4 Daily Rituals I Do For Productivity That I Wish I Knew Before

“The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little energy and effort as possible.” — James Clear

In the year 2020, I can definitely say that I had become the laziest person among my friends. All I did was laze around on my couch binge-watching Netflix shows one after the other while munching on unhealthy snacks.

I had a bad string of events that occurred to me. My relationship of 4 years ended “officially” — I mean her marriage is fixed now, hence ‘officially over.’ My best friend from my workplace left for a better company in another city, some 1250 km or 777 miles away. — I am an introvert and I find it very challenging to make “friends.” My family lost a property dispute in a court case, and we ended up compromising with the other party. So yeah, it was not a promising year. And then, I am not even talking about the pandemic that shook all our lives.

Come 2021, I thought to myself that I would regain control of my life, which felt like it was slipping away every minute and every second. I promised myself never to suffer again and to be better again. In fact, I was striving to be the most productive I have ever been in my life. Hence, I started incorporating these small habits that eventually became my ritual.

Reading Books or Articles

When I was a kid, I loved reading books, so much so that I would hide books in my study books while I was studying to avoid a thrashing by my mother. I used to read so much fiction that would help me immerse myself in another world, to cope with the stress we had due to our studies (the Indian education system is often criticized for being unnecessarily tough). Unfortunately, that practice has long gone after going for higher studies and jobs.

This year, when I started reading books, I realized that I was missing so much in life. I completed some popular bestsellers this year and it helped me to gain perspective and gain so much knowledge about things that I would never gain from elsewhere. Reading articles has also been a game-changer for me. All thanks to sites like Medium, where I can read articles on the topics I love. In fact, I read more articles and spent so much time on Medium than on Twitter or Instagram.

Reading daily helps you to grow in life and also makes you feel empowered. It also makes you forget the stresses of life. Everything becomes clearer. You start having solutions to the problems you were cribbing about. Everyone should make time to read daily.

Exercising for 30 minutes

As it was already established earlier in the article, I had become a couch potato. I had to do something for myself that would make me feel better. The answer was already known to me — exercising. Initially, it was tough. It is always tough to make a change in your comfortable lifestyle.

I usually exercise for more than an hour, but sometimes I don’t get time. I make sure to do at least 30 minutes of exercise. Just incorporating 50 pushups, 20 pullups, 20 situps, 30 squats, and a minute of plank exercise into your daily routine would do wonders for you. You don’t even need any weights when you are starting out. All you need is lots of water to drink, a nutritious diet and 7–8 hours of sleep for the body to recover.

Well, exercising created discipline in me. I started to lift better, feel stronger both physically and mentally. I started feeling confident and happy. I am confident that it would be beneficial for you.

Not sitting more than ‘3 hours’

As much as I love my job as a software developer, there are some downsides to your health if measures are not taken early. Software development is like any other desk job, or literally, any job that involves creativity, like writing, illustrations, or designing, requires the person to sit for hours in their chair.

Apart from investing in a good chair is important (your back will thank you for that), it is also essential for you to move whenever you get a chance. For example, whenever I get a personal phone call, I always take the call while moving from one place to another. Or whenever I am thirsty, I don’t keep a bottle of water near me but a little far away in the room, so I always have to get up to take it. I also make sure that I take breaks every 3 hours.

The intermittent breaks are not only beneficial for your health, but they also make you creative and productive.

Writing journals & articles

There was a time when I was depressed as hell. I had no one to share. Although I am close to my family and friends, I don’t feel comfortable sharing my intimacies, my weaknesses, my small wins, or simply when I am unhappy.

Writing journals has been my savior. Expressing my thoughts in my journal made everything better for me. It gives me a perspective of what I think about myself at a given time, which becomes a reference point for retrospection.

Writing and publishing articles requires consistency and dedication. Writing every day might look easy, but it requires intense discipline, which I have yet to master. However, I make sure to publish at least 2 to 3 articles every week. Also, writing on a topic and on a thought also enables readers to give feedback, which, in my opinion, is important.

I make sure that I write every day, at least in my journal, and it teaches me the way of life. It helped me to challenge myself to write articles that everyone wants to read. It also challenged me to write about my thoughts, which, surprisingly, people relate to.

These are the 4 daily habits that I think will change your life for the better. These might seem small, but doing them consistently will make you realize that these are major shifts in your lifestyle. Once achieved, I can assure you that you will be in a better place. Well, it worked for me. It might work for you.

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