You've been looking at the lives of the
incredibly successful and want to know how you can replicate their success. Want to know the
secret? It's not their superhuman discipline or overpowering ambition. It's a matter of devising
the optimal systems to keep you consistently running at peak performance, helping you
slowly inch your way closer to your goals, day after day. This is how to
optimize your daily routine. Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com. There is no single perfect daily routine
that works for two different people. We each have our own needs and priorities, and
our schedules should reflect that. However, there are a set of principles shared amongst
top performers. Once you've set your daily routine foundational pillars, we'll then
fill in the details based on your needs. We must first lay the foundations, or
fixed elements, of our daily schedule. Consider these the pillars that hold up the rest
of the daily practice. They are of the utmost importance and are non-negotiable. These include
your wake up time, exercise regimen, meals, and wind down time. By doing the work upfront
and determining when each element will occur, you reduce the mental energy needed
to carry these out in the future. Rather than the mental exercise of asking
yourself and planning when you should exercise or eat lunch, you already have it figured out
and know exactly when it's going to happen. Maybe you're rolling your eyes right now
and looking for a shortcut. If you're interested in nootropics, meaning drugs or other
substances used to improve congnitive function, understand this: there is no nootropic that
has ever even approached the cognitive boost you'll receive from optimizing your sleep
and regular exercise. In other words, nootropics have a much lower return compared
to dialing in your sleep and exercise. Start with your calendar or planner of choice,
and fill in the fixed elements that you must attend and cannot change – think classes, small
group sessions, club meetings, and the like. Next, determine your sleep and wake times.
You should allow yourself adequate sleep, as skimping on sleep results in multiple
downstream effects that will compound toward diminished effectiveness. If you're putting
in the effort to build a daily routine to be more productive and effective, it will all be for
nothing if you sacrifice sleep. It's best practice to set aside between 7 to 9 hours per night. I
actually err on the side of planning for too much sleep - that way, if my body is feeling well
rested I'll wake up before my scheduled time, and if I need additional
recovery, I have the opportunity. How you start the day sets the tone
for the remainder of your waking hours, and how you wind down at the end of the day
dictates how restful your sleep will be. Your sleep and wake times will be largely
a function of your other fixed commitments, like school or work. Since I'm no longer doing
plastic surgery, I have complete freedom in setting the start and end points to my day.
Currently, my day ends at 10:30PM and begins at 7:00AM. For my recent client, who we'll
call Lawrence, he was subject to a more typical medical student schedule. He decided to
start at 6:00AM and finish his day by 11:00PM. Most people can get behind the idea of having a
wakeup time and bedtime each day. Many can still agree with set times for meals. But few people
treat exercise with the same level of regularity and rigidity. To get those sweet cognitive
benefits of brain derived neutorophic factor, or BDNF, you'll need to prioritize regular
exercise into your schedule. Remember, those who treat exercise with a high degree of
importance have an edge over those who don't. The type of exercise you do is less important
than the question of whether or not you exercise with regularity. I opt for cycling and weight
training, but maybe you prefer running or pilates. Lawrence is one of those people who, as a busy
medical student, knew he wasn't going to exercise unless he did so first thing in the morning,
otherwise there was always something else that he felt was more urgent. For that reason, he
starts his days early and squeezes his workout in before class starts at 8:00AM. Whether that
will be sustainable during his clinical years is yet to be determined, and that's ok. Your
schedule will adapt based your demands over time. To ensure something like exercise actually sticks,
it's best to anchor it to a clear marker in the day. For some, it's the first thing they do
upon waking up. When I was in medical school, it was the first thing I did after class each day
– after all, the last thing I wanted to do after several hours of class was hit the books, so going
to the gym instead was a productive mental break. Last, fill in your meal times. Again, this
will primarily depend on the fixed elements in your schedule, in addition to your personal
preferences. I practice time restricted feeding and don't eat until noon on most days, and
have dinner before 7PM. Lawrence follows the more traditional 3 meals per day and eats a
light breakfast between his workout and class. Whatever you decide, it's best practice to not eat
too late at night, close to your bedtime, as data suggests this is detrimental to your nighttime
restfulness, blood sugar, and various hormones. After setting the foundations, it's
time to adjust the details of your schedule. Your foundations from
step 1 will largely be fixed, but it's ok to move things around as needed
to dial in your perfect daily routine. The main element we want to optimize
for is your focused work and study time. This is the most mentally taxing time of the
day, and should be when you get the bulk of your work done. Top performers have dedicated
blocks of deep work, as coined by Cal Newport, whereby they study or work with high
intensity and zero distraction. In contrast, most frustrated students practice extended periods
of low to medium intensity studying. This is an insidious feedback loop - it's less efficient and
disheartening because they always feel behind, causing them to spend more time on suboptimal
studying, and ultimately leads to subpar results. In designing your daily schedule, look at
your fixed elements and consider at what points would you be most readily able to tap into
a focused state? If you're not a morning person, then expecting yourself to
get your best work done at 7AM is not setting yourself up for success. Similarly, waiting until 9PM when you're exhausted at the
end of the day is also less likely to be fruitful. Again, everyone is different, and this should
primarily be a function of your mental states over the course of the day. I begin my deep
work block at 8:00AM, but for Lawrence, we decided on his first focused study block
at 1:00PM. In my case, I am fresh and thinking clearly in the mornings, able to do my best
focused work at this time. In the afternoons, I find myself less motivated or willing to
put up with difficult work. On the other hand, Lawrence isn't drained from his morning
lectures, and after a lunch break, is ready to hit the books hard
first thing in the afternoon. Your focused study block should be at least a
couple hours in duration - my recommendation is between 2 and 4. Anything less, and you're
leaving high quality study time on the table, and anything longer, you're devolving into
lower intensity and less fruitful efforts. Don't get ahead of yourself in this process
- remember this daily schedule needs to be sustainable over the long term, not
just for a few days. If you feel that you're pushing yourself 10/10ths
every day, you'll burn out fast. That means breaks are essential. When taking
breaks, I like to focus on productive breaks, meaning breaks that ultimately serve a purpose,
even if it isn't directly related to traditional productivity or studying. For example, after
a high intensity block of focused studying, take a break and run errands, like picking
up groceries, doing laundry, or even taking a shower. You're taking care of items that must
be done, and optimizing their timing by inserting them at a point where you wouldn't be able to
study anyway. As they are not mentally taxing, you're able to get an essential task out
of the way while still giving yourself space for mental recovery. Alternatively, go
outside for a walk to more quickly rejuvenate. Incorporating forms of stress relief and
release from work is key. Exercise serves this function in a large capacity, but most of us
need something additional to maintain our sanity. Some people have a favorite show they want to
watch, others enjoy reading, or maybe you enjoy playing board games with your housemates. It's
best practice to save this for later in the day, as it's generally more difficult to get into
work mode at 9PM after hanging out with friends. There are a few other details that most top
performers share - namely mindfulness or some form of reflection. I've covered this in
the anatomy of a perfect morning routine, but you can perform these habits any time
of the day. Lawrence opts for either a run or walking meditation at
5PM after his study block. The fun part was planning your
daily routine. The hard part is putting into action and actually
sticking to it for the long term. Rather than relying on brute force
and self-discipline, ask yourself how you can make it easier on future you to follow
the plan. For me, that includes using my calendar and saving a screenshot of my schedule on my
computer desktop and phone for quick reference. You may decide to lay out your gym clothes
and bag by the door to reduce the friction of starting your morning with a workout. And
to really make it stick, set your morning alarm across the room so you're forced to get
out of bed rather than go on a snooze-a-thon. For others, that includes having an
accountability buddy, or in the case with Lawrence, finding a mentor or coach to
help craft the routine and hold him to it. Allocate time in your calendar to also
review the results of your new routine. Otherwise, you're likely to get
derailed and just give up on it. Rather, preemptively set a time in 1 or 2 weeks
to review what went well about the routine, what was perhaps too ambitious and not realistic to
sustain long term, and make adjustments as needed. If you enjoy this type of content, balancing
productivity and lifestyle optimization on one hand with study strategies and succeeding
as a future physician on the other, sign up for my weekly newsletter.
Visit medschoolinsiders.com/newsletter, link in the description. If you haven't already, be sure to
check out anatomy of a morning routine and anatomy of a night time routine.
Much love, and I'll see you guys there.
