1 00:00:02,089 --> 00:00:05,809 We've all heard that we need to get seven to eight hours of sleep to feel our best, 2 00:00:06,229 --> 00:00:10,219 but what if we're already getting that much sleep and you're still feeling tired? 3 00:00:10,879 --> 00:00:14,029 No matter what you do, you just can't shake off that mental fog. 4 00:00:14,839 --> 00:00:17,779 The challenge with feeling tired all the time is that getting even the 5 00:00:17,779 --> 00:00:20,499 smallest tasks done feels difficult. 6 00:00:21,229 --> 00:00:25,249 In today's episode, I'm going to share my experience with mental fog and how 7 00:00:25,249 --> 00:00:29,629 I use the concept of closing loops to gain a massive amount of energy. 8 00:00:30,202 --> 00:00:33,262 I'm Amin Ahmed and welcome to Be Well, Do Well. 9 00:00:34,507 --> 00:00:37,137 I learned a new word recently: enervator. 10 00:00:37,647 --> 00:00:41,307 It was the first time that I heard this word and I had to look up the etymology. 11 00:00:41,896 --> 00:00:45,586 Enervate comes from the Latin inner Vaus, the past principle of the 12 00:00:45,586 --> 00:00:50,836 verb Ive, which literally means to remove the sinus F, but it's also 13 00:00:50,836 --> 00:00:53,146 figuratively in the sense of to weaken. 14 00:00:53,791 --> 00:00:56,581 So innovate is the opposite of energize. 15 00:00:57,061 --> 00:00:59,851 When we do activities that give us energy, we're energized, 16 00:01:00,001 --> 00:01:03,091 Sports, nature, meditation, sleep. 17 00:01:03,451 --> 00:01:06,841 These all give us energy and leave us feeling great afterwards. 18 00:01:07,681 --> 00:01:09,901 Energy drains can come from many things, 19 00:01:10,803 --> 00:01:12,398 The first is lack of sleep. 20 00:01:12,818 --> 00:01:16,193 It's devastating to me that sleep deprivation has become a badge 21 00:01:16,193 --> 00:01:18,053 of honor amongst entrepreneurs. 22 00:01:18,473 --> 00:01:23,243 To say that you pulled an all-nighter, or that you wake up at four o'clock in the 23 00:01:23,243 --> 00:01:27,383 morning, but you go to sleep at midnight has become some kind of battle scar to say 24 00:01:27,433 --> 00:01:29,543 that you've made it as an entrepreneur. 25 00:01:30,233 --> 00:01:32,363 It's terrible, and I think we need to get rid of that. 26 00:01:32,857 --> 00:01:35,317 The second is dependence on coffee. 27 00:01:35,737 --> 00:01:37,597 Now, notice I didn't say coffee itself. 28 00:01:37,597 --> 00:01:41,227 I love a good brew, but it's the dependence on coffee 29 00:01:41,227 --> 00:01:42,387 that I'm referring to here. 30 00:01:42,644 --> 00:01:45,554 Coffee is great because it gives you a boost of energy. 31 00:01:45,554 --> 00:01:47,384 It can improve cognitive abilities. 32 00:01:47,624 --> 00:01:49,364 There's lots of health benefits to coffee. 33 00:01:49,754 --> 00:01:53,534 But when we start getting dependent on coffee, that's when it starts to become 34 00:01:53,539 --> 00:01:57,724 more challenging because we allow the coffee to govern our states of energy. 35 00:01:58,654 --> 00:02:02,504 If we find that we are only using coffee to gain energy rather than for the 36 00:02:02,504 --> 00:02:06,344 flavor or for the taste or for some of the cognitive abilities, that's when you 37 00:02:06,344 --> 00:02:08,144 know that you're dependent on coffee. 38 00:02:08,731 --> 00:02:10,321 The next is poor nutrition. 39 00:02:10,831 --> 00:02:15,091 So many of us will resort to fast food when we're in a rush, and that's okay. 40 00:02:15,091 --> 00:02:19,425 Sometimes you just need to do what you need to do For me, Subway is one of those 41 00:02:19,425 --> 00:02:21,225 fasted restaurants that I really enjoy. 42 00:02:21,225 --> 00:02:24,615 It's nutritious, it's healthy, it's filling, but other times 43 00:02:24,615 --> 00:02:26,475 I'll also go to McDonald's. 44 00:02:26,575 --> 00:02:29,965 And the food there is tasty, yes, but not nutritious. 45 00:02:30,065 --> 00:02:34,415 What happens is when you eat food that depletes your energy, you feel much worse 46 00:02:34,415 --> 00:02:38,465 afterwards, even though it may give you a quick boost of energy after eating it. 47 00:02:38,821 --> 00:02:41,001 Exercise is one of those things that I talk about often. 48 00:02:41,521 --> 00:02:45,361 Now enough cannot be said about the power and the value of exercise. 49 00:02:46,051 --> 00:02:49,831 While people think that exercises actually reduces your energy 50 00:02:49,831 --> 00:02:51,421 and takes away your energy. 51 00:02:51,781 --> 00:02:53,311 The opposite is actually true. 52 00:02:53,401 --> 00:02:57,326 When you exercise, your body releases endorphins into your body 53 00:02:57,326 --> 00:02:58,826 that make you feel really good. 54 00:02:59,231 --> 00:03:02,771 Those endorphins can be addictive as well, which gets you to exercise 55 00:03:02,771 --> 00:03:05,171 even more if you have a stronger body. 56 00:03:05,171 --> 00:03:08,471 If your mind is more clear, if your cardiovascular system is stronger 57 00:03:08,471 --> 00:03:11,741 and you can breathe better, it's so much better for you when it 58 00:03:11,741 --> 00:03:12,881 comes to getting more energy. 59 00:03:13,041 --> 00:03:15,531 And the last point I wanna make here is open loops. 60 00:03:15,641 --> 00:03:18,271 Now this is what I wanna expand on, specifically. 61 00:03:18,816 --> 00:03:23,436 When I talk about open loops, what I'm really referring to is unfinished work. 62 00:03:23,436 --> 00:03:26,286 This could be mentally in your head, it could be physically 63 00:03:26,346 --> 00:03:27,696 in your environment as well. 64 00:03:28,386 --> 00:03:31,986 As an example, you may start to empty the dishwasher in the morning when you get 65 00:03:31,986 --> 00:03:35,376 up for breakfast, but then you stop and you start making breakfast for the kids. 66 00:03:35,526 --> 00:03:37,236 Then you go back to emptying the dishwasher, and then you 67 00:03:37,241 --> 00:03:38,346 continue making breakfast. 68 00:03:38,646 --> 00:03:42,306 This constant back and forth and not finishing one task before 69 00:03:42,306 --> 00:03:45,606 you start the next task is what I'm referring to as an open loop. 70 00:03:46,496 --> 00:03:49,106 Then you get back to your desk and you start your workday. 71 00:03:49,466 --> 00:03:53,066 Well, maybe you're in a meeting and you're having a discussion with your teammates, 72 00:03:53,366 --> 00:03:56,996 but on the side you've got your second monitor and you're checking email, or 73 00:03:57,026 --> 00:03:58,706 you're responding to instant messages. 74 00:03:59,036 --> 00:04:00,266 These are all open loops. 75 00:04:00,266 --> 00:04:02,996 If you don't focus on one thing, complete that task, and 76 00:04:02,996 --> 00:04:04,286 then move on to the next one. 77 00:04:04,676 --> 00:04:05,816 You're leaving open loops. 78 00:04:05,916 --> 00:04:09,306 The problem with open loops is that you're constantly thinking about it. 79 00:04:09,366 --> 00:04:12,996 Now, if you look at it as your phone or your computer, your phone and your 80 00:04:12,996 --> 00:04:14,916 computer have what's referred to as ram. 81 00:04:15,216 --> 00:04:18,486 It's temporary memory that gets used when you perform 82 00:04:18,491 --> 00:04:20,106 lots of tasks at the same time. 83 00:04:20,486 --> 00:04:23,216 on your computer specifically, you may notice sometimes that 84 00:04:23,216 --> 00:04:26,666 your fan, your computer fan starts running and it gets really hot. 85 00:04:27,026 --> 00:04:31,901 The same thing is happening in your mind, your mind is using up resources, your 86 00:04:31,901 --> 00:04:36,371 attention, resources, and it's trying to process all these things in the background 87 00:04:36,401 --> 00:04:38,141 while you're focusing on one thing. 88 00:04:38,171 --> 00:04:43,121 Because of all these open loops, the best way is to close those loops one at a time. 89 00:04:43,481 --> 00:04:46,861 Now, I've talked about it in a different podcast episode is context switching 90 00:04:47,201 --> 00:04:49,211 when you go back and forth between. 91 00:04:49,866 --> 00:04:52,716 You're really not getting anything done because you're constantly 92 00:04:52,716 --> 00:04:54,156 bouncing from one to the other. 93 00:04:54,546 --> 00:04:58,206 In the past, people used to be proud of the fact that they were multitaskers, 94 00:04:58,326 --> 00:05:02,226 but really multitasking is just rapid switching from task to task. 95 00:05:02,226 --> 00:05:04,596 You're not actually getting two things done at once. 96 00:05:05,046 --> 00:05:07,536 So here are three ways to close open loops. 97 00:05:08,106 --> 00:05:09,666 The first is time block. 98 00:05:10,286 --> 00:05:14,066 When you're doing a task set, asides a specific amount of time, 99 00:05:14,126 --> 00:05:15,956 let's say half an hour, 45 minutes. 100 00:05:16,196 --> 00:05:20,486 For me, 45 minutes is the optimal amount of time, any less, and I feel like I'm not 101 00:05:20,486 --> 00:05:23,666 getting enough done anymore, and I start to fade and I start to get distracted. 102 00:05:24,146 --> 00:05:27,656 So say you set aside 45 minutes and you're going to write a blog post, 103 00:05:27,661 --> 00:05:32,096 or write an email or a proposal in that 45 minutes, only work on that. 104 00:05:32,216 --> 00:05:35,606 Turn off all the distractions, flip your phone over so that it's not gonna 105 00:05:35,606 --> 00:05:38,961 be notifying you or it's not gonna be flashing and beeping in your face. 106 00:05:39,861 --> 00:05:42,881 When you time block, you finish that task and then that's it. 107 00:05:42,971 --> 00:05:44,111 You don't come back to it again. 108 00:05:45,191 --> 00:05:50,223 The second tip here is daily planning, ideally the night before, so that your 109 00:05:50,223 --> 00:05:52,173 subconscious has some time to process it. 110 00:05:52,623 --> 00:05:55,413 When you start wrapping up your day, you think about what you 111 00:05:55,413 --> 00:05:56,793 need to get done for the next day. 112 00:05:57,033 --> 00:06:00,783 Check your calendar to make sure there's any events that you need to attend or 113 00:06:00,783 --> 00:06:02,133 any meetings that you have coming up. 114 00:06:02,553 --> 00:06:05,133 And your daily planning will actually help you when you get 115 00:06:05,133 --> 00:06:07,083 to your work the following day. 116 00:06:08,553 --> 00:06:12,333 The last tip I wanna make here about closing loops is work only 117 00:06:12,333 --> 00:06:14,383 on your most important task first. 118 00:06:14,903 --> 00:06:17,418 So when you get up in the morning, whether you're getting up really early or you're 119 00:06:17,418 --> 00:06:21,888 getting up later in the day, focus on just one important task and get it done. 120 00:06:21,888 --> 00:06:24,738 I refer to these as my mips, my most important project. 121 00:06:25,278 --> 00:06:28,488 So if a project is small and you can get it done in the first 122 00:06:28,488 --> 00:06:29,838 couple hours of a day, great. 123 00:06:29,958 --> 00:06:32,958 Finish it up in that day, if not, and it's gonna take you, let's say, 124 00:06:32,958 --> 00:06:34,608 seven to eight hours to finish. 125 00:06:34,848 --> 00:06:36,978 Well work on it in chunks every single morning. 126 00:06:37,293 --> 00:06:42,123 Chip away, work on it for an hour, maybe two hours, but start with that and only 127 00:06:42,123 --> 00:06:43,653 work on that first thing in the day. 128 00:06:44,013 --> 00:06:46,653 Definitely don't check your email first thing in the day, because all you're 129 00:06:46,653 --> 00:06:47,883 doing is you're flooding your mind. 130 00:06:47,883 --> 00:06:52,923 You're flooding your brain with stimulus and other people's priorities, and then 131 00:06:52,923 --> 00:06:55,833 you're gonna get distracted, and then there's gonna be a ton of open loops. 132 00:06:56,163 --> 00:06:59,903 Just as a side note, email is the best way to open loops because you're constantly 133 00:06:59,908 --> 00:07:03,983 responding and reacting to other people rather than working on your own task. 134 00:07:05,323 --> 00:07:08,538 The Be Well Do Well Planner, which I've talked about a lot, has this 135 00:07:08,538 --> 00:07:10,218 designed in mind specifically. 136 00:07:10,818 --> 00:07:14,178 When you start your day, it has a section at the top where you'll 137 00:07:14,178 --> 00:07:18,288 fill in what your life looks like, and then it gives you a block. 138 00:07:18,288 --> 00:07:20,418 It says, What project are you gonna work on today? 139 00:07:20,448 --> 00:07:23,658 This is your most important task, your most important project, and it 140 00:07:23,658 --> 00:07:27,078 gives you three spots where you're gonna fill in item number one, number 141 00:07:27,083 --> 00:07:30,198 two, number three, and these are the first three steps in order to get 142 00:07:30,198 --> 00:07:31,908 that most important project complete. 143 00:07:32,428 --> 00:07:35,908 On the right hand side, there's a schedule and you can fill in where you're going to 144 00:07:35,908 --> 00:07:37,948 spend that time doing those three things. 145 00:07:38,218 --> 00:07:40,588 Ideally, you wanna do it first thing in the morning, but if it's something 146 00:07:40,588 --> 00:07:43,318 that needs the rest of the day, you can fill it up at the rest of the day. 147 00:07:43,630 --> 00:07:48,370 As a quick recap, open loops are really like your computers fan running. 148 00:07:48,775 --> 00:07:52,855 At full tilt, you wanna make sure to cloth all the loops in your mind so 149 00:07:52,855 --> 00:07:55,705 that you don't have to think about it, and your mind isn't thinking about it. 150 00:07:55,705 --> 00:07:59,095 When you're not working on that task, specifically, if you're gonna 151 00:07:59,185 --> 00:08:02,185 start something, try to finish it up as quickly as possible. 152 00:08:02,365 --> 00:08:04,825 This will reduce the amount of stress you have in your life. 153 00:08:04,855 --> 00:08:07,375 This will also make you more present when you're not working. 154 00:08:08,005 --> 00:08:10,735 So rather than thinking about it in the back of your mind when you're out for a 155 00:08:10,735 --> 00:08:14,735 bike ride, let's say, or you're driving, instead of thinking about it all the 156 00:08:14,735 --> 00:08:17,535 time, your mind is now settled and calm. 157 00:08:18,620 --> 00:08:19,790 I hope this has been helpful. 158 00:08:19,910 --> 00:08:24,290 Tomorrow I'll be talking about how to craft the perfect evening routine. 159 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:28,670 I talked a little bit today about how you should plan your day, the day before, 160 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,260 and I'm gonna get into more detail about what an evening routine looks like and 161 00:08:33,260 --> 00:08:35,420 what your perfect evening routine can be. 162 00:08:36,050 --> 00:08:39,290 Thanks so much for making the Be Well Do Well Podcast a part of your day. 163 00:08:39,470 --> 00:08:40,190 I'll see you tomorrow.