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Comment by new_hackers | Hacker News Reader

    6:00 am - wakeup
    6:10 am - jog
    6:30 am - nutritious breakfast including fruit, carbs, protein and water
    7:00 am - shower
    7:30 am - coffee (limited) and classical music
    8:00 am - review learning list and choose focus
    8:30 am - focus and learn
    10:00 am - stretching, situps, pushups followed by water
    10:15 am - focus and learn
    11:45 am - evaluate learning, update learning list
    noon - nutritious lunch (limited) with water
    12:30 pm - bike ride
    1:00 pm - review learning list and choose focus
    1:30 pm - focus and learn
    3:00 pm - weightlifting followed by water
    3:30 pm - focus and learn
    5:00 pm - evaluate learning, update learning list
    5:30 pm - dinner (limited)
    6:00 pm - your time
    9:00 pm - bedtime

When I was unemployed, this is the routine I followed. I was able to pick up quite a few technologies that helped me in my current job. Notice that quite a bit of the routine is focused on YOU. If you feel good, and confident about yourself, you can learn a lot.

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This is really important. You can't actually absorb information at high effectiveness for more than 4 hours / day. So you spend the other time doing things that rest your brain.

I would add that 20 minute naps after absorbing material are proven to aid learning. Midafternoon is a good time. Set a timer and don't go over.

Not that I regret having a family, but I miss the time when I could just focus on myself like that.

Wow, that's really cool. How consistent were you with this? Was it harder on some days, either because of lack of motivation or other things came in your way? How did you fit your job search into this? I'm unemployed at the moment so trying to figure out a routine.

Yeah it was harder at first, but once I got my rhythm it worked. Also I was unmarried, so that made it muuuuch easier. I would do job searches in the mornings, programming in the afternoon. Also note that after 6 on Friday I was "off" until Monday, so I used that time for dating/socializing etc.

3:00 - weightlifting

3:30 - focus and learning

It takes for me 10 min to get to gym, dress up, 10 min to come back home and 10 min to have a shower after the gym. How did you manage fit any actual exercise in 30 min of time?

I had free weights at my house, they sat in the office near my computer. Actually I found that if I was on a tough problem, I could do a set, then come back and sometimes that would help me get back in the groove. It also added some light upper body workout to the jogging and biking I was also doing.

The key here is if you feel good and confident about yourself. I wonder how well these kinds of schedules work for people who are not.

A good exercise program is well-known to improve how good and confident you feel about yourself. Eating healthy, making personal care a priority all have a good effect. How good and confident you feel about yourself is not immutable -- even clinically depressed people benefit from exercise (note I didn't say cured, but I said benefit -- and that is scientifically proven). Having a schedule that includes and prioritizes the steps you can take to improve your sense of well-being is a very good strategy. These things don't work in one day, obviously, but over time the effects are huge.

This really reminds me of a certain film in which Steve Carell is the main character..

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