Does this busy schedule look familiar?
The Typical Day
Waking up to have a quick bite, waiting in transit to work, settling emails and messages and going into your first meeting before finding a previous 30 minute window to get into focus for your prioritized task, then having to drop that halfway to head into the next meeting.
Having a very short lunch break, maximizing productivity by eating at your desk and clearing some additional work tasks.
Intending to head back to work but all those carbs start to fluctuate your blood sugar and you get a doze of sleepiness hitting. The only way to get rid of that is a quick dopamine hit by scrolling through social media.
Finally you get back into the flow of things and can focus on work again, but a fresh idea hits you and you spiral into some online research, article after article before you realize almost an hour had disappeared, you squeeze in some work again.
It's past 4pm and you are DRAINED, unable to carry on because the day's tasks took most of that energy out. On the way home, a few more quick dopamine hits on your devices to help forget the strain of the day.
You're home and too tired to cook, and opt for the most convenient albeit unhealthy food option. Its nutrient mix plunges you into a state of lethargy as you binge watch a few episodes more.
9pm comes and a surge of motivation not to waste the day comes, and you leap into another bunch of emails, or hop into an international call about business prospects.
10pm, time to go to bed as you originally planned. After tossing and turning, your mind still vivid from the 9pm work information, you come up with an amazing idea for the next day and the next thing you know, it's almost midnight and you're still in bed unable to fall asleep. You dread waking up having less energy than intended, knowing it's not going to help work productivity.
The Pitfall of “Productivity”
- Brain Fog and Reduced Cognitive Function
- Heightened Stress and Irritability
- Decreased Motivation and Enthusiasm
- Physical Fatigue and Health Problems
- Strained Relationships
Are you feeling drained by the end of the day?
Let’s explore a simple way to gauge your energy levels.
Inhale deeply, exhale, hold your breath, and time it.
Higher hold times indicate higher energy levels to deal with stress.
Below table shows the absolute maximum breath hold is 90 seconds for a normal person with enough balance in life, and a pulse of about 68 beats per minute.
For someone very sick, their breath hold would be 10 seconds or less.
Source: Buteyko Breathing Center
Prioritize Recovery to Optimize Performance
Recover effectively with simple breath protocols in order to enhance relaxation, reduce stress, and boost energy.
Enhance recovery with biohacking tools in order to nourish your mind and body greatly.
Let's reimagine that original schedule, where BLUE tasks come and go haphazardly, GREEN focused work is sporadic and interrupted, and PURPLE are the recovery zones needed to regain energy.
What if NOTHING was haphazard and planned in detail?
For example if you are a morning bird (Night owls just have to shift everything back).
The Ideal Day
You wake up at 5am and head straight into three uninterrupted hours of the most important work you planned to do the night before, taking a break without social media, and finishing it by 9am.
You take care of your body with an hour of yoga before starting work properly, highly focused on that one goal you prioritised.
Taking a break with a pre-planned meal according to your body's nutritional needs that energizes you without further stressors from work.
Heading into an afternoon meeting fully prepared on what to dive into, and a hard stop to exit, taking a stroll outside the work space for your mind to process and relax, before diving into the final sprint of the day on a predetermined goal.
You finish work on time at 4pm, leaving any unsettled business for re-prioritization in the next day and leave work with a peace of mind, ready to start the recovery process.
A HIIT session at the gym to build muscle and core strength for a dependable body.
A contrast therapy session to detox, reduce lactic acid and improve deep sleep at night.
An hour with the family to socialize and be fully present with what everybody is up to.
Reading a book or any other hobby, some time for yourself.
More family time with loved ones.
Finally preparing for bed, a fixed hour-long routine without devices, letting your nervous system know the day is indeed over, and any other thoughts shall be dealt with tomorrow.
Your head hits the pillow and you fall deep asleep within 5 minutes, getting at least 7 hours of high quality recharge for pushing hard the next day.
You've managed to get 9 hours of intense work done, plus 6 hours of active recovery and even an hour of socialization.
How Do I Start Improving?
If this end result looks like what you need in life, here's two things that will help.
1) Understand what you're doing with your time
Simply paying attention to how you spend your day will highlight whether or not certain activities are beneficial to your long term wellbeing. Review your calendar and write down every single activity you spend time on, and you will realize that actual productivity accounts for less than half your work day, and even less is spent on meaningful recovery for your body.
2) Sleep more.
There is no point jumping into a gym session or ice bath if your body is already drained, in fact having low energy is dangerous because there will be no core support for weights which increases risk of injury, and no energy for cold water stress management which increases risk of panic or hypothermia. The number one healer of all ailments is sleep.
The simplest way is to wake up just 15 minutes later, go to bed just 15 minutes earlier. That's already recovering almost 10% more if you regularly sleep 6 hours per night.
If you want to thoroughly improve all your habits within 3 months, check out our Performance Neuroscience program, where you'll stack 1-3 new protocols every week to get efficient recovery, reduce work hours and have more free time to lead a balanced life.
Good luck and Happy Recovery!
-Chun