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I’m constantly in the market for the sort of routines that can put me in a comfortable physical and mental state.Beginner exercises that get the blood flowing, mid-afternoon strolls around the neighborhood during my work breaks and nightly handwritten/typed “braindumps” have done a lot for me this year alone. With my professional responsibilities, it does get a bit hard to mix in those sorts of practices in between my hours of researching, writing, editing, taking meetings and conducting interviews. So I went ahead and told ChatGPT about my weekly schedule in hopes of it building a wellness routine I could realistically implement within it that’s easy to stick to.My digital assistant took this challenge head-on and emerged with the sort of wellness regimen that gave my five-day work schedule an extra element of physical and mental maintenance.And on top of that newfound routine, ChatGPT also recommended some additional habits that were a bit out of the norm yet equally handy.Building a routine that protects my energy, physical health, focus, sleep and mental bandwidth
(Image credit: Shutterstock)I presented my request to ChatGPT with the following prompt:“I work five days a week as a digital journalist from 9 am to 5 pm (three days from the office and two days at home). Build me a realistic weekly wellness routine that can help me stay in a good to great physical and mental state.”Not only did the chatbot lay out a series of useful physical exercises and methods meant to keep me mentally balanced, but it also gave me different ones to utilize for all of my workdays. As an example of what it set out for me to do, here’s all of the Monday activities (entitled “Ease Into The Week”) it gave me for the morning through late afternoon and evening hours:Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.Morning: 7:00 — Wake up, drink water, get some natural light. 7:15 am — 10–15 minutes of mobility/stretching. 7:30 — Breakfast with protein + fiber. 8:00 — Get ready/commute. 9:00–5:00 — Work. Take a 5-minute movement break every 60–90 minutes. Walk, stretch, get water, or simply step away from the screen.Evening: 5:30–6:15 — 30–45-minute workout. Make Monday a strength session. 6:30 — Dinner. 7:30–9:00 — Free time. No productivity requirement. 9:00 — Start reducing work/news/social-media stimulation. 10:30–11:00 — Bed.Mental Goal: Don't start Monday at 100%. Start at 70–80% and build momentum.The rest of the weekdays came with their own themes and assorted practices.Tuesday is all about cardio & employing a mental reset; Wednesday is aimed at prioritizing strength training & sustained recovery; Thursday is set aside for fitness methods that are a bit more fun (such as a pick-up basketball game, for instance); Friday is set aside for planning for the week ahead & skipping hard workouts.I also made sure to keep the mental goals for each subsequent day in mind while I performed a combination of physical conditioning and cognitive stimulation:Tuesday Mental Goal: Tuesday is your "decompress from the internet" day. You're exposed to information all day for work; don't feel obligated to consume more of it at night.Wednesday Mental Goal: Wednesday is about preventing the midweek crash rather than trying to maximize productivity.Thursday Mental Goal: Put something on your calendar that you look forward to every Thursday.Friday Mental Goal: Create a psychological boundary between journalist mode and weekend mode.Unconventional methods that also worked like a charm
