Some time ago I compiled a list of the tips, tricks, and lifestyle habits of highly successful people. My list came from both scientific research and what successful men and women have said about their own day-to-day lifestyles. Over the past two weeks, I’ve attempted to incorporate these tips into a college lifestyle by adopting these habits into my own daily routine, with varying amounts of success. Here’s what I tried:
The nighttime routine
1. Get enough sleep. While studies show that some people only need 4-6 hours of sleep per night, the majority of people need 7-8 hours. Plan your day so that you can make it to bed by a certain time, and make it a goal to do so.
My experience: This was unsurprisingly the easiest tip for me to follow. In fact, it was with great joy that I went to bed between 9-11pm every night (other than that one all-nighter for a paper, whoops). I made sure to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night, and I felt like my energy increased throughout the day because of it. Waking up on the other hand.. still need to work on that one.
2. Screens. Studies show that using any kind of screen (laptop, phone, etc.) one hour before bedtime will potentially affect your circadian rhythm and how good of a night’s sleep you can get. Keep the bedroom a screen-free zone.
My experience: This one was hard. Given that I’m in a dorm room, I can’t exactly keep my bedroom “screen-free.” However, I tried putting my phone as far away from my bed as I could so that I wasn’t tempted to scroll through Instagram right before I went to bed. If I’m being honest, I was only successful in not using screens an hour before bedtime a few nights. Especially with the rush to get to bed early while also finishing my work for the day, it was hard not to spend the last minutes up to my bedtime on my laptop. However, as I started to wake up earlier I was able to get my work done earlier, allowing me to actually relax before I went to bed.
3. What to do in the hour before you sleep:
-Many successful people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates swear by reading every night. Whether it’s a self-help book, philosophy, a biography, or fiction, reading is a productive alternative to scrolling through social media.
–Writing before bedtime is a known stress reliever. Even if it’s just a few sentences a night, noting a specific goal you accomplished, writing down your intentions for the week, or simply reflecting in a journal helps create a positive mindset before you sleep.
–Plan out your day the night before. Write out your schedule, to-do list, and your intentions for the day.
–Meditate. Many successful women such as Ellen Degeneres and Jennifer Aniston have said that practicing transcendental meditation is life-changing. Even if it’s for only 20 minutes, getting zen’d out can be the perfect way to cap off a busy day.
My experience: This was something I felt I did well pretty consistently. I wrote down my plan for the next day to the smallest detail every night, and it really helped me jumpstart my day in the morning. I also tried writing down some things I wanted to accomplish the next day outside of the normal to-do list items, and I found it surprisingly rewarding the next day when I could look back and see what I had accomplished. I didn’t read every night, but I did decide to do some yoga before bed most nights to get me in a relaxed mood. Lastly, I’ve never meditated before, so trying this was VERY hard. I only did it for a few minutes at a time, but it definitely put me in a relaxed state.
The morning routine
1. Waking up EARLY. And I don’t mean early as in making it on time for your 8am class, I mean early as in waking up at least 3 hours before your workday actually starts. Some get up as early as 4-5am so that they can get some work done, workout, meditate, etc. before their day officially begins. Research shows that our brains are sharpest 2.5-4 hours after waking up.
My experience: Ha. Getting up any earlier than 7 or 8am has never fit into my “realistic” expectations. But oh, did I try. And my roommate definitely hates me now for all of the alarms that I snoozed. I can quite honestly say that I never once woke up at 5am (even though I was very good at the going to bed early part). Eventually, though, I was increasingly successful in waking up a couple hours before my workday really started. A few things to note: I am a master of the snooze button; half the time I’m not even consciously snoozing it. To fix this I found a new alarm app that makes you play a game before the alarm will shut off. Second, I put my phone WAY far away from my reach while in bed. Actually having to get out of bed to then play a game to then turn off the disgustingly annoying alarm was moderately successful in waking me up.
Once I was awake, I found that immediately showering really helped to further wake my brain up. Actually, frigid cold showers are said to rewire and jumpstart the brain. The next thing is to make sure you make your bed and tidy up. If you’re going to be working at your desk, then having a clean work environment will probably make you feel more motivated to work.
One thing I would recommend: Gradually ease yourself into getting up early, especially if you are NOT a morning person. I tried immediately to switch from a 9-10am wake-up to 6am, and boy did that fail. I would suggest waking up 30 min-1 hour earlier than usual for a week or two at a time before further pushing back your wake-up time.
2. Exercise – Anna Wintour starts every day with a 5:45am tennis match. Exercise is proven to keep the brain healthy, minimize stress, improve memory, and boost creativity and productivity. Exercising also releases mood-boosting endorphins, and gives you a boost of adrenaline that can last for several hours. Working out in the morning will wake you up immediately, and keep your mind sharp throughout the rest of the day.
My experience: Continuing on with the “having a really hard time waking up really early” thing, I inevitably did not have time to exercise in the morning. For me, however, I almost always workout in the afternoon or at night, so this habit wasn’t something I really strove to adopt. If I know I’m busy at night, then I will definitely get a workout in during the morning, but if I’m trying to wake up early I generally would rather use that time to get some work done.
3. Electronics – Arianna Huffington says “When I wake up, I don’t start the morning by looking at my smartphone. Instead, once I’m awake, I take a minute to breathe deeply, be grateful, and set my intention for the day.” This one goes hand-in-hand with don’t look at your phone or computer an hour before bed. Instead, try waking up, getting ready, working out, and showering without checking your phone. Once you’ve been up for while, check your emails and the news, but try to refrain from going through social media when you’re at a time where your brain is the most productive.
My experience: This habit I really liked. I usually go through my phone right when I wake up, but for the past couple of weeks I only used it to end the alarm (after several snoozes of course) and then looked at it again a while later, and it felt surprisingly good. I usually give myself half an hour to an hour before checking my phone after I wake up, and then I only respond to urgent texts/emails and check the news. I wait to check social media until after my first class or two. In general it’s helped me get a lot more done in the mornings by saving me a ton of time.
4. Healthy brain food – Ah yes, the thing we can never get away from. Healthy food!! Fill your body with wholesome, natural foods that won’t cause you to get a sugar spike and crash, or in general lower your energy. For more information check out my article called “How to eat healthy on a college campus.”
Productivity
1. Set deadlines the day before – It’s really a genius idea, if only there wasn’t that thing called procrastination. But seriously, if you put a huge paper, test, assignment, project, etc. in your calendar as due one day before the real due date, you’re not only giving yourself some wiggle room in case you get sick or your computer dies, but you’re also helping your grades by giving yourself an extra day to review just in case.
My experience: Let’s just say we tried. And it’s a nice idea.
2. “Batches” of social media – Another popular habit of successful people is to go through your social media during the day in “batches.” Instead of opening Instagram once an hour, let yourself go online twice a day, and that’s it. Go through all of your social media to your heart’s extent sometime in the morning (11am), and sometime in the afternoon (4pm), and don’t check it otherwise. This will majorly help productivity by reducing distraction and also by giving yourself a break from looking at your screen all day.
My experience: I found this really helpful. I would generally try to go on social media 2-3 times per day max, and I would always use it as a break from whatever I was doing that day. I used my phone a lot less, and I felt more productive.
3. 15 minutes of work – We all have those days where we really need to get work done, and we REALLY don’t want to. A new study shows that by forcing yourself to work for 15 minutes, most of the time you will get into your work and continue on. If you’re still lacking motivation after 15 minutes, it’s suggested that you take a 15-30 minute break of purely focused thinking, and then try again.
My experience: This definitely helps for me. If I am able to get myself to turn on my computer and start working, I will generally keep working until I finish whatever it is that needs to be done. By telling myself I’ll try for 15 minutes, and if I still don’t feel like it I’ll take a break, I continuously got myself out of whatever mood I was in and every time I continued working past the 15 minute mark. Another variant of this is the Pomodoro technique which suggests working for 30 minutes on, 10 minutes off.
4. Meditation/focused thinking – This is something I found endless successful people swearing by. From Oprah to Matt Damon, people find that meditating or simply spending 20 minutes with focused thinking every morning and night is a life-changer. It clears your mind and gets your thoughts in order.
My experience: I personally have a hard time with meditation. When I tried doing 20 minutes of focused thinking in the morning and at night, however, I was truly surprised by how much I liked it. I would think about my priorities, new ideas, and really anything my mind felt was important, and I feel like I got a ton of creative ideas and productivity out of it. Would highly recommend.
Surround yourself with good people
1. This last one is pretty simple. Surround yourself with good people. If you find yourself around people who are negative or negatively influencing your mood, get out of that relationship. The people around you are heavy influencers into your own mood and productivity, so don’t let other people get you down.
My experience: I was lucky enough to get a great roommate which certainly makes things easier. Historically, though, there have definitely been times where I’ve had to break off a friendship because it was a negative influence on my life, and it’s important that you do so quickly rather than continue to let that person have a negative effect on you.
Overall, making massive lifestyle changes is not going to be an immediately effective process. Progress takes time, so don’t give up after one week, and I promise it will be worth it!