The Perfect Day: How to Organize Your Day and Get More Out of Your Time — Part 1
Is there a way to organize a perfect day? How can we get more out of our day and still feel whole and balanced? Is it about the best daily routine? Or something else?
A lot of people come to me asking about the best way to organize the day, how to optimize time to get more out of the day. Most of the time, it's to do more, to reach the end of that lengthy to-do list, to accomplish a bunch of "should do's" and "have to do's." To catch up, in an endless tail-chase. Ultimately, the real goal is to dampen the overwhelm. When we dig deeper, there is a deep desire for more balance and peace.
Nobody's perfect day will be the same, because we are all individuals. So the first step to organizing your perfect day is to get to know yourself better—to find your way and protect it jealously. Step outside the should's and comparisons and pay attention to who you are.
Step 1: The Perfect Day — Your Time
More specifically, start by observing your natural rhythms. When are you most focused? When do you have the most energy for social interaction? When are you most distracted? I recommend carrying around a small notebook for a few days and tracking.
Many people have peaks of attention and focus in the morning. These are often wasted on social media or email—someone else's agenda!—rather than key work or focus or creativity. There is another peak in the afternoon. These peaks are related to the natural circadian rhythm and depend on your chronotype (on a spectrum from night owls to early birds)—your specific circadian rhythm that stems from genes, age, and environmental cues. Studies suggest that performance can vary as much as 20% (!) between morning and afternoon, depending on your chronotype.
Step 2: The Perfect Day — Your Way
The next step involves understanding your needs deeply. Ask yourself: What do YOU need to be your best at what you do? To add the most value?
I need to stop interacting with the phone at 7PM (and did that even before cell phones exist), to go to bed on time, and to move and meditate first thing in the morning. If I do nothing else on my list, those are my non-negotiables—what I know I need to show up my best. Dark chocolate after lunch also contributes.😋
What do you need? Own those things and get them in the schedule, BEFORE you start taking on anyone else's demands.
“Most people are other people.Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
Step 3: The Perfect Day — How to Start And Stop
In this step, I invite you to create clear starting and stopping rituals—count four key transitional periods, each worthy of its own routine:
Waking up in the morning. Clearly transition in the morning with time for you before time for others, however that may look. My routine here always includes hydration, movement and meditation in some form or another.
Starting the work day. This is a key moment. Productivity specialists agree: start the day on your own terms! That means, very specifically, push checking your phone, social media, email and message application until LATER! (Yes, I'm shouting). Never, ever, let someone else's agenda start your day, unless your job specifically requires it. When I implemented being creative before reactive, my productivity skyrocketed! Whenever I do at least a short period of deep, creative work before I answer any bids, my focus is so much better for the full day.
Closing down the work day. This is a good time to schedule some time to review the day and tasks and figure out what the next day will look like. It's all about closing loops so your mind can relax outside of work.
Shutting down the day before sleep (no phone!). This last transition sets the tone for the whole next day.
I discuss the details of daily routines in these posts:
The Secret to Getting More Out of Your Day
The Art and Science of Daily Routines
The best part about routines is that once they are well established, they don't require a whole lot of energy. I always recommend diverging from routines from time to time. Those moments of change can be delicious. I talk more about this in the following post: In Control or Out of Control? How Shaking Things Up Can Boost Your Energy.
So there you have the first three steps to creating your perfect day. There are three more, which I detail in the next blog post, which you will find here.
And what about a perfect night?
I can help with that too. Proud to be working with SleepSpace for that—it’s a great app to help fall asleep and stay asleep.