Power of Daily Routine

At times, we feel low without any definitive reason, but the power of daily routine kicks in to cheer up our mood and sets the tone for the day/week.

I am going to share personal experiences on the importance of daily routine / random acts of kindness (RAK) that helped me to have a sense of gratitude for what I do. At times, we feel low without any definitive reason, but the power of daily routine kicks in to cheer up our mood and sets the tone for the day/week. I experienced this several times. There are numerous studies/research are carried out on the subject; no doubt it is one of the important practices that would bring in a lot of value add to our personality.

My experiments

Let me explain my routine – as soon as I wake up, I spend 2-3 minutes sitting silently, and if possible, I recite some sacred mantras. This has been my routine for several years. The benefit is, it will calm my mind and set the alertness; specifically, one should not rush to the washrooms in a semi-sleep state. Later, in the morning usually finishing washroom stuff/cleaning my teeth, etc., I will drink 1-2 glasses of cold water. I feel like drinking morning water would bring new energy.

After having morning tea and consuming Amla/Tulsi mix, I will spend some time in the bright early morning sunshine. Staring at the morning Sun/Ether for a couple of minutes has become a new habit for me, specifically in the last few months. I don’t know, but it brings unexplainable joy just looking on Sun. I feel a sense of gratitude toward nature. The daily spending of 15-20 minutes on the outside is recommended as it is one of the “BoothaSuddhi” activities.

I do practice mediation / Japa – that is very much a personal thing, and it may not be relevant to some of the folks. But this singular practice helped immensely shape my life over the last 3 decades.

Most recently my wife and kids are growing small plants on our balcony. Just seeing these small plants grow also brings joy. Also, we as a family provide food and water for birds; specifically, this summertime, it is very important that we offer them water/food in sufficient quantity. It is our fun time to watch birds eat/drink water and there were small fights between them. My little son enacts very nicely those birds’ behaviors. These small acts would bring immense joy and mental satisfaction. One should have the heart and mind to observe these tiny wonders offered by mother nature.

With the availability of a wealth of information, one can learn many things at a time with so much curated content available free of cost. IMO, subscribing to newsletters, spending quality time reading excellent articles over linked-in, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos would help. But the choice of choosing quality content is left to individuals. Other than technology topics, I do spend some time watching YouTube videos on geopolitics, agriculture innovations, personal finance, and spiritual/meditative discourses. This has been my favorite routine after office hours.

I believe many of us are deprived of quality sleep. I do practice a little technique called the “8-16-32” deep breathing rule. It is well-defined in Indian Ayurveda and known to many Indians. The technique itself is quite simple. Start your deep breathing 8 times by sleeping straight facing upwards. Then breathe 16 times by turning right. Finally, breathe 32 times by turning left. Most of the time, while you count 32 times, you would have gone deep into sleep. It happened to me several times; at least I make an error while counting numbers. That means the time has come to have deep/relaxed sleep😊

I do experience at times migraine/headaches; to overcome such painful experiences, I spend time in deep breathing. The well-oxygenated body will help to relieve any such acute pains in the body. Some experts suggest having a long slow walk post-dinner.

Engaging in side hustles such as personal investments, agriculture forming, voluntary involvement in social-economic activities, etc.… would help in personal satisfaction and it is contagious in a positive way. It need not necessarily bring huge monetary benefits. But it will have a definitive positive impact on our professional work. It sets the outside context to our professional life, and we can engage meaningfully after office hours/weekends. I strongly encourage one should engage in such side hustles. It is like having a shark in your pond.

Keeping my / my family’s expenses in a book/diary is my childhood habit. I am indebted to my father, he used to maintain profit/expenses details. I do have the habit of noting down high-level expenses, profits, and investment details. I spend about 20-30 minutes in the last week of every month thinking over next month’s income-expenditure plan. At least this has kept me grounded on my expenses part. Even if I were to spend more money, I am sure I have sufficient data/reasoning to back it up.

Random-Act-Of-Kindness (RAK) is a very powerful tool. This act involves extending our helping hand in whatever way we can – in the form of financial assistance to low-income fellow citizens like – housemaids, drivers, vegetable/flower sellers, corporation cleaners, laundry people, security guards, gardeners, cutting saloon barbers, old age beggars, etc. The RAK acts would provide a sense of satisfaction and gratitude. It is very important to have good mental health.

Make sure to call your family members, and close friends occasionally. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us the importance of keeping in touch with over close friends and relatives.

Finally, reading books is a very engaging habit. You would accumulate a wealth of knowledge and you can spend quality time alone. It is needed in today’s stressful routines. In a way, it is a kind of soothing experience that calms your mind when you read very quality content over social media or books. I prefer hard-cover books as I can bookmark pages, write down my commentary on the reading, etc.

Please do share the experiences that have impacted you positively. Thanks for reading!