As an entrepreneur, there are some technologies and not just apps and things, but those things definitely are part of the technologies that I think can make me more productive and also make me a better version of myself. So let's talk about the top three technologies I'll talk about today.
1. Morning Walks
They are like meditation, right? I get the best ideas, I swear. I am so smart on these morning walks. I get such clarity on these walks and I get a really good use of my time on these walks because I get to do videos that I share on social media, I get to get a little sweat going. I get to listen to audiobooks. I tend to take a longer walk, and that is relative to everyone, but I walk for about an hour.
But you start off where you are, so is that a five-minute walk? I'm actually considering adding a second shorter walk to my day. I like and wish and want to take naps. Which leads me to my second technology but I think it may be a better use of my time to add in a second walk.
2. Naps
There are two kinds of naps here that you may or may or may not heard of and I don't want to introduce any wacky, crazy technologies. But to me, napping is a great technology. So there are a couple of different kinds of naps that I'll use, depending on how much time I have.
• Coffee Nap - You may be asking what in the world is a coffee nap? Well, I am gonna tell you, you drink a cup of coffee and then you take a nap for 20-22 minutes. And then when you wake up, it gives the coffee time to kick into your body. The caffeine to kick into your body and you wake up feeling refreshed. And this is only about a 20 to 22 coffee nap.
• 90-minute Nap - Why a 90-minute nap? Because that gives you an entire opportunity to go through realm. It gives you a full sleep cycle and a sleep cycle is about 90 minutes. So there's the 90-minute nap where you actually wake up feeling refreshed. Most times the hour nap will leave you feeling groggy because you didn't get to complete a full sleep cycle.
3. Morning pages
I was introduced to morning pages a few years ago. It's a concept or practice, or technology by Julia Camron author of The Artist's Way called technology morning pages. Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages– they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page...and then do three more pages tomorrow but allow yourself some grace here. If morning isn't the best time for you then do them in the afternoon or in the evening. But I feel like being able to write for about 10 minutes, about 15 minutes, nothing really focused, but just getting things out of your head is super important and clarifying.
A lot of times it's good to do these writing pages when you first wake up but sometimes I find that I need to do my writing pages before I go to bed because I'll have a lot of things in my head. And it really helps get things out of your head. So they're not dancing around and there while you're trying to go to sleep.
These three are my best technologies - I use that word very loosely because it changes between handwriting things and apps that I think are amazing and I'll talk about some of those, too in the upcoming technology hacks. I love that word hack, even though it's old. I love that word. But no one going on a long walk. Oh, such clarity. Such activity is such a good use of time.
This is Nyota Gordon, your adaptability coach and leadership strategist, giving you awesome tips and tricks on being more adaptable, using your leadership skills for good and not evil.
Enjoy your walk!
