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3 Reflections on Making the Most of Your Time
Wisdom Made Easy
May 04, 2024
Today at a glance:
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 39 seconds
Let’s kick-off this week’s newsletter with a question:
As I take steps towards becoming a father, I recognise that I am going to have less free time.
As such, I’m reflecting on how I can make the most of my time: both before and after the child arriving.
But it’s dawned on me that this shouldn’t just be a reflection for parents.
Everyone’s time is precious, so let’s spend some time today reflecting on how you can make the most of your time.
🎱 The 8-8-8 Rule
Allow me to introduce you to The 8-8-8 Rule.
This is the idea that our 24-hour day should be broken into three equal 8-hour chunks.
8 hours of fulfilling work
8 hours of enjoyable and restful activities
8 hours of quality sleep
When I first shared this visual online, I was challenged at the oversimplification of one’s life or the unrealisticness about it.
I can totally respect both of these arguments.
Most visuals I create are overly simplified and not every visual will be appropriate for everyone, but this is a great starting point to get you thinking about what your 24-hour allocation could look like.
The reality is, your day probably isn’t balanced as 8-8-8.
Maybe it’s 9-9-6?
Or 10-8-6?
Perhaps it’s 12-4-8?
Or even something completely different.
Take a moment to reflect:
📝 How much time do I devote to work, leisure and sleep?
🛌 Do You Get Enough Sleep?
You may have seen the 8 hours of sleep suggested in The 8-8-8 Rule and thought “That won’t work for me!”
Before you dismiss it, let’s take a moment to reflect on why sleep is important:
Did you know that sleep can help you to live longer? (Read more here)
What about weight loss? Did you know that it could help with that? (Read more here)
And your immune system can benefit from more sleep too! (Read more here)
And this is just scratching the surface of studies on sleep.
As there are so many benefits of getting more sleep, ask yourself:
📝 Do I get enough sleep?
The purpose of this question isn’t to shame you if you’re getting less than the recommended amount, but it is meant to be challenging.
We’re here to get wiser, right?
Part of that will having the humility to recognise areas that we can grow in.
So how can we get more sleep?
Bryan Johnson has invested millions into understanding how to live healthier and prolong your life.
Even though I wouldn’t endorse his desire to live forever, he’s certainly discovering ways that we can all take better care or ourselves.
Here’s a few ideas that he has to improve your sleep:
Have a consistent bedtime
Avoid screens
Eat earlier
Regulate the temperature in your bedroom
You can hear more from him in this YouTube video:
🖼️ The Bigger Picture…
The real reason I’m reflecting on this principle is because of an Annie Dillard quote that I’ve shared a lot recently:
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
The reality is that many people travel through life not consciously thinking about what they’re meant to be doing, what they find fulfilment in and ultimately how they want to spend their lives.
I believe that slowing down and trying to answer these tough questions will help you to live a more purposeful life.
So the final question I encourage you to sit with today is:
📝 How do I want to spend my life?
📝 Journal Prompts
• How much time do I devote to work, leisure and sleep?
• Do I get enough sleep?
• How do I want to spend my life?
Consider journaling through the above questions yourself.
✍️ What I’m Working On
For those of you that missed last week’s newsletter, I announced that I am creating a self-paced journaling course.
I’m keen to make the best journaling resource available, and I’d love your input into what you’d like to see included.
Next week I’m going to start emailing my waitlist to see what questions they would like answering in the course, so if you want to help shape the course, tap “✅ Join the waitlist!” below.
Do you want to learn about the life-changing habit of journaling?If you would like to join 50+ people who have already signed up to the waitlist, please click here: |
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😊 Thank You!
Thanks for checking out this issue of the WISER Newsletter. If you have any feedback, I would love to hear it!
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Catch you in the next issue!
Thanks,
Michael
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