Life gets stressful. Period. Finding a balance in your day can help even out stress so you are able to focus on yourself, get work done, have family time and also do activities that you love to do. One thing I love to do is learn. To make the best use of my commute I often listen to podcasts and one in particular, Ben Greenfield Fitness. This article is a summary of a Podcast he did with Craig Ballantyne who wrote the book, The Perfect Day Formula. Here is part 1 to making every day the best day ever!
1. Take Control of your Morning
The morning is when we typically have the most control over our day. We determine when we wake up, how we get ready and if we meditate or exercise. Most people are sound asleep, and you have not yet been presented with any to-dos chaos. Craig emphasises that you utilize the morning by getting up just 5 minutes earlier to work on your number one priority. Whether that be meditation, finances, exercise you name it. The morning is YOUR time to focus on that priority to gain the victory of the morning before the world takes over.
2. Have a consistent sleep schedule
Sleep studies have been booming lately about the importance of quantity and quality sleep. We tend to have this badge of honor on only sleep 5 hours a night. In doing so, we significantly decrease our productivity. It is widely known that getting less than 8 hours of sleep a night causes brain fog, decrease in cognitive awareness and a decrease in recovery. Even if you seem to have “adapted” to your 5 or 6 hours a night, there is still a decrease in mental capability. Setting a consistent sleep schedule will allow you to help reset your body, increase daily energy and become more productive. If you lose an hour here or there, make up for those by taking naps during the day or by catching up the next night.
3. Improve your sleep by the 10-3-2-1-0 model.
10: Hours before bed do not consume any caffeine. Caffeine has a half life of 6 hours and if consumed less than 6 hours before bedtime it can interrupt your quality of sleep.
3: Hours before bed stop the consumption of alcohol. Having an alcoholic beverage when you get home can seem to take the edge off your day of work. But, even though you may fall asleep faster, your quality of sleep is decreased and you will not enter sleep cycles as deeply, resulting in poor quality sleep.
2: Hours before bed stop eating heavy meals. The digestive system can effect your sleep cycles.
1: Hour before bed stop working/getting stressed. Blue lights from computers, cell phones and E-readers can affect your arousal level and have a negative affect on sleep. If you have an Apple phone, they have a “night shift” option which decreases the blue light. There are also glasses and other applications for your computer to reduce the blue light coming through the screens.
0: Zero times hitting the snooze button. Force yourself to get out of bed when your alarm goes off. If you allow yourself to snooze you may wake up sleepier and groggier than normal. Each sleep cycle is about 90 minutes. If you time your alarm to wake up in 90 minute intervals. This will help prevent you from waking up mid-dream and allowing you to wake up feeling rested and ready to take on the day!
These are just a few tips for you to start implementing today! Coming soon will be Part 2 on the Perfect Day Formula. Comment below on things you do to make your day the best day ever.
The Official Formula for a Perfect Day: How to take control and own your life.
Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast Summary
Featuring: Craig Ballantyne
Website: Earlytorise.com