For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been quite lazy with my side hustles and personal development.
While some people might say “ah, it’s OK to chill and take it easy once in a while”, it’s not really how I work.
I am the type of person who wants to improve constantly. If I’m not making progress, I feel like I’m standing still. If I’m not doing something productive, I feel like I’m wasting my time.
And even though I WANT to do something, I just couldn’t bring myself to it. I was focused on my day-to-day job, did my hours, but afterwards I just turned on the TV and watched a show.
Yet, today I am writing this article.
“What did I do then, to get myself started?”, you might ask yourself.
Let me guide you through it:
Last night, before going to sleep I told myself: “tomorrow I’m going to wake up at 6:30 and I’m going to:
- drink a glass of water
- do my stretching exercises (I have created a stretching flow for hip and shoulder mobility)
- have a Healthy breakfast while reading new Medium.com articles
- write about the steps above (this article).
So at the moment, I’m on the train to work, writing.
I’ve also made a to-do list for today (with timings):
6:30–7:30 — wake up, exercise, breakfast, read, write
7:30–9:00 — Write & travel to work
9:00–12:00 — work day job
12:00–13:00 — do research about apartment & furniture renting (I’m planning to rent out my apartment, so need a bit of info).
13:00–17:00 — work day job
17:00–18:00 — take train & go home, on train work on a Journal
18:30–19:30 — Check someone in into my Airbnb + go to Gym
20:00+ — Go out with friends
You know, this list might be a bit detailed and strict, but it really helps.
Even though I probably won’t be able to hold myself to this schedule by the minute, it DOES provide a great guideline throughout the day, to stay on track. I know WHAT to do and WHEN to do it.
So, to summarize; what are my 3 tips?
Here you go:
- Plan your day the night before
- Get up early
- Create a To-Do list
But WHY does this work? It’s very simple.
- Planning “your tomorrow” gives you a sense of purpose for waking up.
- Getting up early gives you more time during the day, PLUS you’re awake now anyway, so better make that time count. I know, I know — sleeping is also a good use of our time. In fact, sleep is extremely important. Make sure to always get your 7–9 hours, depending on how much you need.
- Creating a to-do list provides a guideline during the day. You’ll know what to do and when to do it. A small tip is to put your most important tasks in the morning.
But remember…
This is not something that you do just once and that’s it.
Nope… today I started well, but tomorrow I need to do the same. And the day after as well.
Luckily I created a nice notebook/journal that can help me with this:
Which contains:
I’ve included daily tips, tricks and other interesting facts as well. Anything that can help you, is in there.
Alternatively, just buy an empty notebook in the supermarket and start writing. Up to you 🙂
Good luck!
Cheers
Michiel
Thanks for reading!
If you’ve got questions or thoughts, drop them in the comments and I’ll get back to you! Follow or 👏 if you’d like to see more content like this. Or buy me a coffee, this stuff is magical 😉
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