Life after Office hours
Before and after Office
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Being a parent of a son and a nuclear family, we hardly get support from elders. Sometimes we feel burdensome but to lighten the mood we follow our habits, let's start with a daily routine, for an early bird you have at least 2 hours in hand before getting ready for the office. So the planning for a day should be done in advance, the more you know how you want to spend your days, the easier it becomes. It's like programming your subconscious mind rather than the conscious one very silently. According to me, I call the day ideal if I wake up around 5 AM, make my tea, do a 45-minute long session of meditation before 6 AM, and the remaining 1 hour which is a little short for cycling but good for a brisk walk in society and basic stretching. What time it's now? 7 AM, now I am in a zone where my son needs my time and have to get him and me ready for school & office. For a beginner, if a long session of meditation is hard to practice then the session can be split to equal morning and one evening session.
We are back to our productive / self-time zone after my early supper at around 6:30 PM, as a family we go to bed quite early as compared to our generation i.e. 10:30 PM(max.), hence the remaining 4 hours should be utilized efficiently for a happy ending. My indoor/outdoor activities after office highly depend on the mood of my son & and wife and I make sure that both are equally happy J and engaged. Making those arrangements, I either go to the gym, dance, swim, badminton, or TT for an hour. Then involve my son in games where he gets tired easily and take bedtime snacks that help him to sleep better. Before going to bed, I make sure that my reading target is accomplished which is 30 -40 pages of a non-fiction book (currently reading - wisdom bridge by KSV moderator Daaji). The number of pages is estimated based on a monthly target of 4 books having close to 300 pages. On average, I finish these planned activities with mixed emotions on weekdays. On weekends early morning, mostly encourage myself to go for a long cycling 50 km or participate in a pre-enrolled 10 K / half Marathon.
Imagine, if this habit is followed consistently for a year, what we achieve on board as more than 10 half-marathons, 50 half-century rides, 240 hrs of meditation, 100 hrs of dancing and swimming. These activities cover the pillars of well-being domains :
1. PHYSICAL – Exercise, sleep, body balance, and nutrition.
2. SPIRITUAL – Connection with one’s values and belief systems.
3. PSYCHOLOGICAL – purpose in life, and sense of personal growth.
4. EMOTIONAL – Ability to cope, and resilience.
What is missing here is social well-being (met some extent with selective badminton / TT players). So to meet that, we invite/get invited on weekends for a get-together dinner/lunch which helps us to socialize and explore other opportunities within a given time frame.
#quote (James Clear)
The days can be easy if the years are consistent. You can write a book or get in shape or code a piece of software in 30 minutes per day. But the key is you can't miss a bunch of days.
In my next blog, I will write about how to add new skills while following your habit list. Follow and subscribe to me to boost your productivity :