not align with the common suggestion found online that encourages individuals to "read a few pages a day." This guidance often appears to stem from individuals who may not be passionate readers themselves. Reading should not be approached as a mere task to complete or as a means to achieve a certain number of pages or books per year. Instead, the primary focus should be on gaining knowledge and fostering personal development.

A more precise recommendation would be:

Engage in reading daily!

The key is to read until you have grasped the concept being presented. Avoid setting limits based on the number of pages, as this may result in only completing half of a chapter, hindering a full understanding of the idea. Similarly, allocating a fixed timeframe, such as 30 minutes, might cover more material than can be comprehended effectively.

The goal should be to absorb at least one idea thoroughly. Whether this entails completing an entire chapter or understanding a single concept, even if it is just a page, the important aspect is to grasp the essence of the material. By doing so, you provide yourself with valuable content to contemplate and digest.

Journal as often as you can

You may have observed that I did not specify journaling every day, and that is intentional. I am not referring to the traditional practice of documenting daily activities, but rather to a more introspective approach that involves expressing emotions and delving deeper into one's inner self.

I encourage journaling when you sense the need to do so. The aim is to unravel your thoughts by addressing questions such as:

What is currently troubling me?

Why am I experiencing stress or anxiety?

What aspects bring me joy?

What am I grateful for at this moment?

How have I been feeling recently?

The objective of this practice is to enhance self-awareness, gain a deeper understanding of yourself, and process your feelings and emotions effectively.

Meditate every day

Now here’s a habit that I suffixed “every day” to.

However, find the meditation that works best for you.

The purpose if it is to be silent, slow down your mind, eliminate all the thoughts and just be. Don’t think, don’t do anything, just focus on your breath or something else.

Meditation can mean different things to different people. Can be transcendental meditation, yoga, breathwork, or simply a walk. Here are a few ways that I meditate:

transcendental meditation

breathwork

a walk

sit silently and eliminate any thoughts

visualization

workout

listen to music and focus on it

take a shower

It doesn’t need to be hard. It just needs to slow you down, and get you inside of yourself, rather than focusing on what’s happening outside.

These habits I have shared have been incredibly impactful in my life, providing significant value and personal growth.

It is important to remember that personal development is not a competition, nor is it a predetermined path that everyone must follow. Each individual is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another. Therefore, I encourage you to explore different habits, experiment with various approaches, and be patient in finding what resonates with you. With time and persistence, you will discover the practices that truly benefit you.