Perfect daily routine for students [full guide]

Summary

The speaker discusses the importance of establishing a personalized daily routine, emphasizing the need to identify 'win the day' tasks and structure the day around them. They suggest starting with a basic structure, gradually improving it, and standardizing repetitive decisions to conserve energy. The speaker also highlights the value of experimentation in optimizing one's routine for maximum productivity.

Takeaways

• 😴 Morning routines can be overwhelming, but finding a personalized routine is crucial for productivity and satisfaction.
• 🏃‍♂️ Not everyone thrives on early mornings or marathons; it's about finding what works for you, similar to choosing the right music genre.
• 📅 Structure your day around the 'win the day' tasks – those few key activities that make you feel productive if accomplished.
• 🌞 Identify when you work best and schedule your most important tasks during those times for optimal productivity.
• 📝 Keep your routine flexible and non-restrictive by focusing on the big tasks and not micromanaging every minute of your day.
• 🔄 Be prepared to fail and adjust; starting with a routine and achieving even a small percentage of it is better than no routine at all.
• 🌱 Gradually improve your routine by increasing the percentage of your 'perfect day' that you achieve over time.
• 🛑 Standardize repetitive decisions like what to wear or when to eat to conserve mental energy and focus on more important tasks.
• 🔧 Optimize your routine through experimentation, finding what works best for you in terms of time, location, and activities.
• 🏋️‍♀️ Balance structure with flexibility, ensuring your routine is both effective and enjoyable, and not overly rigid or restrictive.
• 📱 Consider using digital tools like WhatsApp for convenience in managing and updating your routine, but also weigh the benefits of physical checklists for the satisfaction of ticking off tasks.

Q & A

What is the speaker's initial attitude towards morning routines and why?

The speaker initially finds morning routines difficult to follow, often giving up after a few days. They attribute this to a distaste for routines, possibly developed from the restrictive timetables in school.

Why does the speaker believe routines are like music?

The speaker compares routines to music because everyone likes music, but they need to find the genre that suits their taste. Similarly, finding a routine that is optimized and fits an individual's preferences is key to making it work for them.

What are the three steps the speaker suggests to set up a long-term routine?

The three steps are: 1) Identifying 'win the day' tasks that make the day feel productive, 2) Structuring the day around these tasks, and 3) Adjusting the mindset to accept and gradually improve the routine.

What does the speaker mean by 'win the day' tasks?

'Win the day' tasks are the most important tasks that, if completed, would make the day feel productive and successful, regardless of anything else done during the day.

How does the speaker structure their day around 'win the day' tasks?

The speaker structures their day by placing the 'win the day' tasks during the time they work best, such as mornings, and leaving blocks of time for other activities, focusing on the big tasks rather than minute details.

Why does the speaker emphasize not dictating every single second of the day?

The speaker believes that dictating every second of the day can make the routine feel restrictive, similar to school timetables. Instead, they suggest focusing on the big tasks and leaving flexibility for other activities.

What is the speaker's approach to handling failure in following a routine?

The speaker acknowledges that failure is part of the process and suggests being okay with not achieving 100% of the perfect day. They encourage starting with small percentages and gradually improving over time.

What is the significance of the mindset mentioned in step two of the speaker's routine setup?

The mindset in step two is about accepting that perfection is not achievable at first and that even doing a small percentage of the perfect day is better than not having a routine at all. It's about progressive improvement and being grateful for incremental progress.

What does the speaker mean by 'standardizing' in the context of routines?

Standardizing refers to making one-time decisions for repetitive tasks, such as what to wear or when to eat, to conserve time and energy. This helps in reducing the cognitive load of making small decisions every day.

How does the speaker approach optimization in their routine?

The speaker approaches optimization through experimentation, trying different factors like the time of day or location for tasks, and then adjusting based on what works best for them.

What advice does the speaker give regarding the simplicity of a routine?

The speaker advises keeping the routine simple, focusing on removing unnecessary elements rather than adding more. They emphasize that simplicity is usually key to making a routine sustainable and enjoyable.

What is the speaker's method for recording their daily routine?

The speaker records their daily routine in a WhatsApp group chat with only themselves, which allows for easy access and modification on their phone, rather than using a physical notebook.

Outlines

00:00

🏃‍♂️ Embracing Personalized Routines

The speaker discusses the challenge of following strict routines and how they initially struggled with the idea of adhering to a daily schedule. They liken routines to music, suggesting that finding the right 'genre' or type of routine that suits an individual is crucial. The speaker shares their personal approach to creating a routine that they could stick to long-term, emphasizing the importance of identifying 'win the day' tasks – those few critical tasks that, if completed, make the day feel productive. They also highlight the importance of structuring the day around these tasks, adapting the routine to one's most productive times of the day. The speaker uses a WhatsApp group chat with themselves as a tool to easily manage and visualize their daily tasks, suggesting a flexible yet structured approach to routine.

05:01

🌟 Mindset Shift for Routine Success

In this paragraph, the speaker addresses the common mindset challenges associated with establishing and maintaining routines. They acknowledge that failure to follow a routine perfectly is normal and encourage viewers to be okay with not achieving 100% adherence initially. The speaker suggests that even partially following a structured day is significantly better than an unstructured, average day. They emphasize the importance of progressive improvement, gradually increasing the percentage of the 'perfect day' one can achieve. The speaker also discusses the concept of 'short sprints' of high-intensity work followed by rest periods, suggesting this as an effective way to structure one's day for maximum productivity.

10:01

🛠️ Standardizing and Optimizing Daily Routines

The speaker delves into the process of standardizing and optimizing daily routines. They explain that standardization involves making one-time decisions for recurring tasks, such as deciding what to wear or when to eat, to save mental energy. The speaker suggests creating a list of these standardized tasks to streamline the routine. Once standardization is achieved, optimization comes through experimentation and adjusting various factors to find what works best for the individual. The speaker shares their personal experience of finding the best time and conditions for recording videos, highlighting the importance of simplicity in routines. They encourage viewers to focus on important tasks and remove unnecessary elements to maintain a straightforward and effective routine.

Keywords

💡Routine

A routine refers to a regular sequence of actions or tasks that one follows daily. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of developing a personal routine that is optimized for oneself, rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. The concept is central to the video's theme, emphasizing the need to find a routine that suits individual preferences and work habits.

💡Morning Routine

Morning routine is the set of activities one performs in the morning to start the day. The speaker mentions that they work best in the morning and thus structure their most important tasks during this time. This highlights the idea that identifying one's peak productivity hours and aligning key tasks with those hours can significantly enhance daily productivity.

💡Win the Day Tasks

Win the day tasks are the critical activities that, if completed, make the day feel productive and successful. The speaker suggests identifying these tasks and structuring the day around them. This concept is pivotal in the video as it helps in focusing on what truly matters and achieving a sense of accomplishment.

💡Structure

Structure in the context of the video refers to the arrangement or organization of one's daily activities. The speaker emphasizes the importance of structuring the day around the win the day tasks, suggesting that this approach can help in maintaining focus and productivity. It is a key strategy for building an effective routine.

💡Deep Work

Deep work is a term used to describe focused, uninterrupted work that is free from distractions. The speaker mentions deep work as part of their morning routine, indicating that dedicating specific blocks of time for such work can lead to higher quality output and better productivity.

💡Standardizing

Standardizing, as discussed in the video, involves making one-time decisions for repetitive tasks to save time and mental energy. The speaker gives examples like deciding what to wear or when to eat, suggesting that standardizing these decisions can help in reducing daily decision fatigue and allowing more focus on important tasks.

💡Optimizing

Optimizing in the video refers to the process of fine-tuning one's routine based on experimentation and personal preferences. The speaker talks about optimizing their video recording conditions, indicating that through trial and error, one can find the most effective setup for their specific needs.

💡Incremental Progress

Incremental progress is the idea of making small, gradual improvements over time. The speaker encourages viewers to start with a small percentage of their ideal routine and gradually increase it, highlighting that even small steps can lead to significant changes in habits and productivity.

💡Mindset

Mindset in the video is about the attitude and approach one takes towards establishing and maintaining a routine. The speaker discusses the importance of being okay with not achieving 100% of the perfect day and instead focusing on incremental improvements. This mindset is crucial for sustaining motivation and avoiding burnout.

💡Simplicity

Simplicity is emphasized as a key principle in designing an effective routine. The speaker advises keeping things simple and focusing on the essentials, suggesting that a clutter-free routine is easier to maintain and more likely to be effective. Simplicity is presented as a guiding principle in the process of standardizing and optimizing one's routine.

Highlights

The importance of finding a personal routine that suits individual preferences, rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach.

The concept of 'win the day tasks' which are the key activities that make a day productive.

Structuring the day around the most important tasks to ensure they are completed.

The idea that routines should be flexible and not overly rigid, similar to how people enjoy different types of music.

Using a WhatsApp group chat with oneself to easily manage and update daily routines.

Focusing on the big tasks and leaving blocks of time free for other activities.

The belief that short sprints of high-intensity work followed by rest periods are most effective.

The mindset of accepting failure as a part of the process and gradually improving over time.

The concept of 'onetime decisions' to reduce daily decision fatigue and conserve mental energy.

Standardizing routine tasks like sleep and wake times to simplify daily choices.

The process of optimizing a routine through experimentation and finding what works best for the individual.

The importance of simplicity in routines and the idea of removing unnecessary elements to focus on what's essential.

The suggestion to start with a basic routine and gradually add complexity as one becomes more comfortable.

The idea that even doing a small part of your ideal routine can be more productive than having no routine at all.

The strategy of progressively overloading tasks to gradually increase productivity and routine adherence.

The personal anecdote about watching movies when off routine, highlighting the importance of routine for productivity.

The debate between using digital tools like WhatsApp for routine management versus the tactile satisfaction of paper checklists.

Transcripts

you know how online you can see people

with their crazy morning routines where

they wake up at like 3:00 a.m. then go

for a quick you know a quick Marathon

just to get the blood flowing

you know what I mean but I could never

follow a routine I would follow it for a

couple days like two three days and then

I would just give up I would try but I

just couldn't so I just thought oh I

guess I'm not a routine person whatever

the that means and I think I got

this distaste for Tim taes and routines

and most of us do from school because

school made timetables restrictive thing

that had just too much in it but

then I realized that's because the

routines they made was not optimized for

me it was supposed to be a cookie cookie

cutter routine that could fit the

thousands of students in the school and

so routines are like music Everyone

likes music it's just that you need to

find the music that suits your taste

that is right for you the genre that you

like so once you find a routine that's

optimized and fit for you that is how

you get the most out of it and that's

how you become a routine person so

here's how I set up my routine and stuck

to it for the long term in just three

steps all right so step one that I have

here is structure and what I thought

when I set up when I started setting up

my routine was okay there is like one or

two tasks in my day that if I did those

tasks I would classify my day as a win

like a not horrible day and I and I

named it the win the day tasks basically

if I did these tasks I would consider

the day a win and so if I just studied

exercised recorded one YouTube video I

would class that day as a productive day

like not as a waste even if I did

nothing else for the rest of the day I

would still consider that day as a win

so what are your win the day tasks maybe

it's studying maybe it's the gym write

them down and really clarify why they

are the most important tasks and this is

going to be the most important sentence

for this part that I've written down

structure your day around the win the

day tasks I'll say that again structure

your day around the win the day tasks

and so the way I structure is I work

best in the morning so I'm going to put

most of those tasks in the morning if

you work best at night put at night if

you work best in the afternoon put in

the afternoon you get what I'm saying

right to help you visualize here is like

literally the timetable I'm using for

today and also to make the routine seem

as least intimidating and as less rigid

as possible I used to write it down on

like a notepad but now I just write it

in a WhatsApp group chat with just

myself in it so I just text myself and

it's good because I can bring whenever I

wherever I go because it's just on my

phone so I would just open like WhatsApp

at night and it takes like 2 minutes

because I can copy paste from the

previous day like the same routine copy

paste cuz most of my days repeat anyway

right so here it is morning deep work

we're going to record this video from 8

to 9:30 then we're going to study with

some practice papers I actually have

them on my desk right

now that's another 3 hours from 9:30 to

12

in the afternoon going to have lunch gym

then just around for a bit dinner

and then at night we're going to do

practice papers for another hour and a

half so that's 3 hours and 30 minutes in

the morning that's 1 hour and 30 minutes

at night that's 5 hours of deep work

total in the whole day um editing rough

here but I forgot to mention that on

that day I also uploaded a video like

that was one of my win the day tasks so

just mentally put it in cuz I forgot to

say that but yeah all right um

transition and then the afternoon's just

for me to like around a bit and

just relax right and so some important

things I want to highlight firstly

notice how I structured it around the

big task I didn't write wake up I didn't

write drink coffee I didn't write brush

teeth I'm just going to focus on the big

task I don't have to write you know

749 to 750 walk from toilet to

bedroom like that's not you know that's

not needed that sounds like something

school would do and dictate every single

second which is what makes it feel

restricting so instead of that instead

of dictating your time in every single

second just block out time for work and

then block out time for other things

because I just want to focus on those

big task and the time in between them

doesn't really mattered much to me so

for example if I spent 2 hours here

studying and afterwards there's a bit of

a block that block is just free and I

also leave these blocks because maybe I

spend 2 hours studying but I will

overshoot the time I intend to do it for

2 hours but actually takes me 3 hours

well that's safe because I have this

block here as extra time so structure

day around those important tasks you

don't have to write those smaller things

you can if you want and then the second

thing is notice how I've structured my

day with a short Sprint of 3 hours okay

that's not that's not very short but

like 3 hours of work in the morning

afternoon is just rest and then in the

night I do another short Sprint of work

which is what I it's one of my beliefs

right if you see my burnout video this

one right here I work best when I have a

short Sprint of high intensity work

followed by long periods of rest and so

because of this I have two short Sprints

and one recovery if you want just one

short Sprint and one recovery that's

also possible it depends on how much you

need to get done so yeah just to

summarize focus on the important task

and then in between the important tasks

have long periods of rest and put the

important tasks at the time that you

work best so if you work best in the

morning put in the morning all right so

step two is mindset and the important

thing to know is that you will fail like

when you set up this perfect day there's

no way you're going to get it first try

and what used to happen is that I'll set

up the perfect day I would follow it for

like 10% of the time I of the three

things I would only do one thing and I

was like oh I failed because I didn't

finish everything right but then I

thought okay let me think about my

average day like the normal average day

think about your average day right where

you did nothing you just passively

consumed for the whole day you just

switch places where you consumed so you

consume on your black computer

chair looking at your laptop and then

you go to your bed on your phone then

you go to the couch watch on your phone

then come back to your computer chair

that's like your average day if you

didn't have any structure any routine

guess what I'm trying to make you

remember those days but the thing is I

don't even remember any of those days

because they are so forgettable because

nothing happened like that's how

forgettable it is so basically what I'm

trying to say is that if you just follow

your perfect day even 10% of the time

that is still far better than your

average day so for now if you're just

starting be okay with 10% Like honestly

right now I get so much done in in the

morning that for the rest of the day I

kind of just around and slack

because you know in the afternoon you

get that afternoon slump where at 2:00

p.m. your brain doesn't work you want to

lie down and everything like I'm not

productive during that time so like my

morning routine is good my afternoon is

like kind of up then my nighttime

routine is good so it's like two out of

three right two out of three that is 66

6666666 6% just round it up to 70%

because I'm not a nerd so I've

done 70% of my perfect day should I be

sad that I didn't finish 100% of it of

course not right like I've been been on

self-improvement for a year I've only

started thinking about routines and

everything probably 6 months into that

so in 6 months I've gone from 0% off my

perfect day to

70% so if you're starting right now you

cannot expect to do 100% And I see 70%

as an absolute win so just be grateful

um this week do 10% next week do 20% the

week after that you get the gist right

so basically going to progressively

overload this I say this in every video

but that is the basis of selfimprovement

when you start you start small and you

develop as time goes on just have the

mindset of doing a little bit better

than last week or last month so if last

month you did 20% of your perfect day

this week or this month do 30% that's it

and think of how easy that is

bro like if you want to do 10% of your

perfect day 10% of 24 hours is 2.4 hours

you just need to not up 2.4 hours

the rest of the day the other 22 hours

you can do whatever the you want

that's fine and you'll still make

progress for someone like like for me to

get to make progress I have to finish

80% of my perfect day I have to get like

what's 80% of 24

bro 19.2 I need to I need to get 19

hours of my day correct for me what is

the camera like that like for me I need

to get 19 hours on my day correct for me

to make progress for you you just need

two hours come on just need you can

up the rest bro let's chill basically

aim for 100% but be okay with those

little incremental bits and see them as

just small winds on the way to getting

your perfect day step three

standardizing and optimizing that rhymes

so um bars all right we're going to

focus on standardizing first so

standardizing is when you make this

thing called a onetime decision a

onetime decision is like this you know

every day you make small decisions like

when to eat what to eat what to wear

these things take up a little bit of

time and energy think about it like if

you think of what to eat every single

day that's three times a day that saps a

little bit of time a little bit of

energy three times a day 21 times a week

90 times a month you have to think about

that if you took all that energy and

like you harnessed it and you put it

into one thing you'll probably do like

an extra practice paper of work you know

you know what I mean right the energy of

that could be Consolidated to equal like

one practice paper worth of work so for

those small tasks just standardize it so

that you don't have to think about it

anymore you can conserve a little bit of

energy here and there so for example for

these videos I don't think about what to

wear I just wear a hoodie why because

I've standardized it because better to

think about my hair and I don't have to

worry about that before recording and

during recording it's a lot easier and

the biggest thing that most people don't

standardize is what time you sleep and

wake up that's the easiest one to

standardize so for me I just set a range

of what time I will sleep and wake up so

I sleep at around 10: to 11:00 I wake up

at around 6:00 to 7:00 for things like

wake up time what to wear what when to

eat just standardize them put them into

a list so that you know everything that

you need to do and one of my favorite

quotes here is standardized before you

optimize so once you've standardized it

once you've set a lot of things in stone

now you can optimize and optimization

comes from experimentation let me give

you an example so I've recorded videos

at my desk here I've recorded videos on

that chair over there I've recorded

videos outside I've recorded videos in

the morning I've recorded videos at

night I've recorded videos in afternoon

I've changed so many different factors

that I can look at them and be like yep

I produce the best videos when I work

8:30 to 9:30 specifically in in my room

that's the best conditions for me and

the only way that I could like

realistically find out that information

is if I experiment and try different

things so think about it I it took me 6

months of recording videos to find out

oh yeah this is the best spot and so

when I wake up I try finishing

everything by 9:30 because that is the

time that I work the best and so

basically the way I imagine it is when

you standardize you're setting things in

stone so Lally imagine like a

stone like marble right and to optimize

it's like carving away at the thing that

you've built to make like a sculpture

like a mecha Angelo whatever the

right when you optimize you're chipping

away at it changing different things to

make it a perfect like sculpture that's

optimized specifically for you not for

anyone else cuz this setting works best

for me but it might not work for you one

thing that I've written here is

Simplicity is usually key so if you keep

things simple if you're ever at a

Crossroads and you side on the side of

Simplicity you're generally correct so

don't try to fill up your timetable once

you have everything set up take things

away try to remove things don't think of

what I can add think about what I can

take away so that I can focus more on

the important stuff so for example my

morning routine my old one used to have

like 50 steps to it now it has three

wake up drink coffee

sunlight that's it that's my three steps

I wake up I get coffee and I drink the

coffee outside in the sun so that I get

some sunlight exposure and I go to work

cuz that is my

only non-negotiable and that's because

it work works best for me and I just

want to start work as quickly as

possible if for you you test out

different things and you put in

meditation and meditation works really

well then keep meditation in your

morning routine like honestly I just

want to get to work as quickly as

possible if I could wake up and just

start work with stinky morning breath I

would but that's not optimized for me if

it is for you like genuinely just do

that and I think after this step this is

when you start getting that fun feeling

in your routine instead of the rigid

restrictive feeling because it's

optimized for you it's specifically made

for you now and that's also why I'm not

going to give too many specifics on my

daily routine like all the little things

I do because it's optimized for me not

for you all right mind your own

business you pay me like $5 I might be

able to give it to you like all right so

here are the actionable steps for you

firstly what are your important task the

win the day tasks if you just did these

tasks and nothing else you would still

consider the day a win focus on these

tasks second for the other tasks in your

day so other than the win the day tasks

the rest standardize them try to make it

as as easy as possible to do them

without much thought time or energy and

then finally once you have these things

in stone number three change a couple

things change up the time switch some

things around and find the thing that

works best for you like the thing is at

the end of the day right when I'm off my

routine like a couple months ago I went

to like my mom's house and when I was

there I watched like five movies in a

row for the first time in a year five

movies in a row I I don't even watch

movies so I think that shows that when

I'm off my routine I'm just a normal

person that doges and just around

right but when I'm on my routine nothing

can take me out of it so uh yeah go

build your routine and take

[Music]

action on a side note though should I

still stay with like my routine on

WhatsApp or should I write my routine on

paper cuz the thing is right on WhatsApp

when I write my routine I can copy paste

on the previous day which makes it super

convenient and also when I walk around

outside I'm not bringing my notebook

with me but I always have my phone so I

can always check my routine there

but on paper you know when you finish a

task you always want to like cross it

out like this like some people they do

it like this for me when I finish the

task I like I want to like destroy that

it feels super satisfying right so

should I do it on paper for the

satisfying feel or should I do it on

WhatsApp cuz on WhatsApp you can't do

that you can't like cross out

the screen right just oh I'm

done I don't know though I think I'll

I'll stick with WhatsApp for now but you

give me your thoughts all

right all right give me a

kiss