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, you can listen to audiobooks / podcasts.
For creating recurring habits, use habits, loop habit tracker, or recurring tasks using tasks.org . The don't break the chain method is a proven way to build habits gradually.
For a TODO list / task app, use tasks.org. You can also use this to build habits, by making daily recurring tasks.
For listening to books / podcasts, use Smart Audiobook Player. Torrent these locally.
Inspired by Andrew Huberman's optimal morning routine, Med school insiders routine., 2, and Ali Abdals's Sleep routine.
Try to keep the total time to under an hour, allocating more of the time to meditating or working out.
An acronym to remember these:
wisdom: water (and maybe workout), incisors, stretch, dress, outside, meditate
Don't use phone while in bed. Go to the next step right away.
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.
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: 3m
Put on sunscreen. No need to clean / rinse face. Don't miss ears and neck.
Do Jeremy Ethiers routine, especially the thoracic rotations. Your neck and back will thank you.
Stretch knees and ankles if necessary.
See workout_routine for more.
Time: 2m
You'll need clothes for the next steps.
Do this outside(if its cold put on a jacket). 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+
Make a journal either on paper, or on 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
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+
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.
Get a fitness tracker like a Xiaomi Mi Band (They cost ~$30), or Huawei Band. Besides useful notifications (turn off all your phone and device sounds, this thing vibrates your wrist for notifications you want), you can set it to continuously measure your heart rate.
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 folds: your armpits, and crotch.
The colder the shower, the faster you'll be.
Do Ali Abdals routine, or Dr Dray's Routine. Rinse / use cleanser, then moisturizer, then retinol, then sun-tan lotion. Do any makeup you need to after.
Put on deodorant after clothes.
Time: 15m
Make coffee or tea only after these are done.
Start work. Use the pomodoro method / timer (IE 25-50 minutes work, 5-15 minute no-screen break, 15 minute break every 4 sessions).
Stretch, meditate, Take a 20-30m nap(before 3pm), or walk or just sit there during your short breaks. Use social media / other things during your 15 minute breaks.
I like this pomodoro app.
You'll need water when you wake up, so fill a bottle and put it next to your bed.
Put phone on do-not-disturb, and don't use it in bed, or look at screens. Listen to audiobooks if you're not tired. 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.
Your willpower / energy to do daily tasks is like a tank, and needs to be replenished after being exhausted. Some things that can help fill the tank are below:
- 20-30m nap. This works best in the afternoon, after coffee, before 3pm.
- Meditating for any amount of time.
- Mental labor / work
- Doing anything creative
- Consuming content (reading, watching shows, browsing the internet)
- Looking at screens
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. I start eating at 4-5pm, and end at 8-9pm.
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.
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.
Fibrous carbs: Edamame, Broccoli, Spinach, Collard Greens, Asparagus, Mushrooms, Beans, Chickpeas.
Learn to make seitan at home with vital wheat gluten(very high in protein) as a base.
If you're 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 and water 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.
If you're doing IF, drink a lot of water(flavored if you want), tea, and coffee. Avoid sugary drinks and pop.
Drink as much coffee or tea as you want. Coffee can be fun to get good at.
Don't drink caffeine after ~ 3pm, as it will mess up your sleep cycle.
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.