The Unlazy Letter
THE UNLAZY LETTER
Simple habits you should try in quarantine!
Now that we’re stuck at home, habits and routines are key for maintaining our health, sanity and productivity. So, here are some simple habits you can try.
Morning habits
Wake up at the same time every day
By waking up at the same time every day your body adjusts your hormonal activities so that you start feeling tired at a certain an hour in the evening and you wake up refreshed at certain hour in the morning.
Write Morning Pages
When you wake up, you simply write 3 pages long-hand. You write about anything and everything that comes into your mind, without stopping, without hesitating.
Try meditation
Meditation helps you ease your racing mind and reduce stress. Even if you have no experience in meditating, you can easily start with apps like Headspace.
Do some yoga
Yoga is one of the best ways to start your day, as it combines physical exercise, breathing and mindfulness. I've been using the Skill Yoga app for my yoga sessions, and I can highly recommend it. You can redeem a free month of Skill Yoga by using this link: https://www.skill-yoga.com/getcoachnow?c=jonne
Take a cold shower
This is one of my favorite habits of all time. Cold showers are probably the fastest and most efficient way to increase your alertness and mood - it only takes like 10 seconds.
Daytime habits
No caffeine or stimulants after 3pm
To ensure that you get quality sleep, you should aim to stop consuming stimulants after 3pm.
Exercise
Regular exercise is a sure way to boost your mood and increase your energy. Doing it every single day makes it an automatic part of your day, which is highly beneficial for your well-being.
Evening habits
Set an ”evening boundary”
Two hours before you go to sleep stop all work-related tasks and only focus on easing your mind and preparing for bed.
Make chamomile tea
Chamomile tea is known to make you feel more relaxed, so it's an awesome drink to have before bed. If you're feeling wild, you can add a teaspoon of honey in your drink - that will help your body release melatonin.
Plan your tomorrow
And while you're sipping your chamomile tea, what better is there to do than to plan the following day? A simple way to do it is to set 3 important tasks for tomorrow and then schedule your day around those tasks.
Read a (fiction) book
And finally, to ease yourself to sleep, you can try reading a book. I prefer fiction, as non-fiction books tend to fill my head with ideas, which will prevent me from falling asleep.
Brain Pick
A Map Is Not The Territory
A common flaw in thinking is to think that ”a map is the territory”, i.e. a model accurately represents the reality.
Maps, however, are always abstractions and simplifications of reality – that’s their function.
Think about it: if the map would be the reality, there would be no need for the map. How inconvenient would it be to have a map with a scale of one mile to one mile? You’d need a truck just to carry the map around.
However, maps are useful and we need maps as guides: there’s no other way to understand the world around us. Even though maps can never fully represent reality, they are accurate enough so that we can use them to observe and alter the reality they represent.
So the problem isn’t that we are using maps – the problem is that we often forget their limits.
You need to know the limits of your map before you use it.
To use a map correctly, we should keep three things in mind:
Reality should update the map.
Consider why and by whom the map was created.
Maps can (but maybe shouldn’t) influence reality.
Article Pick
"After 10 Years Studying Sleep, the U.S. Military Just Revealed Something Eye-Opening About Caffeine" by Inc. Magazine
"... U.S. has spent decades studying sleep deprivation. Now, they’ve pulled it all together in a mathematical formula that can help anyone — military or civilian — figure out the optimal amount of caffeine they need in order to stay alert."
Updates
Is this the hardest running workout ever?
I tried running at Eliud Kipchoge's world record marathon pace (4:34/mile) for as long as I could. I ended up looking like a wet noodle.
You can watch the attempt here.
I'm starting a blog series about mental models!
I'm on a quest to learn the most important mental models. I'll share the mental models on my blog.
Read about the first mental model.
The Unlazy Club has reached 500 members!
You can join the club here.