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The main thing that has really impacted my productivity and happiness is following a set routine for an hour whenever I get up. So I do the following : 1. Br

The main thing that has really impacted my productivity and happiness is following a set routine for an hour whenever I get up. So I do the following : 1. Brush 2. Meditate - 15 minutes 3. Write - I usually write "3 things that I am grateful for" and "3 things to focus on that particular day" 4. Exercise - 15 minute run I do this whenever I get up. So it's not like I get up at 6 in the morning everyday. I just get up 6 hours after sleeping. The advice was given one one of Tim Ferris' podcast and has done wonders for me. I would highly recommend trying it out. Start small. If 15 minutes of anything is too much start with 5 minutes. That's what I did.

dsugarman 10y ago
6 hours is not enough sleep
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  It is for some people, and it isn't for others, which is why this kind of generic advice is amazing if it fits you exactly, and awful if it doesn't. I can function on six hours, but not well. I also can't easily take 15 minutes to meditate in the morning, because I have a two month old baby I have to help care for in the mornings. This somewhat limits my ability to meditate and exercise.
  - manibatra 10y ago
    I second that! I have tried sleeping for 8 hours and I just end up feeling sluggish all day. Less than 6 hours has the same effect. 6 hours just happens to hit the sweet spot. I would suggest meditating anytime in the day. I dont believe that it specifically has to be in the morning. It could be a placebo but just sitting still for a bit does some to help.
    - gooseus 10y ago
      I don't know how true this is, but it's something I've found true for myself... I've read (or heard) that your sleep cycle is 90 minutes down to deep sleep and back, so it's best to get up after some multiple of 90 minutes because that's when you'll have cycled back to the lightest sleep. So typically I either get 6 hours or 7.5 hours of sleep a night, though if I ended up getting 3 or 4.5 one night I'll sometimes try to get 9 the next night. If I can't get at least 3 hours of sleep, I just stay up. So it's possible the problem with 8 hours is that you're trying to wake up in the middle of a cycle and thus the sluggishness. Or maybe I'm just spreading pseudo-science.
      - manibatra 10y ago
        I have heard that too but never really got down to testing it out. In fact I have resigned to the fact that when it comes to sleep to each their own. For eg I have experienced better quality of sleep after taking ZMA ( I weight train ). But I have heard anecdotes where people have said that its just a placebo.
        visarga 10y ago
        I take Magnesium every day, it has helped my sleep tremendously. I am more relaxed and less stressed during the day, too. It's like I am 10 years younger.
        Scarbutt 10y ago
        A what time do you take the magnesium?
      - melvinmt 10y ago
        > I've read (or heard) that your sleep cycle is 90 minutes down to deep sleep and back, so it's best to get up after some multiple of 90 minutes because that's when you'll have cycled back to the lightest sleep. That's basically how http://sleepyti.me http://sleepyti.me works.
  - akovaski 10y ago
    I don't really understand how your baby makes it difficult to take 15 minutes to meditate, because I would imagine you were sleeping in increments longer than 15 minutes. So why is this? Is the baby waking up when you wake up?
    - pavel_lishin 10y ago
      > Is the baby waking up when you wake up? It's more accurate to say that I wake up when the baby wakes up - I hear her start to stir because she's hungry/awake, and that rouses me. But yeah, she also tends to wake up when one of us does in the morning, unless we're very quiet, since she's just about slept out at those times. I tend to also let my wife sleep in and take care of the kid in the morning, since she takes care of her all day, and half of the night. It seems unfair to dump the kid on her in the morning, too, while I exercise and meditate. > I would imagine you were sleeping in increments longer than 15 minutes Some bad nights, you'd be surprised.
      - jamiepenney 10y ago
        I've been getting up earlier so I have some time before my kid wakes up. He's adjusted to my earlier schedule now so all that's happened is I'm doing his breakfast at 6:30 instead of 7. Hard to keep quiet in a 2 bedroom house where the shower is right next to his room unfortunately.
      - kevinskii 10y ago
        I would have wondered the same thing 3 years ago: Can it really be that hard to find 15 minutes to meditate when you have a young kid? It turns out that, yes, it can.
      - wiredfool 10y ago
        Between three kids 2.5 yrs apart each, I think I went more than eight years never getting a reliable night sleep at home. Maybe once or twice a month did I manage to fall asleep and not get woken up for some reason.
      - marcusgarvey 10y ago
  - duaneb 10y ago
    Six hours feels like you can function, until you can't. I think i remember seeing that people who could reliably function with just six hours exist but are vanishingly rare. Juat be honest with yourself.
    - barry-cotter 10y ago
      It depends on the person. Need for sleep follows a normal distribution in terms of what you require. Natural short sleepers who only need 4.5 hours exist. Most people who sleep that much are chronically sleep deprived but there are people who just genuinely don't need that much sleep. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000804.htm https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000804.htm I'm not a short sleeper but I need closer to seven hours sleep a night than eight.
- paulsutter 10y ago
  You ignored his central point (that a morning routine helps set his focus for the day), and latched on to perhaps the least important piece of information in his post (the specific amount of sleep that works for him). If you really feel the need to disagree, you might suggest better activities or make a compelling case that focus is considered harmful.
- squeaky-clean 10y ago
  Everyone needs different amounts of sleep, and 6 hours is right for some. Try telling Elon Musk that he doesn't get enough sleep. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2rgsan/i_am_elon_musk_ceocto_of_a_rocket_company_ama/cnfqekk https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2rgsan/i_am_elon_musk...
- restalis 10y ago
  AFAIK, it's more about the amount of complete REM cycles. The sleep gets more and more "shallow" in a continuous session. Six-hour night sleep session and a nap at noon may be more efficient than an eight-hour night sleep.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
dominotw 10y ago
Would you mind sharing how long you have done this for.
- manibatra 10y ago
  5 months. I started with meditating and running for 5 minutes each and increased it every two weeks or more whenever I felt like it. As mentioned doing 15 minutes of each now. Got my dad to do the same. I actually made him start with just 1 minute of each. He is upto 10 minutes after a month. Plus has started weight training. He is 60. I guess the main takeaway is do the smallest possible interval you can ( have no excuses to not do) and don't beat yourself about it. Build it up gradually
  - chris11 10y ago
    Is this from the tinyhabits program? It sounds like BJ Fogg's method for creating new habits.
    - manibatra 10y ago
      Not sure where I read it and I have not heard of the tinyhabits program. Will surely have a look.
      - chris11 10y ago
        You should, I went through it and found it really useful. The main ideas in the program is to start extremely small then celebrate and consciously practice doing that habit for a few days. The tiny part is literal, he suggests taking the smallest possible unit and making sure it's less than 30 seconds. For instance if the habit was brushing your teeth you would just need to consciously practice brushing one tooth. And then the celebration is equally tiny, such as just saying "awesome" when you consciously do something. It sounds kind of corny, but it's effective. The idea is to get your brain to automatically associate a new habit with a really tiny action that will instantly give you a reward. So if you wanted to create a habit of brushing your teeth after getting up, you'll do it without much though even thought you only consciously brushed one tooth when you were trying to create the habit.
epalmer 10y ago
We do 3 good things at the dinner table. What is good? 1) Why is it good? 2) Why did it happen? Some of them are a result of direct or indirect action. I studied more. Some are a result of external events. The sunset was fantastic because God decided we needed a great sunset. This has done wonders for my kids (now mostly grown) in relating their action to positive outcomes. We don't practice this much anymore but should get back to it. My wife and I exercise for 45 to 60 minutes 5 days a week, most weeks. We rise at 4:30 AM and are done and home by 6:30. We go to bed really early. We are 62 (myself) and 57 and the exercise is helping us a lot with health, vitality and positive outlook. Somedays it is hard to get up and go. It is always a good thing when we are done and we are grateful we went to the gym. I strive for 7+ hours of sleep. I mediate some, mostly at lunch time.
- manibatra 10y ago
  That is really great! Being grateful everyday does increase general level of happiness over time I guess.
Scarbutt 10y ago
What do you brush?
- manibatra 10y ago
  My teeth haha! I just listed it down as it is sort of a trigger to follow up with other things.
Devthrowaway80 10y ago
Interestingly enough, this is the same routine I've had recommended in AA (minus the exercise, it's an old program). Wake up, immediate meditation/prayer and a gratitude list. Only things missing is contemplating what you need to do today to be a better person at the beginning of the day and reflecting on what you did well and could've done better when you go to sleep. An excerpt from the portion referred to as "On Awakening": "When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken."

dsugarman 10y ago

6 hours is not enough sleep

pavel_lishin 10y ago
It is for some people, and it isn't for others, which is why this kind of generic advice is amazing if it fits you exactly, and awful if it doesn't. I can function on six hours, but not well. I also can't easily take 15 minutes to meditate in the morning, because I have a two month old baby I have to help care for in the mornings. This somewhat limits my ability to meditate and exercise.
- manibatra 10y ago
  I second that! I have tried sleeping for 8 hours and I just end up feeling sluggish all day. Less than 6 hours has the same effect. 6 hours just happens to hit the sweet spot. I would suggest meditating anytime in the day. I dont believe that it specifically has to be in the morning. It could be a placebo but just sitting still for a bit does some to help.
  - gooseus 10y ago
    I don't know how true this is, but it's something I've found true for myself... I've read (or heard) that your sleep cycle is 90 minutes down to deep sleep and back, so it's best to get up after some multiple of 90 minutes because that's when you'll have cycled back to the lightest sleep. So typically I either get 6 hours or 7.5 hours of sleep a night, though if I ended up getting 3 or 4.5 one night I'll sometimes try to get 9 the next night. If I can't get at least 3 hours of sleep, I just stay up. So it's possible the problem with 8 hours is that you're trying to wake up in the middle of a cycle and thus the sluggishness. Or maybe I'm just spreading pseudo-science.
    - manibatra 10y ago
      I have heard that too but never really got down to testing it out. In fact I have resigned to the fact that when it comes to sleep to each their own. For eg I have experienced better quality of sleep after taking ZMA ( I weight train ). But I have heard anecdotes where people have said that its just a placebo.
      - visarga 10y ago
        I take Magnesium every day, it has helped my sleep tremendously. I am more relaxed and less stressed during the day, too. It's like I am 10 years younger.
        Scarbutt 10y ago
        A what time do you take the magnesium?
    - melvinmt 10y ago
      > I've read (or heard) that your sleep cycle is 90 minutes down to deep sleep and back, so it's best to get up after some multiple of 90 minutes because that's when you'll have cycled back to the lightest sleep. That's basically how http://sleepyti.me http://sleepyti.me works.
- akovaski 10y ago
  I don't really understand how your baby makes it difficult to take 15 minutes to meditate, because I would imagine you were sleeping in increments longer than 15 minutes. So why is this? Is the baby waking up when you wake up?
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    > Is the baby waking up when you wake up? It's more accurate to say that I wake up when the baby wakes up - I hear her start to stir because she's hungry/awake, and that rouses me. But yeah, she also tends to wake up when one of us does in the morning, unless we're very quiet, since she's just about slept out at those times. I tend to also let my wife sleep in and take care of the kid in the morning, since she takes care of her all day, and half of the night. It seems unfair to dump the kid on her in the morning, too, while I exercise and meditate. > I would imagine you were sleeping in increments longer than 15 minutes Some bad nights, you'd be surprised.
    - jamiepenney 10y ago
      I've been getting up earlier so I have some time before my kid wakes up. He's adjusted to my earlier schedule now so all that's happened is I'm doing his breakfast at 6:30 instead of 7. Hard to keep quiet in a 2 bedroom house where the shower is right next to his room unfortunately.
    - kevinskii 10y ago
      I would have wondered the same thing 3 years ago: Can it really be that hard to find 15 minutes to meditate when you have a young kid? It turns out that, yes, it can.
    - wiredfool 10y ago
      Between three kids 2.5 yrs apart each, I think I went more than eight years never getting a reliable night sleep at home. Maybe once or twice a month did I manage to fall asleep and not get woken up for some reason.
    - marcusgarvey 10y ago
- duaneb 10y ago
  Six hours feels like you can function, until you can't. I think i remember seeing that people who could reliably function with just six hours exist but are vanishingly rare. Juat be honest with yourself.
  - barry-cotter 10y ago
    It depends on the person. Need for sleep follows a normal distribution in terms of what you require. Natural short sleepers who only need 4.5 hours exist. Most people who sleep that much are chronically sleep deprived but there are people who just genuinely don't need that much sleep. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000804.htm https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000804.htm I'm not a short sleeper but I need closer to seven hours sleep a night than eight.
paulsutter 10y ago
You ignored his central point (that a morning routine helps set his focus for the day), and latched on to perhaps the least important piece of information in his post (the specific amount of sleep that works for him). If you really feel the need to disagree, you might suggest better activities or make a compelling case that focus is considered harmful.
squeaky-clean 10y ago
Everyone needs different amounts of sleep, and 6 hours is right for some. Try telling Elon Musk that he doesn't get enough sleep. https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2rgsan/i_am_elon_musk_ceocto_of_a_rocket_company_ama/cnfqekk https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2rgsan/i_am_elon_musk...
restalis 10y ago
AFAIK, it's more about the amount of complete REM cycles. The sleep gets more and more "shallow" in a continuous session. Six-hour night sleep session and a nap at noon may be more efficient than an eight-hour night sleep.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

dominotw 10y ago

Would you mind sharing how long you have done this for.

manibatra 10y ago
5 months. I started with meditating and running for 5 minutes each and increased it every two weeks or more whenever I felt like it. As mentioned doing 15 minutes of each now. Got my dad to do the same. I actually made him start with just 1 minute of each. He is upto 10 minutes after a month. Plus has started weight training. He is 60. I guess the main takeaway is do the smallest possible interval you can ( have no excuses to not do) and don't beat yourself about it. Build it up gradually
- chris11 10y ago
  Is this from the tinyhabits program? It sounds like BJ Fogg's method for creating new habits.
  - manibatra 10y ago
    Not sure where I read it and I have not heard of the tinyhabits program. Will surely have a look.
    - chris11 10y ago
      You should, I went through it and found it really useful. The main ideas in the program is to start extremely small then celebrate and consciously practice doing that habit for a few days. The tiny part is literal, he suggests taking the smallest possible unit and making sure it's less than 30 seconds. For instance if the habit was brushing your teeth you would just need to consciously practice brushing one tooth. And then the celebration is equally tiny, such as just saying "awesome" when you consciously do something. It sounds kind of corny, but it's effective. The idea is to get your brain to automatically associate a new habit with a really tiny action that will instantly give you a reward. So if you wanted to create a habit of brushing your teeth after getting up, you'll do it without much though even thought you only consciously brushed one tooth when you were trying to create the habit.

epalmer 10y ago

We do 3 good things at the dinner table. What is good? 1) Why is it good? 2) Why did it happen? Some of them are a result of direct or indirect action. I studied more. Some are a result of external events. The sunset was fantastic because God decided we needed a great sunset. This has done wonders for my kids (now mostly grown) in relating their action to positive outcomes. We don't practice this much anymore but should get back to it. My wife and I exercise for 45 to 60 minutes 5 days a week, most weeks. We rise at 4:30 AM and are done and home by 6:30. We go to bed really early. We are 62 (myself) and 57 and the exercise is helping us a lot with health, vitality and positive outlook. Somedays it is hard to get up and go. It is always a good thing when we are done and we are grateful we went to the gym. I strive for 7+ hours of sleep. I mediate some, mostly at lunch time.

manibatra 10y ago
That is really great! Being grateful everyday does increase general level of happiness over time I guess.

Scarbutt 10y ago

What do you brush?

manibatra 10y ago
My teeth haha! I just listed it down as it is sort of a trigger to follow up with other things.

Devthrowaway80 10y ago

Interestingly enough, this is the same routine I've had recommended in AA (minus the exercise, it's an old program). Wake up, immediate meditation/prayer and a gratitude list. Only things missing is contemplating what you need to do today to be a better person at the beginning of the day and reflecting on what you did well and could've done better when you go to sleep. An excerpt from the portion referred to as "On Awakening": "When we retire at night, we constructively review our day. Were we resentful, selfish, dishonest or afraid? Do we owe an apology? Have we kept something to ourselves which should be discussed with another person at once? Were we kind and loving toward all? What could we have done better? Were we thinking of ourselves most of the time? Or were we thinking of what we could do for others, of what we could pack into the stream of life? But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others. After making our review we ask God's forgiveness and inquire what corrective measures should be taken."