Time Mastery Milestones for 4-Day Apprentices
With each of these milestones, there is a follow-up worksheet that can help you to decide which of these milestones you’re going to aim for, which ones need some tweaking, and, most importantly, a target date for when you’re going to do them.
1. Get Enough Sleep
This means sleeping enough that you’re happy, energetic, and able to wake up without an alarm. Research shows that most adults need at least 7 to 9 hours, with 8 as the optimum amount, though of course some people need less. However, bear in mind that chronic sleep deprivation happens gradually, and many people are sleep deprived without realizing it. The symptoms of sleep deprivation include being tired, irritable, cranky, and not being on top of your game. Even if we don’t notice these symptoms, the people around us will.
2) 30 Minutes a Day for Spirituality
Your spirituality might take the shape of prayer, meditation, or just being with yourself. If you don't believe in God or spirituality, think of this time as your psychological health practice, or having time to just relax, chill, and be present.
3) 30 Minutes a Day for Exercise
If in Milestone 2 we're looking at our spiritual dimension, here we're looking at our physical dimension. This can be whatever kind of exercise you like: going to the gym, running, or even something more low-impact, like yoga. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s some sort of physical activity.
4) 30 Minutes a Day for Personal Relaxation and Enjoyment
This just means doing something you enjoy, something that is not particularly growth oriented. You're not looking to take over the world, or to be a better person. You're just chilling and enjoying yourself. This could be watching some TV, playing video games or whatever to do to unwind, as long as it allows you to escape for a little bit.
5) 30 minutes a Day for Reading and Learning
As humans, we thrive off learning. Research shows that when our brain stops learning, we don't do too well; people who keep learning and using their brains throughout their lives tend to be happier and healthier. Reading and learning can also help us to appreciate points of view other than our own, which can help to tackle wider issues. However, it can be hard to make time for reading and learning as we get older and our lives get busier, which is why I’d say aim for 30 minutes a day to begin with.
6) Less Than 1 Hour a Day of Undesirable Activity
With all these things we’re making time for, we’re going to need to cut some other stuff out – the things you don’t enjoy doing, which might be chores, doing dishes, laundry, admin, and so on. Of course, I’m not telling you to just stop doing your chores, but consider this: If you have too many chores to do, maybe it’s because you just own too much stuff? You might need to manage your possessions or do something different, which we’ll cover in the episode on Material Possessions Milestones.
7) At Least 1 Day per Week with Zero Chores, Errands or Obligations
Give yourself a day to chill, to work on stuff you enjoy, to spend time with your family… anything but work!
8) Less Than 1 Hour per Day of Screen Time
This might include TV, video games, social media, and electronic devices. There is certainly a healthy place for these devices in our world, but it's also something that can really drain us and zap our energy if we just sit there receiving content, receiving ideas, receiving entertainment from somebody else. It's fun to watch stuff, but it's even more fun to do it. So, do more stuff.
9) Time for 3 Relaxed Meals a Day
Try to make 30 minutes for yourself without deadlines where you can eat without pressure, 3 times a day. Just enjoy being present and enjoying a little space. I believe that you age a lot slower if you do that. I can't prove it, but I know at least psychologically you're a happier person when you're able to do that.
10) 60 Minutes a Day for Friends, Family and Romance
This can be in whatever mix you like, but the important thing is to enjoy other people's company, to be present in relationships and to live life a little less seriously.
I have a very simple philosophy about life. People often focus on having these epic, amazing experiences and yes, things like getting married can be awesome, having kids can be awesome, but if every day you're happy and if you enjoy every day, you'll probably have a happy life. Of course, there will be a couple of days where things don't go the way you want, but for the most part if every day you're having fun and you're enjoying stuff and you make time for these things, you're not going to reach the end of your life and think “Man, I didn't have time. I wish I'd spent less time at work.” Instead, you will day “Okay, I did my time at work, but I did this other awesome stuff as well.”
