Holding On To The Basic Practices
Most of us are facing an upheaval in our professional fronts, and have drastic changes in our routines. The order may change, but the basic practices should remain the same.
Work may be erratic, and there may be good and bad days, but one has to hold on to the basic practices.
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Routines, as we now learn, are fragile, but our practices, like doing some exercise or meditation, eating vegetarian or plant-based food, journaling, live on due to their being flexible and tailored for the individual.
The pandemic has shown us that most of our routines, like sending our kids to school, going to the gym, or rushing to office in the morning, can be easily disrupted or even exhumed.
Most of us have a different set of routines that seems to work for us. However, the fundamental practices like exercising, writing, reading, walking and having some moments of reflection are almost universal in nature.
These practices transcend every routine and become lifelong pursuits.
Apart from the basic practices like walking, or writing, a few more to consider:
- Don’t use the phone for an hour after waking up.
- Don’t watch too much news on TV.
- Don’t be too accessible to everyone all the time.
- Don’t do more than a handful of tasks in a day, if possible.
- Don’t use WiFi on aeroplanes, if you still fly.
RELATED IDEAS
Work for the love of the work itself, not for credit of recognition.
Your work should be something that you would like to do for free, and if you take your ego out of the equation and simply focus on good work, you become the pillar of prominence.
Moderation, a middle point between two extremes, has been considered a key virtue for thousands of years.
Today, instead of understanding and admiring moderation, we've come to view it as a weakness. When we look at money, more is better. We consider the person with the most as the happiest and the best. Television is possible because of immoderate people. The pop and influencer culture rests almost entirely on people who have given themselves over to the pursuit of total pleasure and fame.
1. Wake up early.
2. Ask: Am I using this technology, or is it using me?
3. Forget about outcomes—focus on making a little progress every day.
4. Say no (a lot).
6. Don’t watch television news.
7. Comparison = unhappiness
8. Journal.
9. Strenuous exercise every single day.
10. Character is fate.