How to become Hyper Productive at Home with a Daily Routine
When the Japanese government first announced that Tokyo would be placed under a state of emergency, I felt that it wouldn’t be long before it was extended to cover all of Japan - including where I live in Fukushima.
Like many, I was worried about the situation in terms of both the spread of the virus and the thought of staying indoors for a long time. I was aware of how the lockdown in London was affecting my friends and family so I wanted to find a way to make the best use out of this time that I would be spending at home.
The very night that the state of emergency was extended across Japan, I walked over to my whiteboard and started to map out my idea of what the most productive daily routine at home would look like. What I put on the whiteboard that night continued to evolve over the following few days and as a result, this past month has proven to be one of the most productive periods of my life.
Now that life is starting to return to normal, I feel like I am returning to it as a much-improved version of myself.
Time Management
Before coming to Japan, I worked as a project manager in a London hospital where I learnt about the importance of time management. During this time, I would often be working on several projects at once and before long I found that if I didn’t consciously assign time to a time to a given task, I probably wouldn’t find the time to do it. I brought this mentality over with me to Japan, but I never thought that it would help me during a worldwide pandemic.
Managing your time is a very important skill and having some sort of routine will help immensely with whatever you need to do. Over the years I have used all kinds of diaries, calendars and smartphone apps to manage my time and yet the tool that I still gravitate towards to the most is a simple whiteboard. Inevitably, any kind of plan will change a lot in the beginning as it starts to take shape so for me the flexibility of a whiteboard makes it the perfect tool for mapping out ideas.
Creating your routine
After much tweaking through trial and error, here is the routine that I used for the majority of April.
Your routine should reflect what’s most important to you and over the past month, I’ve continuously made changes so that my routine became a reflection my priorities.
Yoga is something that I really wanted to prioritise as it is truly a great way to wake the body up in the morning. A simple 15-minute Yoga routine can make a huge difference to your general wellbeing as well as greatly improve your flexibility. Yoga has helped my body become a lot more agile, which intern has helped me immensely with my other activities such as running and weightlifting.
Studying Japanese is something else that I really wanted to use this time to focus on. Initially I would start studying first thing in the morning, but I soon found that though I was learning, my memory was not at its best this early. After experimenting with different times, I found that for me the best time for me to study was while eating breakfast, after my morning workout.
Planning all of my meal and snack times was also a very important part of this routine as I knew that overeating while at home was something that many people have had difficulty with. I found that what worked best for me was to have 4 main meals a day every 3 hours and a handful of almonds or cashew nuts as a snack in-between. This ensured that I never felt hungry and at no point felt the need to run to the cupboard to binge on something unhealthy.
Two routines are better than one
The first routine that I put together was working very well for me in all but one area - writing. By the time the afternoon came, I wasn’t in the mood to do anything creative, so I decided to try a different approach. The next morning, I made writing the very first thing that I did and to my surprise I found that at this time, the words just flowed. This then gave me the idea of having two routines so that I could prioritise different things on different days.
Though my routines have helped me maintain my sanity, and keep me very productive during this time, I have also found it to be very important to give myself one free day where anything goes. I chose Saturday to be my relaxation day in which I do no exercising (except maybe Yoga and some stretching), studying or writing. I even treat myself to a meal that’s a little less healthier than usual. I just allow both my mind and body to totally relax so that they are recharged to take on the week ahead.
“2 Day Rule”
It is important to acknowledge that there will be days when a routine will be impossible to stick to. Just know that this is ok! When the inevitable “off day” comes, it is important not to be disheartened and to get straight back on the horse as quickly as possible. Recently I came across the concept of the “2 Day Rule” in which you can take a day off but never 2 days off in a row for anything in your routine. This “2 Day Rule” mindset has helped me ensure that missing a day doesn’t result in me abandoning my routine all together.
Conclusion
At the time of writing, I am in the process of a phased return back to work and my routine will have to be adapted to fit in with my work life. For the past month, I have felt like I’m living on my own time zone but if I am honest, I have actually enjoyed every second of this time alone at home. I genuinely felt like I was achieving something every day and the best part is that I actually have something to show for it.
I have managed to gain quite a bit of muscle during this time, so I will certainly be ready for the Corona-free beach in 2021. Seeing this change in my body has given me the motivation that I need to continue working out and eating in the exact same way, despite returning to work.
Also, my understanding of Japanese grammar has improved significantly too, and I have already started using all my new knowledge in the workplace. As for my writing, had I not introduced the second routine where I do my writing first thing in the morning, this article that you are reading now would never have been completed.
To close, I will leave you with the 3 main things that I have learnt this month that can hopefully help you maximise your productivity wherever you maybe.
1. You are more likely to get something done when you have it written down along with an allocated time slot in your day. Use a diary, calendar, smartphone app, or better yet put a whiteboard up on your wall and use it to map out what you need to do and when.
2. For each task, find out through trial and error when you are most productive. As said above, if I didn’t try writing in the morning, this article would have never been written.
3. Remember the 2-day rule - Don’t take 2 days off in a row for anything that is important to you to ensure you maintain that all important consistency. If you need to change the time of a task or the intensity of it that is fine - all you can do is try your best.