Sleep 8 hours.
A few other accompanying thoughts on some recent habits/routines that have felt positive.
– There’s nothing like starting the day with exercise. After a new year commitment to fix my exercise habit and move from 3 sessions/week to 7, I’m slooowly beginning to make progress. The last 3 weeks have been much better in this regard. Exercise makes us feel good about ourselves. And, starting the day with that feeling is wonderful.
– Accompanying exercise is book reading. Nice to do this first thing in the morning. While the usual average was 30 minutes/day, the added exercise time means reading an hour a day. Loving it. More reading and more book bytes.
– A new addition to the day has been meditation. Inspired by Jerry’s interview, I reached out to him regarding an app he would recommend. I’ve been using “Headspace” over the past 3 weeks and have enjoyed the experience. I just signed up to the 1 year subscription as I’m keen to give this experiment a real go. I don’t want to jump to conclusions on it’s effects yet. More to follow on this..
– 3 hour breaks between checking email, reader, and social media is really helpful. This habit has been building over the past 3 months and I like the idea of regulating these distractions. (I literally mark out the times on my daily to do list – e.g. 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, and check them as I finish)
– Inbox zero is awesome. I’ve struggled with it a bit in recent weeks and I think of it like keeping your home clean – it’s not easy, it’s not necessarily fun (unless you’re my fiance – yup, I’m engaged. :-)), but it’s something you need to do!
– Noting an idea or thought down the moment it comes to mind is liberating. Evernote has never worked for me. I write them on my notes and email them to myself. Works like a charm.
– And, of course, the daily R15 game.
I’ll conclude with the point I made up-front. None of these would work nearly as well without enough sleep. I think the most effective GTD book of all time would probably have just one word in it – Sleep.
That book wouldn’t be written by me, of course. I just used 395 more words to say just that. Will I ever learn? :-)
A Learning a Day 