How To Optimize Your Day, According To Experts
Some days there aren’t enough hours. Others, you don’t feel like getting anything done at all. It’s a state of affairs that has been exacerbated by the shapeless years of the pandemic, but with things getting back to normal, it might be time to rethink how you approach your time.
Designed to make you more focused, rested, supple and – crucially – happier, this guide takes you from waking up to bedding down at night.
Give it a go, it might not make you a more efficient and productive person, but it will definitely help you reclaim some time for you. Because that’s the most important thing, after all.
Stretch when you wake up
Farren Morgan, head coach at The Tactical Athlete recommends you kick the covers, and your day, off with a supine stretch.
Lie on your back with your knees bent. Keep your back flat as you twist your hips to one side then the other, keeping your knees together as if you have an elastic band around them.
Aim for 20 slow rotations each side. If doing it in bed doesn’t work for you, the floor is even better. This will help undo any kinks in your back and elongate the spine helping you stand tall and breathe deeply as your day begins.
Visualize success before you leave for work
So often we rush out of the house, our heads full of everything we have to do that day. This isn’t great for our anxiety or stress levels as it puts us in a state of pre-emptive alert before we’ve even got to the office. Jessica Warren, wellness coach and meditation teacher at jessicawarren.co, wants you to break this cycle by taking five minutes to focus on three specific goals you want to achieve that day.
“Think about what you would feel happy and fulfilled to have achieved by the end of the day,” she says. “Keep a journal where you write down your three most important goals. They can be work-related or personal to you. Studies show visualization can even make us more likely to achieve our goals, in time boosting our optimism levels and mental health."
Learn something new on your commute
Your commute isn’t dead time, it’s a great opportunity to take time for yourself. Jordyn McCarthy, a meditation and yoga instructor at Basubu, suggests you engage in a podcast, with a study by the Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior suggesting that when you listen to a podcast your own communication abilities are improved.
“Ella Mills, owner of Deliciously Ella has a wonderful podcast that interviews experts in the health and wellness industry to have honest conversation around physical and mental health. I find the episodes easy to follow, insightful and inspiring,” says McCarthy.
A study from UC Berkeley in California found that narrative podcasts engage different parts of your brain, while a 2017 study by the Journal of Neuroscience found the sounds of laughter encourages the release of happy hormones.
Get away from your desk at lunch time
Countless studies have linked sitting all day to back pain. The key is to get on your feet, either for a lunchtime wander or a . “If you're in need of a simple but useful stretch you can try the standing trunk extension stretch,” advises Morgan.
“Start with your feet shoulder-width apart with your hands placed across your lower back for additional support. Increase the arch or your back by slowly leaning backwards until you feel your abdomen gently stretch and feel slight pressure on your lower back. Hold for ten seconds then repeat the process two to four times.”
Recharge through the 3pm slump
According to the University of Rochester Medical Centre, that feeling of fatigue at 3pm is normal, and a result of your blood sugar levels dipping. Rather than reaching for a sugary snack, wellbeing expert Nicola Geismar suggests boosting your alertness could come down to something as simple as adjusting your computer monitor.
“There are multiple studies that say that how upright or reclining your body position is when seated, this will impact your level of alertness, with sitting upright increasing your focus and slumping decreasing it.
Good ergonomics will have a knock-on effect on postural health and inspire more of an upright or what I call ‘power posture’ which inadvertently will impact focus, concentration, and energy levels. Making sure your monitor is at eye level, then, is key.”
Time exercise according to your goals
Some people prefer working out in the morning, others in the evening. And while actually working out is more important than the time of day, a 2022 study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology does have some insights.
It found that early morning exercise was most beneficial for women when it came to reducing abdominal fat and blood pressure, while evening exercise was more advantageous for women when it came to improving mood, food intake and upper-body strength.
The men who were monitored were able to improve their upper-body strength as effectively whichever time, but showed greater results for improved heart and metabolic health, as well as improved emotional wellbeing when working out in the evening.
Screens away before bed
A 2014 study from the University of Texas found that the blue light emitted from our screens is enough to disturb the body’s natural circadian rhythm. This could make it harder to fall asleep or lead to a person feeling less alert the next day.
Make sure you wind down at least an hour before bed then – no falling asleep to Netflix – and switch off all electronic devices. A book is the perfect alternative, but be careful what you pick.
“Bedtime is not the time for non-fiction or self-improvement books,” says Dr Josephine Perry is a sport psychologist and co-author of Power Down to Power Up.
“We need to give our brains a chance to switch off and relax. Fiction can be beneficial because it takes us into a different world, one which needs our imagination and creativity to see. This helps stop the rumination around our worries which can prevent sleep and build anxiety.”
