7.1 KiB
Life Routines
This is a guide for good practices / daily routines.
These routines should promote better long-term physical and mental health.
During the non-thinking activities, such as working out, stretching, showering, etc, listen to audiobooks / podcasts.
Recommended apps
For creating recurring habits, use loop habit tracker. The don't break the chain method is a proven way to build habits gradually.
For a TODO list / task app, use tasks.org
For listening to books / podcasts, use Smart Audiobook Player. Torrent these locally.
Morning
Inspired by Andrew Huberman's optimal morning routine, and Med school insiders routine.
Try to keep the total time to under an hour, allocating more of the time to meditating or working out.
Wake up
Don't use phone while in bed. Go to the next step right away.
Drink water
You get dehydrated at night, drink a lot right when you get up. Fill a water bottle and put it next to your bed the night before.
Stretch
Do Jeremy Ethiers routine. Your neck and back will thank you.
Time: 2m
Mouth
Brush, floss, and scrape your tongue. Your mouth is gross after sleeping. Use white strips once a week or so if your teeth are discolored from coffee or tea.
Time: 4m
Face
Do Ali Abdals routine. Rinse / use cleanser, then mix moisturizer and sun-tan lotion. Do any makeup you need to after.
Time: 3m
Get dressed
You'll need clothes for the next steps.
Go outside
For the next few steps, you should go outside (porch, balcony, yard, or walk to a park).
Journal
Make a journal either on paper, or your phone. Doing this every day does help you figure out what your goals and hindrances are. Write down:
- 3 things you'd like to accomplish.
- 3 things holding you back.
- 3 things that help.
- 3 things you grateful or proud of.
- Anything else you want to add.
I use the android app Markor. Make a template with the above sections, copy that template and change the date for every new day.
Time: 5m
Meditate or go for a walk
Do this outside(if its cold put on a jacket), eyes slightly open. Start at 10 minutes. Add a minute per day, working out to whatever you feel comfortable with. On busy days, go back down to 10m.
See huberman's video above for why getting light into your eyes, and the sun's rays on your skin in the early morning is important.
Time: 10m+
Learning / cultivation
Set aside a consistent block of time for daily learning / cultivation. This can be learning a language, doing notecards, reading a book, caring for plants... anything. Make sure this is before work, so it won't get in the way of this necessary habit.
Time: 10m+
(Optional) Work out
Do 2-3 times per week. Don't work out too long, or you could wear down your joints, and feel drained the rest of the day. Here's my routine with videos.
Time: 30m+
(Optional) Shower
You probably don't need to shower every day, 2-3 times a week or anytime after you sweat.
Start with the water very hot, and shave in the shower to save time. Turn the water cold(to whatever temp you feel comfortable with, see above video for why) and wash + condition your hair.
Don't soap your skin or face, only soap your armpits, feet, and crotch.
The colder the shower, the faster you'll be.
Moisturize your whole body after showering, since showering can dehydrate your skin. Put suntan lotion + moisturizer on face.
Time: 10m
(Optional) Drinks
Make coffee or tea only after these are done.
Work
Start work. Use the pomodoro method / timer (IE 25 minute work, 5 minute break, 15 minute break every 4 sessions).
Stretch, meditate, or listen to music or a book, during your 5 minute breaks. Do social media / other things during your 15 minute breaks.
I like this pomodoro app.
Night
Mouth
Brush, floss, and scrape your tongue again.
Time: 2m
Face
Rinse / use cleanser, then mix moisturizer and retinol instead of suntan lotion.
Time: 3m
Get water
You'll need water when you wake up, so fill a bottle and put it next to your bed.
Go to bed
Put phone on do-not-disturb, and don't use it in bed. If you can't fall asleep, get out of bed.
Don't worry about using a sleep tracker, leave your blinds open and wake up with the sun. Buy a sunrise alarm clock if your bedroom doesn't get much light in the morning.
If you're having trouble sleeping, its because you didn't get enough outside time in the morning, or you didn't do enough physical activity during the day. Don't try to fix it that night, fix it by doing the correct morning routine in the following days.
Eating / weight
When to eat
Do IF (intermittent fasting). No, its not bad for you... its good for your long-term health, and can help you lose or gain weight depending on your goal.
Start out with a 14-10 (14 hour fast, 10 hour eat), and work your way up to either a 20-4, or 22-2. Aim for eating one big meal a day, and snacking / eating whatever you want the rest of your window.
Switch to a weekly schedule if you want to acheive your goals faster (IE 10-2, fasting 2 days a week, or alternate day fasting).
A good IF app. Also use it to track your weight(buy a scale), and see your progress.
What to eat
Eat a lot of proteins and fibrous carbs(veggies), and less starchy carbs(rice, bread and potatoes). Protein is good for both building muscle, and losing weight.
High protein foods: tofu, seitan, edamame, nutritional yeast, mushrooms, spinach, bok choy, lentils, broccoli, beans, chickpeas, lettuce.
Learn to make seitan at home with vital wheat gluten(very high in protein) as a base.
If your are doing IF, don't worry about how much you're eating... just eat till you're full.
Go vegan. The meat and dairy industries are one of the biggest polluting industries, are extremely wasteful of land use, and a nightmare for the hundreds of millions of living beings raised solely to be slaughtered for human taste buds. Humans haven't needed to eat animals since the agricultural revolution.
What to Drink
If you're doing IF, drink a lot of water(flavored if you want), tea, and coffee. Avoid sugary drinks and pop.
Intoxicants
Drink as much coffee or tea as you want. Coffee can be fun to get good at.
Don't drink alcohol too late at night. Keep it to 1-2 drinks max per day. If you care about your weight / body fat, don't drink at all.
If you want to get high and still be functional, try CBD oil, or weed / delta-8 gummies. They last a long time, are cheaper than alcohol or other drugs, aren't addictive, have miniscule calories compared to alcohol. You won't smell like weed, and you won't damage your lungs using them.