Routine building for AIESEC superhumans

Routine building for AIESEC superhumans

In this April 2023, I got a chance to be a delegate at Asia Pacific Summit 2023, held in Sri Lanka. One session took my attention in those extravagant 5 days more than others. And I felt like this was the thing I was missing to reach my full potential. I believe that this should be known by many more, not just me. 

Does having a shower feels like a very hard task? I guess not. 

Have you ever paid complete attention when you are having a shower? You will notice that automatically, you follow the same body movements every time you shower. The way you enter the shower, open the tap, and rub your body is done by the same movements every time. Especially when you are applying soap, shampoo, or whatever, your hands will follow the same path around your body, if you are not controlling your moves deliberately. You might be in a whole different world, thinking about your day, your plans, etc. But without you deliberately controlling your body, you have completed your shower. You have done all the steps necessary to have a good shower without thinking consciously. Congratulations!

That’s why showering is not a hard task. Because you have a routine. When you adhere to a routine, everything will be easier as you will follow the same productive routine every day. In the long run, you will find out that your time wastage is minimum. Here’s how you can build an effective routine for yourself.  Let’s get into routine building for AIESEC superhumans

Assess your current situation

Before starting to plan anything, the first thing we need to do is understand our current situation. Imagine an average day of your life. I want you to make a list or a pie chart, about how many hours you spend on some tasks. Calculate the number of hours you spend on sleeping, studying, AIESEC work, transportation, rest, meals, etc. Using a pie chart will help you to properly visualize your day. 

Is it enough? Or do you want more?

After you complete this, take a look at it and ask yourself, “Is this enough?”. If yes, no problem. Else, you have to plan your time properly. Cut unnecessary activities, or reduce the time that is allocated to them. Or find alternative ways to speed up.

Solve your puzzle piece by piece

Now properly plan your average day piece by piece. And try to allocate the same time slots for the same task every day. As an example,  studying, allocate the same time slot, it can be 9 pm – 11 pm. For AIESEC work  11 pm – 12 am, like that. Even sleep also, you can allocate the same time slot every day. Then your body will know when to sleep and you can fall asleep easily. Try to create a healthy routine for you. But don’t create impractical ones.

Plan long term

Now you have the framework for your activities. Just need to fill this with your activities. But first, take some time to plan a bit ahead. Maybe a month, or the upcoming two weeks. Think ahead. What are you going to achieve, complete, and accomplish in this time?

When you have an idea about your long-term direction, it is easier to prioritize and create short-term goals.

Plan weekly and daily

Now you have well-planned long-term goals. It is now time to break the large goal into a few small parts. By completing these smaller goals we can achieve our long-term goal over time. 

Before the start of every week, maybe on Sunday evening, you can start planning your week. Add action items to your pre-made routine. If you have reserved 9 pm to 11 pm on Tuesday for studying, specify what are you going to study in that period.

Maybe at the start of the week, you might not have a lot of work. It’s fine, keep the slots empty. You might get new work to do as time passes. Then you can start to plan daily. Add some newly assigned tasks to the empty slots. 

At the end of the day, look what you have to do tomorrow. And if you see some free slots, add that new work there. Also, use that time to prepare for what’s coming tomorrow. 

Make some adjustments

Yes, it is totally alright to change the weekly or long-term plan you created. It’s your routine and plans. You can change it. But make sure that there is a valid reason to do so. Don’t let your laziness change your goals. 

Let’s imagine, you have made a perfect plan for the whole week ahead. Suddenly, you get a new assignment on Monday that has to be submitted by Thursday. Now this becomes your priority. Don’t worry, go ahead and change your plans. Push the non-urgent work to do later. 

Emergencies and special events.

Everything in your life doesn’t work according to the plan. You might get sick or such events can happen. It’s totally fine to change your plans accordingly. Obviously, you can’t perform as before if you are sick or have some emergency. 

Also, there can be special events, maybe a party, LCM, LC event, or some event in your faculty, etc. Remember, these are not routine events. These event doesn’t happen every day or every week. Don’t forget to participate to these event, meet new people, add something to your life, and make memories, because life is not all about working in front of your computer and books. Go our there and experience life. At the same time, remember to catch up with the work you missed because of these activities. If work piles up, it won’t be a pleasant experience for you. 

Hope this would be beneficial for routine building for AIESEC superhumans. Things may not work perfectly in the first week itself. It takes some time to make and adjust to a new routine. Don’t be discouraged. Just keep working. Maybe this method may not suit you 100%. That also can happen. Make your own method. Be a superhuman.

Dinuka Avinash

AIESEC in University of Peradeniya

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