Eating the Frog

Routines and rituals are sets of habits that, when practiced consistently, lead to profound, long-term results. Most billionaire routines start early in the day and include exercising, reading and contemplating.

It doesn’t matter when you do your routine activities. What counts is that you commit to doing them — even when you don’t feel like it.

Billionaires love setting aside alone time. .. To think. They might do this by meditating or some other relaxing activity they enjoy.

Trying to locate an email you want to respond to can be very time-consuming.

Mark the email you want to respond to later as "unread." It is easier to find between all your other messages.

Getting out of the habit of checking email frequently can be tough. 

Check and respond to emails twice a day at a specific time. The rest of the day you can be dedicated to your work and not lose focus because of incoming messages.

A few smart strategies that can be deployed:

1. Installing pods for deep work while having common areas for collaborative work.
2. Wearing headphones that are easily seen to signal that you are not to be disturbed.
3. Turning your office into a library, following the same culture of quietness where everyone is hushed and respectful.

Real work, by definition, should be rare, valuable and cognitively demanding.

Email does not check any of these boxes, and is, therefore, a pseudo work.

Imagine how you could transform your relationship with your vendors for example (accountant, lawyer, employees, etc.) by becoming accountability partners.

Do it especially when you know you're going to procrastinate. This means:

• That you have to decide what you're going to do. Be clear about the timing of your tasks.
• That you have to plan when and where you're going to do it.

Negative emotions can lower your immunity. They affect every part of your body. Carrying them up to sleep will affect your health causing you to lack the necessary rest your body needs.

Doing something that lights you up can help shift the mood. Force your mind to think of good thoughts. 

Your brain relaxes when you do something that is delightful. It puts you in a safe zone where you can enjoy yourself for the time being.

Doing it just before going to bed is the best time because it helps to seal the positive energy that will condition your mind the next day.

When we close our eyes for the night, our mind cycles through different stages of sleep:

• Light sleep: Which is most similar to being awake
• REM (or Rapid-Eye-Movement): Where our minds are asleep but active and where dreams are most likely to happen
• Deep sleep: Where our mind is in “regeneration” mode

So many things can get in the way of us reaching deep sleep, from stress and burnout to late-night screen usage, eating late, and physical issues. To make sure we reach our deep, restorative sleep, we need a proper evening routine.

For most of us it is the mind, rather than the body, that disrupts restorative sleep.

To cleanse our mind of the leftover responsibilities of the day, we need to bring a mental wind down into our evening routine.

Strong morning and nighttime routines increase your productivity levels, ability to focus, and improve your overall mental and physical health. Your routines can include a healthy meal, exercise, reading, meditation, enjoying time with your family and friends.

However you build your routines, they should be full of activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. Self-care is essential to dealing with job burnout.

It’s a syndrome that results from an extreme accumulation of improperly managed workplace stress that can lead to physical, mental, and social consequences.

Almost everything we do can be broken down into little manageable parts.

Take, for instance, the laundry. If the laundry seems like a daunting task to you, break it down into steps. Collect all your dirty clothes. Separate colors and whites. Put your clothes on a wash cycle. Put them in the dryer. Fold them.

It can be tempting to put things off or delay completing tasks simply because you’re worried about the outcome being less than perfect.

Just remember that it’s okay if things don’t turn out exactly how you had them in your head.

One reason is that we take on more work than we can handle. We are too busy.

In spite of being too afraid of falling behind during a time of rest, a sabbatical can have a positive effect.

A sabbatical is a chance to explore ideas related to your work. 

You need a strong reason to take one, especially if you have to sell your boss on the idea.