Making the most of your day goes way beyond ticking every item off a to-do list. At Activated Nutrients, we look at everything from a holistic standpoint. So, when we think about optimising every day, we take everything from nutrition to human interaction into account.
We've put together a list of ten brilliant tips from experts in the fields of business, nutrition, entrepreneurship, psychology and more. Some can be applied directly to your day and others are meant to be taken more philosophically. We'd love to hear which tips resonate with you!
Joshua Becker, Becoming Minimalist
"Be present with others. Put away distractions. Engage in conversation. Ask questions. Give time for answers. And look people in the eye when you do. Their eyes reveal far more than their words."
Amy Rees Anderson, entrepreneur, angel investor, public speaker, mentor and philanthropist "Each day we wake up and have before us a new opportunity, a blank slate that we can fill with whatever we choose. We are in total control of what we will accomplish each day. Here are a few things I have found that help me to make the most of every day: Making the most of my day really starts the night prior when I choose to go to bed at an early hour in order to allow myself to get a good night’s sleep so I can awake rested and ready to face my day. If I wake up early it helps me get a good start to the day by having time to have a good breakfast, read a few pages from an inspirational book to get my mind focused on the positive. If I can start my day with a checklist of the “must-do todays,” I can stay focused on my top priorities, and I am more likely to finish those things on this checklist before the day is done. Going into my day expecting to accomplish great things typically ensures that great things will happen."
Dr. Jaroslav Boublik (“Dr. JB”), Chief Science Officer of Activated Nutrients "According to surveys, many Australians feel that sleep is a ‘waste of time.’ But the scary truth is that chronic partial sleep loss is associated with decreased glucose tolerance, decreased leptin levels, increase in cortisol levels and adverse cardiovascular events – regardless of one’s diet and exercise habits. Dr Charles Czeisler, head of the division of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School, sums it up well: Sleep is the third pillar of health, along with exercise and eating well."
Liz Sumner, productivity coach
“If you're procrastinating on a project, it's often because you don't know the next appropriate action. Ask yourself what is it I need to Find Out, Decide, or Do? Usually the roadblock is one of those three things. What information do you need to locate? What decision is up in the air and what are the choices? What needs to be done so that the rest of the pieces fall into place? Nine times out of 10, these questions will get you moving again.”
"For 2500 years in the Zen teachings of the Buddha thoughts and emotions were viewed as both creative and destructive manifestations. Several times throughout the day, take time to mindfully inquire into what you are thinking and feeling. Is it positive, neutral or negative? If it is positive, ask how you can amplify the thoughts to harness their power and direct them into wholesome, generative activities and emotions. If it is in your personal life, how can you improve your relationships with family and friends? If it is in your work, how can you manifest more clarity and open mind thinking? When harnessing positive generative energy you can take action or effort to move forward in your life or work."
Kara Landau, certified dietitian and founder of Travelling Dietitian
“Time is your most valuable asset” has been said time and time again, and therefore one may expect that the things and the people we spend our time on or with should ultimately reflect our priorities in life. I have come to the realisation however that it is not merely time, but rather our energy, that is our most valuable asset. It is the people, work, causes, activities, and thoughts, that we invest our energy into that ultimately make up our lives, and will leave us feeling reinvigorated, or drained. Your energy is valuable, choose how you expend it wisely."
Blair Norfolk, co-founder and Managing Director of Activated Nutrients
"At Activated Nutrients, we look at health holistically. There are many contributing factors to health and vitality and we look at those factors as a whole rather than focusing on parts of the equation. We call this approach the Elements of Vitality and there are four pillars to this holistic approach:
Rest (quantity and quality of sleep)
Hydration (drink enough water)
Nutrition (balanced wholefood-based diet)
Movement (exercise and activity)
Considering all these elements in your daily life is the fastest and most sustainable approach to total wellness and getting the most out of life. I know I don't have time to get sick, have a bad night’s sleep or be functioning at any level but my very best!"
"When I'm in the office and feeling drained or unmotivated, what helps me the most is to get outside of the building and take a short and brisk walk. Clearing my head, even if it's just for five minutes, is sort of a re-boot and lets me get back inside, ready to go back to what I was working on. If I see some of my employees are also looking stuck in the moment, we'll go on a walk together and talk it out, then go back in and finish out the job for the day."
Tim Ferris, author of 4-Hour Work Week and successful entrepreneur "1) Wake up at least 1 hour before you have to be at a computer screen. E-mail is the mind killer.
2) Make a cup of tea (I like pu-erh) and sit down with a pen/pencil and paper.
3) Write down the 3-5 things — and no more — that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable. They’re often things that have been punted from one day’s to-do list to the next, to the next, to the next, and so on. Most important usually = most uncomfortable, with some chance of rejection or conflict.
4) For each item, ask yourself: “If this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?” and “Will moving this forward make all the other to-do’s unimportant or easier to knock off later?”
5) Look only at the items you’ve answered “yes” to for at least one of these questions.
6) Block out at 2-3 hours to focus on ONE of them for today. Let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. It will still be there tomorrow.
7) TO BE CLEAR: Block out at 2-3 HOURS to focus on ONE of them for today. This is ONE BLOCK OF TIME. Cobbling together 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not work.
8) If you get distracted or start procrastinating, don’t freak out and downward spiral; just gently come back to your ONE to-do."
McKel Hill, dietitian, nutritionist, founder of Nutrition Stripped
"Get rid of the junk, the fluff, the ego-boosting or ego-triggering people/situations/places in your lives and let that shit go! Be intentional about who/what you let in your mind and subconscious. Saturate your psyche with things that make you smile, laugh, feel happiness, feel light, and do more of those things! Be choosey, be respectful of your authenticity and your true self, shower it with resources, people, and things that ignite inspiration in you- not from an ego-driven place but from love. For me, turning to family, friends, and branching out into the community (yes it can be vulnerable), helps find your tribe."
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