Daily habits and lifestyle recommendations to help balance on the edge.

By Jared Brick, Founder of ZEN Hustlers, Brick House Media Co, Gryp Media, MOV

WHY WE NEED TO SHIFT OUR LIVES

Many of us possess old beliefs that limit our thinking on strict routines, strong habits, and daily patterns to feel more controlled and less free. Recent studies have shown that the more positive habits you adopt the more you will feel in control of your life, and hence experience more freedom in other areas! So, we’ve compiled a variety of leading suggestions and also additions from our own personal testing to formulate these habits as ZEN Hustlers.

Try out these routines for yourself and let us know how it works for you personally, give them 2-4 weeks to create new habit patterns.

Enjoy the adventure and the ride!

*Please be sure to amend or disregard suggestions if you: have special needs children, a newborn baby, a serious illness/disease/health issues, you work off-peak hours or other life circumstances that would impede these suggestions. These are offered as a guideline only, please read our disclaimer at the end, thank you.

EARLY MORNINGS 5-7AM

• Wake-up to sounds* (not an alarm noise, if possible) or naturally with your body clock.

• Do not use your phone unless you have it in another room like the bathroom, that way you will not be tempted to check texts, emails or social media!

• Get immediately up, do not roll back over or hit the snooze button, a critical step!

• Drink 8-16 ounces of water** (room temperature or warmed), try it with some lemon

• For 20-60 minutes do mindfulness (meditation, yoga, stretching, goal focusing, etc.)

• Journal, write down ideas, positive and negative thoughts, challenges, issues, be very free, no judgments here. If you must use a tech device tech to write, do so, if not, write on a paper or a journal book.

• As Mel Robbins says in The Five Second Rule book, be the boss of your mornings, you control how they flow for productivity!

*Avoid technology and do not check text, email or social media until after 30-60 minutes after being awake. If used, put your device in ‘airplane mode’ or wifi off to limit all those notifications.
**Avoid drinking caffeine first thing: coffee or green/black tea

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MID-MORNINGS 7-9AM

• Clean and brush teeth, tongue scrape, wash up, get dressed for the day

• Eat something: a fruit/health shake, breakfast, eggs, protein powders, etc.

• Drink more water, tea or coffee* if you feel the need this early in the day

• Play with your kids as they wake up, a golden time for kids to be with them

• Have sex with a partner, morning sex is a quite healthy way to start day!

• Make up your bed, clean up your room, put on laundry, wash those dishes

• Set 1-3 daily intentions/goals that are achievable and one reach goal!**

• Commute to your office or work ask to try working from home 1-2 days per week

• Now check your priority texts, or emails (skim them first) voicemails & messages only

• Set a deadline for your work today, what time will you be done and then commit to it.

*Avoid caffeinated drinks unless you feel it necessary
*Make your daily goals doable and not more than 1-3 or disappoint will ensue

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LATE MORNING 9-12PM

• Spend 30-60 minutes at work prioritizing emails, add stars or a system to rank importance, draft email replies to complete within the normal 9-5 workday.

• Perform 1-2.5 hours of focused uninterrupted work, in phone airplane mode, turn off computer notifications, if possible from your work.

• Before lunch again check new emails, draft more replies, check for urgency messages

• Spend just 20-40 minutes on social media*, scheduling tasks, posting and replies

• Stand-up once every hour, walk around, drink more water, talk to someone

• Try taking calls walking versus sitting, or at least standing up at your desk

• Drink 8-12 ounces of water** every two hours or more, as needed

• Eat healthy snacks, proteins, fruits or that shake from breakfast, limit the carbs till lunch

*Social media can be important for certain jobs, it may be included in your AM routine
**Water can be exchanged for tea, electrolytes or other healthy beverage of choice

According to Mel Robbins, The Five Second Rule book… our first 3 hours of the day are most productive as your mind is most clear. Be sure to utilize these hours wisely to your advantage!

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LUNCHTIME 12-1PM

• YES… take a real lunch BREAK, eat real food*, preferably with other people

• Call people you know from work or friends/family at lunch, make some new connections, meet new colleagues, network or reach out to an old friend (shocking idea).

• Go outside if possible, get fresh air, eat slowly and mindfully chew eat bite slowly, to aid digestion

• Take a 15-30 minute nap or rest, meditate or breath calmly focus nowhere, closing your eyes from the world and screens

• Stretch your body, workout*: walk, jog, push-ups, squats really anywhere!

*If possible, prepare food at work, as it is a mental break, freshly prep the foods
** If working out is not an option, stretch hands, neck, back, roller on floor, relax the body

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EARLY AFTERNOON 1-3PM

• Perform 1-2 hours of more focused work, in airplane mode or wifi off

• N.E.T. = No extra time, if you can listen while working do so at work!

• Listen to NPR or other online podcasts*, listen to a video at your desk (listen only)

• Look for inspirational & educational content; like TED talks, bold leaders, etc.

*If your job does not allow listening with headphones or other, respect their rules

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MID-AFTERNOON SIESTA 3-4PM

• Take a siesta*: a nap, a walk outside, stretch meditate, walk & talk meetings

• Eat a healthy snack, drink more water/tea, coffee if needed, rest, music

• Allow your body, mind and eyes to relax or read a book for a bit, calm the mind

*Our natural rhythms want a break in this time of day as we get tired… it’s okay!

ZH Tip: Did you give yourself a work deadline (time to end) today, a commitment to ending your workday at a reasonable time. Leave time to be human, workout, be with friends and family as you don’t get time back!

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LATE-AFTERNOON 4-6PM

• Reply to end of the day emails (complete your top 1-3 priorities, set up the next day)

• Physically check off completed tasks for this day, mentally this is important!

• Check if you met your 1-3 main goals and a stretch goal for the day

• Commute* back home or to the gym, leave the office, bike/skate/scoot home/gym/dinner

• N.E.T. – No extra time, listen, read, watch something inspiring/educational on your commute

• Post and schedule* social media posts for the following day for 12am-6am, if you are into that stuff.

*If you work from home, go outside, take a walk, walk the dog, just leave the home!
**Schedule posts if social media is important, try Buffer app, 12-6am is an open posting time

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EARLY EVENING 6-8PM

• STOP working… seriously put the computer, phone, the papers down for the day!

• Be present with your people: family, kids, partner, friends… no phone out at tables

• Eat real food*, cook if you can, making food with others is a great healthy habit

• Listen to music, read, workout, put time into a hobby or personal project**

• Fun time, play a game, create art, make music… indulge your personal passions

*If you do not cook, taking a cooking class, it will change your life!
**Personal projects can involve others, but tackle something you really care about making a difference in your life and the life of others

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MID-EVENING 8-10PM

• Work more* if you have tasks left to complete from the day, only as necessary

• Do more personal project work, indulge your hobby, even more, write a book?

• Meditate, create art, journal, write ideas, brainstorm, create new vision boards, etc.

• Create new sex** experiences with your partner, do massage, role play, etc.

• Watch; movies, TV shows, the news, social media, or play games (aka have fun)

• Read a real book, read online book, listen to an audio book before bed

*Working more means you must do so, otherwise hold it off till the next day
**Sex can also be self-pleasure masturbation, if single, avoid harsh pornography, use other mediums for sexual stimulation

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EVENING TO MORNING 10PM-6AM

• SLEEP. SLEEP. SLEEP!

• Sleeping from 10pm to 2am are critical times* for the body/mind to recharge and rejuvenate

• Just before bed look at and focus your energy and attention on your vision boards to set a mental connection to your goals

• NO media devices in your bedroom, no TVs, no mobile phones, ipads/tablets, keep them in the other rooms of your home (keep phones in hearing distance, if needed)

• Keep your bedroom as dark and quiet as you can stand it, no lights as best

• Adjust the temperature** in the low 70s to mid 60s at nighttime, the colder the better, but not too freezing!

• Let in some fresh cool air from a cracked open window depending on where you live

• Keep an idea/dream journal beside your bed to write down new ideas, scary thoughts, fears and even the nightmares. Writing them down help to process them.

• Meditate and stretch before bed, brush teeth, scrape your tongue (an Ayurvedic tool to try out)

• Do not watch at tech screens within 30 minutes of going to bed, read a book

*It has been shown that sleeping from 10pm-2am, is critical for regenerative sleep, other hours of the night are helpful but not as beneficial. Sleep for 6-8 hours
**People are all different all over the world, but cooler bedrooms are more ideal

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THE WEEKENDS

This is a time for you to unwind, disconnect and socialize with friends, family and other people in your life. Here are some general recommendations for the weekends!

• Disconnect from work email, if your job allows for it, some E.U. countries are banning required work email on the weekends.

• Continue to wake up at a healthy time, before 9am, drink water and exercise and stretch when getting up

• Break up your routines, exercise harder, push your physical limits and relax hard

• Spend time with people, friends, family and meet new people in your life

• Take some time each day to do nothing… I mean nothing stare off an ponder it all!

• Sunday evenings, try to get to sleep by 10-11pm to get into the routine for the new week.

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TELL US HOW IT WENT?

We would love to hear what changes you made and how it is affecting your new daily habits, improving your personal wellness, shifting your work-life balance and other areas that may also change.

Email us at [email protected] or tag @zenhustlers on social media

Disclaimers:

• The fore-mentioned ideas are suggestions and please adjust accordingly for your personal life, professional life and health.

• If you have certain health restrictions or issues, please consult your doctor or meet a new non-western medicine practitioner for other life changes

• These suggestions are merely guidelines developed over time by research, trial and error and personal testing, they are not meant to be followed explicitly or in this exact order.

• Each person is unique and therefore should adjust all practices for themselves for the optimal experience and benefits

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