Being an entrepreneur is hard work.
If you are the top 1% of business owners, chances are that you are always on offense and proactive in tweaking and experiment on business opportunities before they are needed.
You may strive to be the most hard working person you ever known. You may be inspired to hustle like Gary Vaynerchuk.
But we all have our limits.
The last thing we want is a major disruption to our productivity and the best way to avoid that is to recharge and take breaks.
After reading countless books and experimenting with certain productivity “hacks” and ways to recharge, I’ve come to the realization that the more “rules” I try to follow by, the worse off I become.
So, instead I’m writing this to give just the good stuff – the things that would actually make a difference in your life. I won’t impose a time limit or best time of day as you know yourself best.
Sleep or nap
If you couldn’t be bothered with “recharging” activities, go and take a nap instead. You can’t go wrong with that.
If you don’t have a comfortable place to lie down – sit up straight, close your eyes and breathe gently instead.
Stand and walk around more
If you work at a desk like most people, have the habit of changing positions (preferably when moving to the next task).
Get a small desk suitable for laptop use on beds and place it on your work desk. Stand up and use your laptop that way.
When you need to go the toilet, take the time to think about your ideas and avoid using your phone.
Often times, we get the best ideas when our minds are relaxed, i.e. in the shower or when running.
Your next million dollar idea might just arrive.
Meditate
This is no longer to exclusive to new age yoga lovers anymore.
Angel investors and tech influencers like Tim Ferriss and Noah Kagan have openly talked about the benefits of meditation and how it helped them to stay more focused and productive at work.
You can try apps such as Headspace for some guided meditation.
If you don’t have the patience to go through 15 minutes of guided meditation, try this – close your eyes, be mindful of your breathing and all the while keeping your mind as empty as possible and thinking of a two-syllabi-word (for me, it was fo-cus). If you are tired, just keep your mind blank instead.
Drink water (or tea)
We heard of the “8-glasses-of-water-day” before.
But why do we avoid it?
Keeping ourselves high hydrated is key to revitalizing our bodies and making sure we have ample energy when we need it.
If you find water too tasteless, opt for tea instead. Try it without sugar and drink it as is.
Exercise
The importance of exercise in productivity has recently been made popular by pop psychologists and thought leaders alike.
In fact, it has been identified as a keystone habit (a habit that changes other habits automatically).
If you are short on time and you can’t do the typical 30-45 minute gym or jogging session, try out Tabata instead.
It’s a 4 minute long bodyweight routine.
In my experience, I have found closing my eyes to be very helpful as it allows me to focus and feel how my body is feeling and contracting while exercising.
Practice gratitude
Research is showing that being productive doesn’t bring happiness but that happiness brings productivity.
A cool activity to do is to practice smiling and soon enough you will be happier. The way our bodies act sends a signal to our brain on how we should feel about something.
You can try to think about just 3 things you are grateful for.
Here’s my list:
- The warm showers
- My cool bed
- My loved ones who I get to contact everyday
Simple practices like this will make us happier.
Another thing you can do is to write an anonymous note to 2 colleagues (make sure it’s positive, of course).
Anything fun to you
Enough of my ideas, what about you?
There’s got to be one thing that you have tried that made you feel relaxed.
It may be star gazing, walking the dog, petting your cat, reading, drawing tiny objects in your room.
Whatever it is that you find fun, do more of that.