thoughts and expressions

After writing my first reflection on the first essay of 101 Essays, I’ve realized that I might need to change the way I structure my introspection. It is quite the misstep to use the same number of bullet points as the author does and attempt to reword their sentences while adding only a bit of personal touch. Instead, I believe that the beauty of introspection lies in not necessarily having one structure and being able to rewrite the structure of the author’s text in a way which challenges my thinking. For example, Wiest, in each chapter, introduces a new concept and lists some subconcepts to further exemplify the main concept.

In order to challenge myself and be able to truly digest these concepts, I must go the other way and write in whole paragraphs, combine concepts, and not break down my thoughts and attempt to categorize them.

In turn, when the source is a long essay with multiple paragraphs the challenge to myself is to break it down into bulleted concepts followed by explanations.

Thus, we are here, The Psychology of Daily Routine, the second essay of 101 Essays that will Change the way You Think.

Impulsive and spontaneous decisions may just be the greatest impediment to the “good life”. However, this may seem counterintuitive since we seek thrills in those moments made by impulsive decisions. Instead, the underlying concept is that genuine happiness comes from non-temporary moments which may but most likely require resistance and sacrifice. In order to build the mental fortitude and emotional wellness to handle the resistance and bear sacrifice, a daily routine is required to train the mind and body which affect the mood. Mood, in turn, creates the nurture of ones’ personality. In the personality, the ability to create new.

When we’re children, we have a set schedule, most likely set by our parents and we thrive on this routine. In our formative years, this routine provides a sense of safety and anything which is widely out of our norm throws us off balance and causes anguish. However, as we grow, we create our own schedules and we try to follow it – as adults, this routine gives a feeling of purpose. This purpose drives our decisions.

The decisions: to wake up at 5 AM, to exercise for an hour, to journal and plan out the day, to shower, to work, to work on activities or hobbies necessary for our personal fulfillment, to journal again and reflect upon the day.

For adults, it’s not necessarily the greatest, temporary moments in life which provide us with the best feeling of happiness. In fact, to be content, all one needs is a routine. This routine helps to reaffirm decisions which have been made already. Randomly going about the day can cause distress for not knowing what to do next may cause fear of the unknown or not knowing the results. However, with a routine, there is no fear and no need to predict the day. Instead, constant progress is made and progress is the only validation needed.

By regulating our actions, we don’t fall into the “fight or flight” instinct since there is no need to fear of worrying about the future or the unknown. Instead, we can focus on the task at hand and fight through it. If anything, fear is a sign that we may not be doing the right thing. Investing in the fruits of labor may only cause fear or distress as they are the unknown. By focusing on the task at hand, as scheduled by the routine, we only put our focus on the labor to be done rather than what may happen in the future.

Fear is a funny thing. It is the natural response to confronting the unknown but it can also be the greatest cause for fighting through situations or the greatest cause for fleeing the situation (fight or flight).

Since we are not necessarily aware of the implications of fear, maybe not consciously, our conscious decisions must dictate your day – not the fears or impulses. For example, during work, if I’m given a lengthy, difficult task in the morning. It would do me much less harm if I were to understand the task, break it down into its fundamental concepts, and start working on it rather than fearing for the expanse of the task, procrastinating, or not reaching out for help. By having a conscious mind throughout the day, we are able to properly construct the routine for which to go about the day. These routine tasks turn into habits. Habits set the mood. Mood is the filter in which one experiences life.

Stressed, fearful mood = most likely a bad life

Routine and living consciously = most likely a good life

The pitfall of a multipotentiate who most likely has a routine and adheres to it is the possibility of taking on too many projects or side hobbies. The problem here is energy (physical and mental) expenditure. There is only so much energy one has to accomplish all tasks in their day. These tasks set the mood, rather the accomplishing of these tasks. However, no one derives positive feelings from miscued tasks. Instead, tasks must be well done. Happiness is not how many things to do, but how well they are done. To avoid this issue, I’ve recently come across a method called the Ivy Lee Method.

Ivy Lee Method: At the end of each work day, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow. Do not write down more than six tasks. Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance. When you arrive tomorrow, concentrate only on the first task. (James Clear: The Ivy Lee Method: The Daily Routine Experts Recommend for Peak Productivity)

Although I’ve mentioned multiple times that one should not look toward the end or the fruits, the greatest benefit of setting and abiding a routine achieves the “flow-state”. The state of being completely engaged with the task at hand, everything around you melts and ceases to exist. This creates an inner, no-distraction zone where productivity is at its max.

Creating a routine is hard, no one will refute that. However, it is only the thought of creating a routine and the fear of not abiding by it which causes this uncomfortable feeling. I think the greatest impediment for me is that I blow the task at hand out of proportion and cause my self to conjure up non-existent issues and cause more stress upon myself. The other issue is having too many projects and thus too many tasks to do in one day. The 6 tasks a day is definitely a game changer. By writing down all the priorities in my life, I see from a birds-eye view: what I have to do, what I should do everyday, and what I can do everyday.

This may seem a bit unrelated and may leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth but I strongly believe that no matter how high we prioritize things in our life and want to accomplish them daily, if we do not have the conviction to do them daily, it’s not because we did not have enough time in the day. It’s that it probably wasn’t even that important to us in the first place or we are causing irrational fears within ourselves distracting us from accomplishing it.

Me with my meditation and yoga practice 🙂