On Building The Perfect Routine

5 years ago
Most people have their day plan them, not the other way around. The job they accept usually dictates when they wake up, when they meet friends and when they get ready for bed. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, without the bedrock of a job to anchor their schedule, many people would find the routine they fell into otherwise would be just as much of a time suck; but without the benefits of a regular income.

Jakarta is full of time sucks, time black holes, places where you throw your time and have no idea what came of it. Traffic is a huge time suck, meetings at most offices are too, no agenda, no clear meeting objectives, sometimes they are just a way for people to look like they are doing something, when really they are eating up any productive capacity that those attending may have in reserve for that day.

This leaves people in a larger trap than perhaps they planned for themselves. All the great hobbies and pursuits they would like to try are pushed to the side lines. Anything significant that could be done in leisure time is done at a snail's pace and often left unfinished. The tropical weather doesn't help, naturally set to make you placid, docile and worn out.

So time and energy clearly becomes a premium asset. What if then people accepted the midday heat as a given, saw that they used the most productive part of their day to make their way through traffic to work and then used the last creative energy they had to again fight through traffic on their way home. How much could they increase their value by throwing these time sucks out of their routine?

In this digital age you can contribute professionally from wherever you are. You just need to take a little time to figure out how you are going to do it. Instead of letting other people convince you to sign a contract that will take the least productive version of yourself and pay that version what it deserves, not much at all.

Put yourself in a position where everyday not only can you be productive, but you have the added energy and time to grow and improve yourself.

If you have ever read about the 80/20 principle, also known as the "Pareto Principle" and looked at your day you are bound to see areas in your day that could be removed as they are sub-optimal. Of course in countries with cooler climates, shorter commutes. This issue of every day falling into a time black-hole perhaps isn't so bad. There is time for work rest and play. There is time for you to build the body of your dreams, read those great novels you've been dying to get stuck into go on long road tours cross country and paint those landscapes you've been putting off. There are plenty of people who balance a 9-6 job (because that one hour break never serves you) and still manage to live life to the fullest with family and fun all followed up on.

For the rest, this is for you:

Take a siesta

Only do the jobs you do best

Put your principles and priorities first

Don't be afraid to leave time in your schedule blank on purpose, there will always be new adventures and pursuits ready to fill them

But whatever you do, don't let one year role into the next without doing things that make you smile, that have you performing pursuits worthy of the unique life that was given to you.

I will leave you all with a powerful quote. "It is not the daily increase, but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential. The closer to the source, the less wastage there is." - Bruce Lee

The greatest tragedy is a life wasted, and I would argue, for you, this is a tragedy of universal proportions. Get out there and start living a planned purposeful existence designed by you!

I'm interested to hear your thoughts. Are you happy with your current routine? If you could change something about it what would you change?