Your “I’m Done for the Day” Meter: What’s Your Threshold?

We all have an idea in our heads about what a “typical day” looks like. Wake up, go for a run, eat breakfast, take a shower, go to work, etc.

While our daily routine seems obvious, we aren’t always conscious of it, especially when days begin to blend into weeks, and weeks begin to blend into years.

Instead, we often take our daily routines for granted. We do what we do… because that’s what we’ve always done. And thus the logic behind our habits becomes self-fulling. We don’t analyze it or question it or change it.

This is why one of the first exercises I recommend to people is to create a complete list of your daily routine. You have to first step back and reflect on what a “typical day” looks like if you want to begin changing it.

Our daily routine isn’t just our physical habits either, but also our mental habits.

What type of thoughts do you have on an average day? What type of attitude do you carry with you at work, at home, at school, or with friends? What type of expectations do you have for yourself on a day-to-day basis?

Because your daily thoughts, attitudes, and expectations matter.

Your “I’m Done for the Day” Meter: What Does It Look Like?

At a certain point during the day, we all consciously or unconsciously think to ourselves, “OK, I’m done for the day!”

This is true for our days as a whole, as well as individual habits. For example, how long do you spend at the gym before you think, “OK, I’m done for the day,” or how long do you spend studying for a test before you think, “OK, I’m done for the day,” or how long do you spend working on a personal project before you think, “OK, I’m done for the day.”

This is what I call your “I’m Done For the Day” Meter. It’s a subjective expectation you have for yourself that determines when you’ve reached your daily limit for any activity – and it’s time to take a break or move to something else.

This is an important mental aspect of our daily routine that has very real effects and consequences.

When it comes to most self-improvement, you often have to raise your “I’m Done for the Day” Meter by raising your expectations for yourself just a tiny bit higher.

By doing this, you can re-define what a “typical day” looks like for you.

Here’s a quick example I put together, comparing Student A and Student B:

While each student does the same activities on a daily basis, Student B dedicates more time to Homework, Research, and Exercise – giving them an overall productivity advantage.

Of course, how you spend your time is just as important as how much time you spend. And the quality of that time matters too. If you say you were “studying” for 2 hours but really you spent half of that time dozing off, chatting with a friend, or surfing the web, then that doesn’t really count as a full 2 hours.

How to Raise Your “I’m Done for the Day” Threshold

• Start Super Small – If you go from spending “0 minutes per day exercising” → “1 minute per day exercising,” then congratulations, you have raised your “I’m Done for the Day” meter. That sounds like a super small change, but this is how I view all types of motivation and progress. My current workout routine started as just doing push-ups every morning. My current writing routine started as just writing 200 words everyday. Starting small helps you overcome inertia and get the momentum flowing in the right direction. It shows you change is possible and it gives you something to build off of.
• Use a Habit Tracker – A big part of holding yourself accountable on a daily basis is keeping track of your progress. You can use an old-fashioned checklist if you’d like, or you can use a simple habit tracker on your smartphone. I’ve used Habitica for about a year (which uses elements of gamification that helped me a lot). But now I just use an app called Habit Loop Tracker which serves as a simple digital “to-do” list that I look at every day and check things off as I complete them. It’s definitely helped me to “raise the bar” for myself each day.
• Understand the Nature of Willpower – All habit change requires an element of willpower. Make sure you learn the psychology behind willpower so that you can better apply it to your daily life. Our willpower is a limited resource that we must focus on the right things to truly maximize it. At the same time, once we build new habits and make them a steady part of our daily routine, we can begin redirecting our willpower toward newer habits we want to build. Focus your willpower on one change at a time, and keep building off of that.
• Take Strategic Breaks – Motivation isn’t always about “do more, do more, do more!” To truly maximize your potential on a daily basis, you need to take a step back when it’s time to recharge, reflect, and reenergize. Taking “strategic breaks” allows you to get more done in the long-term and better manage daily stress. It could be a simple walk outside after lunch, or even “mini-breaks” throughout the day, such as 15 minutes to chat with a friend or eat a snack. With strategic breaks, you can re-enter your work with a fresh mindset and renewed energy.
• Pay Attention to Your Energy Levels – Our energy levels often fluctuate throughout the day. Do you know what time of the day you have the most energy? Do you know what time of the day you have the least energy? Do you know how different activities affect your energy levels (“recharge” vs. “drain”)? The better you can answer these questions, the easier it will be to craft a daily routine that best serves you. Everyone is different, a habit that is better for you to do in the morning may be better for someone else to do at night, depending on your biology and personality.
• Adjust to the New Normal – A new daily routine will always take time to adjust to, even small changes may take a couple months before they begin to feel “permanent.” Be patient with yourself, keep moving forward in spite of mistakes, and give yourself time to adjust to the “new normal.” You will eventually reach a point where your new habit becomes something so natural that you take it for granted, just like most other aspects of your daily routine.

Ultimately, raising your “I’m Done for the Day” meter is about raising your expectations for yourself just a tiny bit more each day.

A few years ago, I was really bad at exercising, cleaning, and reading on a daily basis, but now they’ve become deeply embedded in my routine. Now I do them…because that’s what I do.

The self-fulfilling logic of habits works with the positive and healthy ones too!

Pay more attention to your “I’m Done for the Day” meter and use the advice above to try to improve it. Be patient and take small steps forward.

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