These days, I’m really hit by the thought of having limited time and energy. The realization came to me when I was reading this book by Angela Dukhworth called Grit. In that she was quoting Warren Buffet, and how he says that our time and energy is limited. (I mean, do we have to be told about it?) The answer is a definite ‘yes’. We all behave as if our time is infinite.
Cancer patients have better awareness:
Only time when you don’t think like that is, if you have cancer, then you feel as if you have no time left, and then waste the time you have left, with running pillar to post in all directions trying to gain more time, by getting treated well! So, it is vital to carry on doing the meaningful things in your life, even during treatment. This will itself help you recover better.
Now, that Alhamdulillah, I’m a survivor, I need to be even more conscious of this fact that time and energy is limited. Energy definitely is, you get more aware of it with every passing year, when the creaking joints and bones tell you that. You get tired quicker and sleep longer, and what not. So, what to do about this?
Get focused.
How?
By doing two things:
- Stop multitasking, and do one thing at a time.
- Prioritize by doing the most important thing first.
Simple!
Now, stay focused.
Exercise:
Sustained exercising can slowly increase your energy and capacity. So, this is very important. Have a time and place for regular exercising, whether it’s a walk, yoga, jogging or plain exercise. Moving all body parts is essential, and challenging yourself regularly is very important.
Diet control:
Choice of foods:
We know, how lazy we feel after having certain foods. Also, how fresh and energetic we feel after having a nice healthy bowl of salad, or taking fruits. So, it is vital to avoid fried foods, and too much meats which take longer to digest. Focusing mainly on fruits, salads, legumes, and use olive oil and yogurt. Why not spend the weekdays following a strict diet of healthy foods, and leave the weekend for cheat days?
Time of meals:
This is important to take meals at same times daily.
Intermittent fasting:
Taking your last meal of the day before 7.00 pm and breakfast at 11.00 am will give you a desired 8/16 hour formula to start with. This means that your eating window would be eight hours, and fasting (you can only have water in between,) for sixteen hours. (You can change the timings to suit your own routine, as long as the ratio is the same.)
If you want to lose weight, then decreasing the eating window and increasing the fasting time, will make a major difference.
Home grown vegetables and fruits:
If you are lucky enough to have some land and garden with your home, use it to grow vegetables and fruits. Even if you don’t have space, you can do it in your balcony and rooftop. Where there is a will, there is a way. Become organic. Such foods make you feel mentally very sharp.
Fasting:
The fasting done by Muslims is very effective, (provided we don’t binge.) If we can somehow control ourselves during sehri and iftari, then it is really good. Many folks fast twice a week throughout the year. Some fast once a week. Alternatively, the one month fast in Ramzan has a lot of benefits.
Disciplined and organized:
Waking up daily at the same time, following a weekly time table (mentioned in Powerful Weekly plan, here) works wonders. I know you can’t feel like doing things every day, but you can push yourself to do it every day. Always visualize, how good you will be feeling, when your task is done.
Set goals for each trimester:
You can know what I mean by Trimester through this blog post about it in detail, here ‘Over three trimesters in life.’
Running aimlessly will get us nowhere. Looking busy won’t work either. One needs to be clear and focused in order to achieve a goal. Specially those who are in the last trimester of life, starting from their sixties. You’ve got to be clear what you want and start working in that direction.
Hurry up, those of you who say, ‘I want to write my life story,’ or ‘a book’ (!)
Wind it up while the time and energy lasts:
I’ve known many folks who were writing their autobiography and passed away. Leaving it to the children to pick it up in their emotional state, and get it published. For them it’s a labor of love, but for you it was your life’s lessons and work. It could be a poetry or anything else you want to write about. So, please do it and get it published as soon as possible. Afterwards, it will put your children to the trouble, and no one will frankly be interested in reading it, as they will be people of another time, for whom your ideas wont matter much.
Do it while it is relatable and relevant to your reader.
One effective formula
The most effective way to achieve your goals is to do what you love during the first three hours of your day. You can continue for rest of day too, but the first three hours are the time, when you are at your most energetic state.
That’s how my blog posts get done, because I put my laptop in front of me, right after breakfast, and start my day like this.
Yeah, that’s about it.
Love you all, my Readers, stay blessed. ?
