EVERY HOUR A QUALITY HOUR
I CAN'T AFFORD TO SQUANDER ANY OF THE ESSENCE OF LIFE!!!
WHAT IS A QUALITY HOUR AND WHAT ISN'T?
Any hour spent in low energy (or not doing something about it) is a waste of one's life!
In low energy, you cannot enjoy the richness of life or be able to get more out of the time you have.
A quality hour is an hour I get alot out of, alert, high energy or resting, repairing, recuperating or just enjoying. (See the examples of what is in those hours, below in another section.)
WHY DID I WRITE THIS PAGE?
I wrote it for me (and you, too), as I found myself going goofy or not able to think much or not able to do anything much, except maybe go out to get some ice cream in a lame effort to get energy or wake up Lennie (my primitive brain wiped out).
Not only did I not feel good, I also was simply wasting the potential of my life.
I calculated how many hours I was "losing" and it came up to a significant number, even though I had mastered the use of my good energy times (earlier in the day mostly), but I was leaving good time on the table, to dissipate into nothingness.
I might as well flush almost 1/2 of my life down the drain.
Or I could choose to strategize to see how I could stay in a "high state of resourcefulness and aliveness" most of the time.
Some people live lives that are 100 times the life in others' lives. I want to be one of them!
MY CALCULATIONS - YIKES!
One hour sleeping nonoptimally (I must improve my pillow, have a better bed, not eat late, avoid acid reflux [and its effects on breathing and congestion], but late night snacks should be used to assure good blood sugar.
1/2 + hour of "browsing" on the computer, "getting ready" to go to sleep (I could read and enjoy a book or review inspiring pages in my Reminders Notebook.
Low energy hours in the evening where I wander around, look for amusements and distractions, maybe 3.5 hours.
Low energy from 4-6, so that even if I'm doing something that might be in a good area or useful at some level, I am probably losing an hour of the two.
That's 6 hours a day!!!!
Last night I was (per my little sleep calculator/sensor software program, I was awake for about an hour, meaning I might have lost an hour of repair from melatonin being in good supply. And then I awoke early and I was not feeling rested. I must follow the bedtime routine and assure the right chemical, or I'll be wasting my life from having hours that are not nearly as productive for work or for full enjoyment or for contribution to others. I can't really calculate the effect, but it could cost another 1-2 hours of productivity.
I also noticed that I was accommodating my low energy times by doing doing energy activities (as is recommended by many time managers), instead of managing my energy for the greatest power in life!
My plan follows the following two sections, which you might use in your examination of your hours. Checkmark all the items you might be aware of your doing on the low quality list after checkmarking the items you feel you should do more of in the quality hour list.
WHAT QUALIFIES TO BE A QUALITY HOUR?
Checkmark those items you might want to do more of and/or are neglecting:
A quality hour is an hour I get alot out of, alert, high energy or resting/repairing/recuperating or just enjoying. It is not an hour where I am stressed and not feeling good. It is an hour with a high payoff, especially over time. I am fully alive, fully interested. Even my hours of true entertainment for myself should be ones where I feel good. (My estimated time operating at this level is maybe 5 hours a day. Yours is ___.)
__ Rest is an hour NOT lost; a deep nap is time spent well, as is any refresher nap.
__ I am breathing deeply, in great posture, refreshed, alive, energetic.
__ It is time doing what is necessary to maintain life, but not that which is overdoing it or cannot be done at all (certain maintenance time that is done over and over, but not really necessary - such as having a lawn and having to mow it all the time).
__ Exercising time is quality time.
__ Reading alertly is quality time.
__ Sitting (or walking) outside enjoying nature
__ High quality interaction time (NOT low quality)
__ Appreciating, being grateful.
__ Being kind, contributing (but not to the extreme)
__ Good quality friendship time
__ It is time where energy is increased for the day (such as in early exercise)
__ Time getting healthy (exercise, for instance)
And learning is super-time:
Whenever I "gain hours" from spending them, such as
Learn to type superbly, to cut down my time doing lots of typing in my life.
Learning my tools, from writing tools to software programs
Whenever I learn more "life wisdom", from gaining higher perspective to actually
being able to operate better in life and create more happiness.
Many more categories (List the ones that would be good for you and then add them
to your committed high quality activities tiem.)
WHAT IT IS NOT
It is not to "achieve" something on the treadmill of life, but it can be an hour that buys me future hours of high value or security.
My non-quality hours: lost hours and negative unit hours
Non-quality time:
Spent in low energy exhaustion, tired, low consciousness.
In low blood sugar.
Stressed, pressured.
Rushed, time rushing by.
Worried, anxious
Unable to think, confused, swirling
Time operating under someone else's agenda, even if get "approval" from them
Time spend trying to get approval (this is a fear-based activity)
Complaining, belly aching, gossip, negative conversation
Time reading magazines or small tidbits of what I'm interested in learning, but not in sufficient depth or time to actually gain much. Instead, it is time spent zigzagging - time which should be committed to focused, intentional learning (effective learning).
Any time spent on a pursuit that is not completed, i.e. ends up producing nothing, nada, no value (but the time is lost forever).
Spending "golden energy" times on low value activities.
"Stress relieving" times that are useless "relief" and not really resting or rejuvenating or even make you go lower.
Tired, very low energy, very low resourcefulness state. Eat crap or blood sugar level is spiked and then trashed. Any time with high fat that causes one to be in high blood pressure and logy state.
Sick, or congested, or not breathing well.
Any time spent in "browsing" the internet or on political or on useless entertainment/distraction.
Blown efficiency and/or effectiveness:
__ Mismanaged time, losing track of projects, time in confusion vs. good, guided
systems.
__ Where I am in bed and not sleeping or even in low melatonin nights. (I must manage this properly, since sleep is repeated over and over and a waste if one lets it be ineffective. I must assure 100% quality.)
__ Not keeping track of things, not being organized
__ Not "completing" what I start or stopping/starting inefficiently
Low quality time:
__ Taking more time than is needed: Excess time spent preparing meals, getting ready
in the morning, going to bed, regular activities
__ Excess time doing "maintenance" activities (instead of figuring out how to dump
them elsewhere or not even do many of them!)
(It's mandatory that one learn to manage his/her time the most effectively and completely. An effective way to do that is to use the checklists and the content in my virtually free Kindle book called "Life Value Productivity".)
FIGURE OUT THE PERCENTAGES
If you work 50 hours, commute 5, doing necessary maintenance activities, your then wasting of an hour of discretionary time is wasting 33% of your evening potential. Most people waste pretty close to 100% during the week and more than 50% on the weekend. That's blowing about 30 hours a week!
Hmmm... might be worth looking at... d'ya think!
SO, HERE'S WHAT I DID, SO FAR!
I redid my energy reminders list (on the energizing skill page) to include more detail and then actively focused on memorizing some of them. I tend to forget about the incredible effect on energy of hydrating highly.
Drank a whole glass (or two, in the morning) every time I think of drinking during the day.
I use the 10 deep breaths strategy often - and every time when I don't see that a rest is required. I even use it while I am writing on the computer, as I can do a few, at least, of the deep breaths to hype my energy in a healthy way.
I do not allow my energy to go below what I call a 7 (out of ten) without energizing or resting. I use the deep breathing beyond a few occasional deep breaths in my old days - it must be substantial, to the point of almost feeling a buzz.
My regular breaks are "alarmed" so I don't miss them (tickled right now on the computer calendar, which has standard blocks of time that I can move around to adjust for my day). And my standard for the energizing routine is that I must feel a flush or an energy that is felt throughout the body - before I was "satisfied" with just some movement and doing the "cupping" routine or something like that, instead of operating from assuring the feeling of energy lets me know if I have done enough.
I, relatively often now, use a nap of a full sleep cycle so that I am highly refreshed and renewed for the evening. It's like I bought me another day.
I stand more, and for longer periods of time, while working or reading or watching anything (I had already purchased a desk that electronically moves up and down). My Apple Watch taps me every hour and tells me to stand up.
I make sure I exercise virtually right away (after a short drinking of coffee). I do not let myself even start on emails or computer browsing!
I do not use caffeine boosters during the day or evening, as those have a cost later, especially in sleep quality.
I don't take my computer into the bedroom (thinking by doing that that it would be just a winddown - but it also made my going to sleep time vary too much, while also wasting time!)
In the evening, which is harder to manage or cause "ups" in, if I feel myself slipping, I do not tolerate that low condition and I promptly do the breathing/hydrating/energizing or a quickie nap until I feel alert and "with it".
I'm (despite my having accumulated scads (20?) of pillows to try out before) redetermining the right pillow for me for sleeping the best and am buying a whole new bed, that is "plush" but supportive.
I'm reading in bed if I need a winddown, but find that I conk out relatively clickly and am asleep by my regular time every night - and up at the same time every day.
I follow the Sleep Checklist absolutely religiously now and don't let up on keeping my standards.
I now plan specific time blocks in the evening for doing high value activities that I never did before (since I was often wiped out or just plain low energy). I now feel alert and enthusiastic most of the evening, though I do winddown in energy at the appropriate time for good sleep.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
If you've read at all on this site, you've probably picked up that I recommend "perfecting" those things that one does often in his/her life because the benefit is received over and over and over - which adds up to "a lot"!
I recommend that you fully master this - for a huge contribution to the quality of your life and to your happiness.
