In recent years, the internet has become plagued with endless productivity challenges, mindsets and morning routines that will ‘change your life.’ Our timelines are clogged with videos of people working out twice a day, eating only organic food, studying 12 hours daily, and every one of them claims that they have found the key to leading a happy and successful life.
I decided to find out for myself if this is true, so I spent three days completing the ‘Most Productive Daily Routine Ever.
I am someone who really values productivity when done in the right way. I have a very busy schedule as I am currently a full-time university student, working as an intern for a research project, solo travelling in South America and, of course, writing online articles. So, I thought if I was able to develop an insanely productive routine, I would get all of my work done quicker, easier and to a higher quality. I developed this routine by drawing on the various productivity challenges that exist on the internet and combining elements of each to create the ultimate productivity challenge.
Many people agree that if you start your morning right, then the rest of your day will be much more productive. So, I dove into the thousands of morning routines on YouTube, which all claim to be the best way to start your day, to find the best one. Here, I found out about Andrew Huberman’s ‘Optimal Morning Routine.’
Huberman is a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford who claims that this scientifically based routine is the most effective way to start your day and ensure that you are as productive as possible. It includes getting outside straight away, exercising and taking a cold shower, all of which are fairly common components to many other productive morning routines. So, this was the first step of my ‘Most Productive Daily Routine Ever,’ but I needed to develop the rest of my day.
The first challenge I looked at was called 75 Hard. This challenge recently became popular, with a resurgence with many people sharing their result pictures on social media, urging other people to join them on this fitness and mental toughness challenge. It involves participants following a strict set of exercise and diet rules including: complete two forty-five minute workouts per day (one of which must be outside), drink a gallon of water, stick to a diet and no alcohol. The challenge spans 75 days (as the name suggests), and participants must take a progress picture each day. It is considered to be one of the most mentally and physically difficult challenges on the internet.
A similar challenge is called Project 50, which has seven rules that participants must follow everyday to complete this mental toughness routine. The rules state that the participant must wake up before 8am, stick to a morning routine, exercise, read, eat healthy and practice a new skill every day. The goal is to do this everyday for 50 days, and since one of the rules is to ‘track your progress,’ you are able to see how much you have improved over the course of the challenge.
All of these elements were great, but there was one main problem… I’m also a student. As nice as it would be to workout and read all day, I had a degree that I needed to study and take classes for. So, I began to look into some productivity YouTubers who were also studying at university, and I found that many of them utilised a method called the Pomodoro Technique. This technique divides study time into 25 minute increments, with a 5 minute break in between each one. This is meant to enhance your deep concentration time and allow you to get more work done in a shorter amount of time. This was the final piece for the creation of my ‘Most Productive Daily Routine Ever.’
This final routine consisted of a 5:30am start where I immediately did a workout outside. This was followed by a cold shower, meditation and a healthy breakfast of eggs on toast. I then wrote out my to-do list and began my day promptly at 7am. I tried to get out of the house to work, since many studies show that in order to be your most productive, it is vital to separate the places where you rest and work. So, I headed to the library (a 30 minute walk) and arrived at 7:30. Then, I sat on the grass outside to journal and read until it opened at 9am. Once opened, I studied using the pomodoro method until 1pm, when I went and got a quick lunch. I returned to the library and kept working there until 7pm. During this time, I took classes, studied and applied for summer internships. My work day was finished and I could go home. I arrived back at 7:30pm, cooked dinner for me and my roommate, showered and then finished off my day by doing one hour of writing (i.e. practicing a skill). Finally, I rolled into bed at 10:30pm, ready to do it again the next day.
I did this for three days. As a student, intern and solo traveller. And… I was exhausted by the end of it. Incorporating all of these different elements meant that my day became even more packed than before and I had essentially no down time. I was definitely more productive than usual, but I felt like I was never doing enough. The influencers who followed similar challenges or routines seemed to do so with such ease, and it made me feel like I was weak for struggling with it. I was never ‘That Girl’ as much as I wanted to be.
Productivity influencers convince us that this kind of routine is completely normal, but it lacks any kind of balance in life. I didn’t have time to socialise or enjoy my leisure time. I am someone who loves watching movies and T.V. shows, yet this routine doesn’t allow time for that. I wasn’t able to enjoy my life while completing this ‘Most Productive Daily Routine Ever’ and this was the main issue.
So, the lesson to be learned from this is that you don’t need to follow an insanely productive routine to make the most out of your life. Finding a routine that fits with your schedule and needs is by far the best way to ensure you are satisfied with your day. Having these incredibly packed and productive routines is great in the short term, but you are far more likely to burn out if you don’t do it in a sustainable way.
And if you do decide to try out a productivity challenge, I would suggest you start with just one instead of combining them all. The ‘Most Productive Daily Routine Ever’ is not for the faint of heart.
