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rajesh kumar jain wrote: ↑June 25th, 2024, 6:04 am
I wanted to ask what is your daily routine regarding productivity and how you manage all of the work.
Hi,
rajesh kumar jain,
Thank you for your question!
The main factor for my high level of productivity and external success, without which I would not have achieved anything like that level of productivity and success, is simply that every second of my waking day I strictly follow the advice in
my book, namely the eleven infinitely easy-to-follow suggestions at the end. In other words, I am happy, truly happy, in the sense of having unwavering inner peace, spiritual fulfillment, and spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline).
As I say in an example given in
my book, a person who is happy to be running on a treadmill, who enjoys the running, including the challenge and discomfort of it, and who is thus consistently happy while running will run farther (and probably faster). They will be more productive (i.e. run farther and faster) because they are happy. In contrast, a person who hates running and believes running on a treadmill makes them miserable and thus believes that they cannot have inner peace while running won't run as far or as long or as fast. The unhappy person will be much less productive because they are unhappy.
So my productivity and external success are not primarily due to my routine, schedule, and habits as they are externally visible. Rather, it simply comes down to me having free-spirited inner peace (a.k.a. true happiness).
I am productive while I work because I am happy while I work. That is, truly happy in the sense of having unwavering consistent inner peace and spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline).
With that said, let me answer your question more directly.
My typical daily routine is as follows:
1.
I sleep in and wake up naturally, meaning I am typically always starting my day super well-rested after getting a full night's sleep. To accomplish that, I almost never set an alarm. Likewise, I set things up in my life and relationships so I won't be woken up by anything external, such as a phone ringing or my friends stopping by and knocking on the door. I keep my phone on silent. I make sure my friends and family know I very strongly do not want to be disturbed or woken up in the morning, even by accident. I sleep with an eye mask. And so on and so forth.
2.
Once I decide to get out of bed, before I actually get out of bed, I lay awake for a couple of minutes with my eyes open and list off some things I am grateful for. Usually, a big one is that I am grateful for the comfortable bed and good night's sleep and the already calm peaceful morning.
3.
On autopilot, I complete a habituated morning routine that takes about 10 minutes and involves things like brushing my teeth, making my coffee, weighing myself (every day) and writing that down, and once per week on Tuesday measuring my waist and writing that down (which allows me to know my body fat percentage to a very decent level of precision). This is also when I make my morning bottle of water, which is 24 oz with a little bit of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, and some BCAA powder. All of that and similar things get done within about 10 minutes of me getting out of bed, all without me thinking about it, having to check a list, or anything like that. It's similar to when you zone out while driving or walking home, and are daydreaming and paying basically no conscious attention to what your body is doing, but get home just fine. By using habits to get things done, it feels like it isn't even me that does the things. And, in a way, it isn't. It's a subconscious process that I have programmed to ensure certain things get done every single day in a certain order reliably and without any willpower or conscious involvement on my part.
4.
I do my daily goal-setting (a.k.a. daily self-reminder and daily self-hypnosis). I am not creating or coming up with new goals here. Instead, what I do is write the same exact 5–10 goals each morning. So, for example, one of my current 5–10 goals is that "I start a book translation company by July 26th". That means once every single morning for the last few weeks and every single morning until I complete that task/goal, I re-write that down in a paper notebook each day.
5.
Work on my computer for about 6 hours using a recurring daily checklist of tasks.
I log into my computer and go through my professional work tasks. I use a daily to-do list/checklist app on my computer for this. It's basically the same as a calendar but filled mostly with recurring tasks. This mostly includes things I plan to do once per day every day at work in a certain order, such as (1) go through my email inbox and reply to any unread emails, (2) check my credit card statements and pay any balances, (3) check my business bank accounts and log the balances, (4) answer any new questions in this Q&A, etc. But I also program in tasks that are done on a different schedule, such as once per week or even once per year on a specific day.
A version of the tool I use is being rolled out for usage by all of my mentees (who have completed the first 100 days and thus have been given a gift membership on you.pw). So for those to whom that applies, you can check out the tools at:
Form to Add New Tasks or Habits:
https://you.pw/ht-tracker/add-habit-or-task.php
Page to see the next task or habit that is due to be done, and mark off once it is done:
https://you.pw/ht-tracker/agenda.php
Calendar, mainly to see a record of completed tasks, which itself is mainly so you can track your streak for completing new habits:
https://you.pw/ht-tracker/calendar.php
6.
Eat a small pre-workout meal. This is typically the first thing I eat (besides coffee and water). I do intermittent fasting. Specifically, I typically only eat during a roughly 8-hour window per day (roughly between 4 pm and midnight most days). I fast the other 16 hours.
7.
Work on my computer for another 30 minutes. This is usually where I get any tasks done related to social media. I avoid doing any tasks related to social media in those first 6 hours because I find that social media can be very distracting. However, running one's own business usually means that there are opportunities to use social media productively. It's analogous to being a music star or professional stand-up comedian who goes to the casino or bar to perform. Casinos and social media are both dangerous places that are designed to be addictive, and designed to move money and time (and time is money) from the users'/patrons' hands into the casino/media-owners' hands. Most people who go to casinos or use social media at all are going to end up poor and/or stay poor. Both in terms of time and money. Yet, for those with self-discipline (a.k.a. spiritual freedom) and an awareness of the dangers and what those places are about, they can be fun and worthwhile in moderation, even just recreationally for fun, and professionally, they definitely can have benefits. But I plan to handle things like casinos, social media, bars, alcohol, strip clubs the way I handle a literal gun. That is, very carefully with a deep and constant awareness of the danger and likelihood of disaster. It's an awareness that, despite the fact that I
may be able to use the thing in a way that is actually beneficial by using it safely and in moderation, in most people's hands it would lead to a functionally certain disaster.
8.
Workout in my gym with my son as my workout partner/trainee. This is also often the first time I check my phone for new text messages and personal emails and reply to them. For example, if someone sends a text message to me at 8 am, I probably won't see or reply to their text message until around 5 pm while I am working out in the gym.
9.
Eat a post-workout meal, which is mostly just a big protein shake, and rest and recover from the workout.
10.
Shower.
11.
Practice salsa with my daughter.
12.
Make dinner for my kids.
13.
After dinner is where I schedule and/or complete weekly tasks that vary by the day of the week. For example, on Monday nights, I have a recurring business meeting with my partners in a local business that we are starting together. On Tuesday nights, I go to a salsa group class with my daughter. On Wednesdays, I usually do a movie night with my kids. On Friday nights, I go out salsa dancing (without my daughter) until after midnight. On many of the other nights, you will usually find me with my girlfriend.
14. I have a daily habit of doing a
15-minute daily stretching routine. I listen to audiobooks while doing that. Then I will sometimes take a walk while listening to the audiobook, especially if my smartwatch says I haven't gotten at least 10,000 steps yet that day. I'll also listen to the audiobook while doing any chores or miscellaneous tasks, such as cleaning up around the house or folding my laundry.
15.
Meditate. In the winter, I usually go to my outdoor hot tub. In the summer, I sit outside on the porch for a while and drink a few cups of tea. I talk to the trees, both literally and figuratively. I talk to myself a lot during the day too, but the conversations with the trees, sky, and stars are more enlightening and healthy in my opinion.
16. When I get in bed, I typically do about
5–10 minutes of Spanish lessons using an app on my phone.
17. Then
I eat ice cream in bed, usually while watching Rumble or YouTube documentaries on my TV. Yes, I typically eat ice cream in bed every single night. To be fair, it's a light ice cream (i.e. relatively low-calorie). My favorite thing to watch, at least if I'm alone, is mini-documentaries on YouTube or Rumble made by people with doctorates who I trust. Some of my favorites include:
- PBS Spacetime hosted by Dr. Matt O'Dowd
- PsycHacks hosted by Dr. Orion Taraban
- Science without the Gobbledygook by Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder
- Quantum Consciousness by Dr. Justin Riddle
- The Science Asylum by Dr. Nick Lucid
- PBS's Be Smart by Dr. Joe Hanson
- Veritasium by Dr. Derek Muller
That's just a small sample. There are a lot of experts in different fields that I follow.
17.
I floss and brush my teeth, put in my dorky retainers, and then either watch more videos, listen to more audiobooks, or read in bed until I fall asleep.
With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott
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In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.