Ah! 2020, what a great year to look forward to. It has a zing to its name and seems to me like a year of possibilities, re-prioritizations and to take that leap we’ve all been waiting for. And what better year to do this than a ‘leap’ year – if not now, when?
Setting our finances in order, striving for a better work-life balance, managing our time better, getting more exercise, pursuing our passion have been on almost everybody’s resolution list every single year. How much of these we are able to follow through and how many fizzle out is quite another story. Instead of these generic ones, let’s deliberate on a few simple yet profound formulae which are well researched by experts, are already out there, experimented with and most importantly are super simple and fun – completely doable.
20/20/20 formula for every morning
The acclaimed author and world-renowned leadership expert Robin Sharma emphasises the importance of waking up early in the morning and spending the first 60 minutes doing 3 activities for 20 minutes each. These involve moving for 20 minutes; reflecting for 20 and spending another 20 for self-growth.
In his words, “The way you start your day powerfully shapes how productively you live it. Reserve the first 60 minutes for personal preparation. As the Spartan warriors said: “Sweat more in training and you’ll bleed less in war.” Spend your first 20 minutes in intense exercise. Sweating releases BDNF, a brain chemical that actually grows neural connections. Working out also releases dopamine, the neurotransmitter of motivation, and serotonin, which makes you feel happy. For the next “20-minute pocket”, review your annual plan and reflect deeply on your quarterly goals. Clarity precedes mastery and this practice will deepen your focus through the day. Invest the final 20 minutes of this morning routine on learning (i.e., read autobiographies of great humans or listen to a leadership podcast or download the lessons of yesterday into your journal).”
Personally, the ‘moving’ can include something as unsophisticated as going for a walk; ‘reflecting’ can be done in your journal by structuring your thoughts and making sense of what exactly you want from various spheres of life, and the ‘self-growth’ can include not just reading books but can learning something online or penning your thoughts in a blog.
If we analyse and dissect this closely, the amount of sense it makes is indeed remarkable. These three activities are essentially the ones we keep procrastinating each morning till we hit the bed tired every night, we defer them all week long till we reach the weekend and, before we realize, the weekend zips past us. Wouldn’t it be astute to address them the first thing in the morning – every single day. It sure takes time to get habituated but there is no better time to start than now!
20/20/20 rule for work
Work is the source of the biggest stressors for many of us and for many around us. The physical and emotional ailments which arise due to our working lifestyle are ever increasing. While the emotional stressors require a great deal of independent discussion and need an even greater amount of change in our work cultures and individual mindsets; physical stressors are surprisingly easier to regulate by following a simple rule. Mandy Murry’s story on Thrive Global enlists a 20/20/20 rule to live by at work which can enable us to strengthen our vision, maintain a healthy heart and prevent muscle cramps at work.
According to her research, every 20 minutes we need to ‘stand up’, ‘walk 20 yards’ (60 feet) and ‘look 20 feet ahead’.
The benefits are obvious but vital. Standing up every 20 minutes for instance would help in burning calories, improving blood circulation and in preventing spasms and leg cramps. Walking would keep one active, prevent the back from stiffening and looking ahead will reduce eye strain and strengthen one’s vision.
20/20/20 rule for screen time
Each day there are hundreds of emails to be responded to at work. Now, if that wasn’t enough, add on to that the ever increasing number of series to ‘Netflixed’, the Instagram stories to be viewed, the WhatsApp and Telegram notifications to be read, the tweets to be tweeted – we have lost count of the amount of the time we spend with the screen in front of us. And this is the reason that in 2020 the last ‘20’ rule of work that every 20 minutes we should ‘look 20 feet ahead’ deserves a 20/20/20 rule of its own.
According to a Medical News Today article, the 20/20/20 rule for screen time entails that, “a person takes a 20-second break from looking at a screen every 20 minutes. During the break, the person focuses on an object 20 feet away, which relaxes the eye muscles.” Californian optometrist Jeffrey Anshel had designed this rule to remind oneself to take breaks in order to reduce screen time thereby preventing eye strain.
20/20 rule for decluttering
Minimalism has taken us by storm and 2020 is going to be no different – albeit this wave is only going to get higher and stronger and will sweep the world in the coming years. It is a wave to counter the stifling and expensive wave of consumerism which, for years, has overshadowed the lifestyles choices we make.
While minimalism is a lifestyle, decluttering is an action and the first step towards this lifestyle. You may not have the intention to adopt the minimalist lifestyle yet, but we can all benefit from some decluttering in our lives and a 20/20 rule allows us to do just that.
Stated simply it suggests that we can do away with anything which we can replace for less than $20 dollars and within 20 minutes from our location. It’s important to note that this rule applies more to ‘just-in-case’ items than our other belongings. The just-in-case items (as the name suggests) are the ones we buy, hoard and rarely use because we might need them ‘just-in-case’. So, donate, gift or trash (only as the last resort) these belongings and enjoy the newly opened spaces in your shelves and life.
My own 20/20 rules
Here are few of my own 20/20 rules which I intend to follow more diligently this year.
Speak with the people you love for 20 minutes in a day – either virtually or face-to-face. It can be with one person for 20 minutes, with 2 for 10 minutes each, or whatever works for you. The point is to reach out to people who matter – every single day.
Destress for 20 minutes each day – water your garden, paint your canvas, get a foot massage or anything that takes your mind off everything – you need to tend to yourself to make you grow and thrive.
Limit non-work-related social media usage to 20 minutes every day. Sounds difficult to start with, but if you are not using social media for learning or business, it indeed does you more harm than good – to your cognitive functions, human connections, self-esteem, attention span, anxiety and unhappiness. If you are able to achieve this, go a step ahead and digitally detox yourself for 20 days over the next 366 days. Choose few of these days in advance and choose the remaining as and when you feel overwhelmed and mentally unwell.
So, go ahead and follow these simple effective 20/20 rules in 2020. Better still, make your own rules (MYOR) this year – and be intent and determined to adhere to them.
Read more on these 20/20 rules:
https://www.robinsharma.com/article/the-methods-for-superhuman-productivity
https://thriveglobal.com/stories/20-20-20-rule-to-live-by-at-work/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321536.php#how-to-use-the-20-20-20-rule
https://earlybirdmom.com/20-20-decluttering-rule/
https://www.theminimalists.com/jic/
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