I’m not a fan of routines.

Morning routines seem counterproductive at my age, they’re hard to stick to because my days change so frequently and all they seem to do is cause mental anguish. Evening plans and events change so frequently that even attempting to implement an end of day routine would drive me crazy.

In my opinion, it’s more productive to think of routines from the perspective of identity. Rather than implementing set routines for the morning and evening, I prefer to contemplate my identity, and the tasks or framework required to live the way I want to. For example, replacing goals with principled guidelines that help define how I want to exist as a human.

It may seem like semantics, but the words you use and the mental narration surrounding self-improvement makes a huge impact on your mental state, and can mean the difference between mental anguish or delight.

The most efficient way I’ve found to spend my evenings is inspired by Marcus Aurelius and other Stoic philosophers. For a period of my evening, whether it’s for five minutes or thirty minutes, whether it’s in bed, on the bus home, or while I’m trying to write, I spend some time doing these six things.

Let me explain:

Contemplation of the sage

“Mastery of reading and writing requires a master. Still, more so life.” — Marcus Aurelius

For those of you unfamiliar with the word ‘sage’, a sage is someone who is considered to be wise or experienced in a certain field, and who is revered for their wisdom, judgment, and expertise.

Your sage could be anyone you look up to or respect, or it could be a self-created figure that is an amalgamation of things that you want to be or embody. They don’t necessarily have to be a real person or mentor, or someone who physically exists in your life. However, your sage must be someone that you’re aspiring to be, and who has character traits that you want to adopt into your identity.

Marcus Aurelius’ sage was Zeno, the founder of Stoic philosophy, and he would often ask himself ‘What would Zeno do?’.

Contemplation of the sage should essentially be a period of time in the evening where you reflect on your day, or the person you are, and ask yourself ‘What would XX do?’.

I find the best way to undertake this exercise is by comparing myself to the person I truly want to be rather than any specific person. This allows me to focus more on the present moment and my current existence and prevents me from getting envious or jealous of other people. The only person I want to be better than is who I was yesterday.