Tim Ferris, author of ‘the 4-hour Workweek’, has his 5 favorite
morning hacks to maximize his productivity. As per Tim, positive momentum and a
distraction-less start of your day don't come naturally, rather it’s manually
earned every day by following a strict
routine. After Interviewing hundreds of ultra-successful people, from the
famous chess prodigies to athletes to billionaires – he has picked the common
denominator out of all and made a list of his top 5 routines.
Out of his top five routines, he claims that even if he gets
to three routines per morning – he wins. And as the famous saying goes, “if you
win the morning, you win the day”.
Tim Ferris is an efficient all-rounder – he fluently speaks
5 languages, is a national Chinese kickboxing champion, holds a world record in
Tango and is a best-selling author. That’s
a big list for a single man – and getting demotivated from a long list of
someone else’s achievement is not the point. Rather, it is a proof that the
only thing that’s stopping us from succeeding in any field is our mental
limitations, and Tim has a way out.
There is a lot we can learn from Tim, and his belief that
single individual can achieve greatness, and with a right set of mind – can reach
the pinnacle of his field. So, let’s get started.
Top 5 Morning routines
5. Make your bed
It might sound like an unimportant ritual, but it gives one
a sense of control at the very beginning of the day. It’s a form of strategy
that helps you to deal the intangibles and curveballs that life throws at you.
No matter how complex your day is planned ahead – you can always make your bed
and straighten at least one thing.
4. Meditate
He states, ‘more than 80% of the world class performers I’ve
interviewed practice one form or the other of mindfulness’. As per Tim, there
are few who go to Headspace, few who opt for guided meditation, and others who stick to traditional meditation techniques.
3. Do Pushups
Tim says, doing any kind of physical exercise first thing in
the morning helps you to stay prime, and wake your complete body at a go. He
prefers to do the pushups, but he recommends any kind of exercise – sit-ups, lunges,
and squats. Doing so quiets ones’ mental chatter and effects the mood
dramatically.
2. Hydrate yourself
You need to water yourself and take out the dryness of the entire
last night. He recommends titanium tea which is one teaspoon of turmeric, some
ginger shaving and a teaspoon each of black tea and dragon tea. He recommends
it for excellent cognition and weight loss. He personally prefers it with a
glass of cold water, but even warm water would do the same trick.
1. Write a Journal
The most important trick in his list is to write a journal
for whatever is going in your head. You can
plan your day or prioritize things or just express gratitude for the various
labels in your life. When Tim writes his journal, he broadly considers four
categories; opportunity for the day, some small goals, yesterday’s achievements
and relationships.