Open Mike: The Perfect Day (OT)

["Open Mike" is the anything goes, off-topic Sunday Editorial page of TOP.]

Here's all I have to do each day and how much time I should spend doing it:

Sleeping: 9 hours

Personal hygiene, showering, shaving, etc.: 30 minutes

Prepping and cooking three meals and morning tea: 1 hour 20 minutes

Eating three meals: 30 minutes

Writing (TOP, New Yorker, book projects) and moderating comments: 6 hours

Research for writing: 1 hour

Reading: 1 hour

Housework, averaged: 30 minutes

Yardwork, averaged: 30 minutes

Feeding, playing with, and walking dog: 1 hour

Laundry (including bedding and folding, over one week, averaged out): 10 minutes

Shooting pool: 30 minutes

Shooting photographs: 30 minutes

Processing photographs and DAM: 1 hour

Exercise: 90 minutes*

TV: 0

Video games: 0

Diddling around on the computer with no good purpose: 2 hours

Shopping and errands: 30 minutes

Driving for shopping and errands: 40 minutes

Phone calls to friends or family, averaged: 40 minutes

Wasting time on the phone on hold or trying to get through to some necessary entity, averaged: 20 minutes

Dealing with mail, bills, shipping things, banking, home maintenance issues, doctors, or something I forgot to do and am now being threatened about: 30 minutes

AA meeting: 1 hour

Everything around an AA meeting, including driving, averaged: another hour

TOTAL: 29 hours 40 minutes

Nothing to it.

Next day: Do it all over again!

Mike

*This is Dr. Greger's recommendation. I haven't exercised for 90 minutes in one day since I was in my 50s. But this might not be an area to skimp on. He says "mild cognitive impairment" is marked by "those starting to forget things or regularly repeating themselves." I haven't exercised for 90 minutes in one day since I was in my 50s—did I already mention that? I forget.

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Featured Comments from:

Comments

[Jeff Hartge]

Exercise: 90 minutes*

Yes. Because yardwork, housework (in a house with stairs), and walking a dog in a region of the country with some nice hills is certainly not exercise. It only counts as exercise if it is done at a commercial facility and/or on a commercial exercise device.

[robert e]

Hi Mike,

Between playing with and walking the dog, yardwork, housework, prepping and cooking, laundry, pool, shopping and errands, I'm seeing plenty of physical activity a.k.a. exercise. And we know that a photo walk around your neighborhood means hills. All of that has got to average over 90 minutes a day.

If you feel you need more, you really don't need much time, if you choose the right exercise: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/headlines/the-1-minute-workout-how-to-get-fit-in-60-seconds-mcmaster-study-1.3555420

I'm no expert, but it looks to me like you're pretty active for your age. Relax and enjoy!

[David Dyer-Bennet]

You spend an appalling amount of time on the phone, but maybe that comes with the territory? But even without that you're still in negative time, so it wouldn't help even if it could be zeroed out.

[Jonathan]

Mike, I can see a couple of optimisations that may help:

1) Research is part of writing - so say 6h for both, saving 1h.
2) Shooting photos is also writing prep, count as part of the 6h, saving another 30m
3) Since all dogs like chasing balls and playing with sticks - playing with dog = shoot pool with the dog, and save another 30m

which would be 2h closer to a balanced lifestyle :)

[jp41]

Mike, in this podcast (https://hubermanlab.com/dr-peter-attia-exercise-nutrition-hormones-for-vitality-and-longevity/) at time 00:50:00 Dr. Peter Attia tells of an analyst tasked with researching for 9 months to a year all of the available means known of treating for the prevention of Alzheimer's Disease. In the end, the "single greatest efficacy" identified was: Excercise.

[Thomas Mc Cann]

You get 9 hours sleep ? I wish

On recommendation of heart specialist( 150 minuts of exercise per week) I actuallu manage 1 hour per day walking 2.5 miles. To date I've not noticed any great improvement day on day

[Rob Campbell]

Had my first of two heart attacks about twenty years ago, when I was 65. It was suggested that I keep up an active sex life, which greatly pleased me as I had yet to discover what beta blockers can do to some people (yep, I do remember touching on this topic earlier). The pedestrian exercise recommended was an hour’s walk per day, which I did, just as soon as I was capable after release from hospital.

A year or two ago I accidentally found that I could walk two hours just as easily, so I upped the deal to that. Once or twice, if the ears and bluetooth offer something exceptional, I go beyond that, to three. I must add that the three are doable (for me) only in winter: in summer, I’d probably kill myself with heatstroke. The odd thing is, I have come to realise that the struggle is not so much a physical one, as a mental battle to overcome laziness, and self-induced feelings of tiredness.

There are far more battles going on within than threaten us from outside.

[Simon]

You spend 40 minutes driving every day (not including for the AA meeting)? No wonder you're short of money!

I think the quality and variety of the exercise is more important than duration. A HIIT (higher intensity) interval session, a long walk, some tennis against the wall, running up the stairs and using stairs instead of an elevator.

The 'use it or lose it' maxim also applies to other motor skills such as balance and dexterity. You might like to look up Never Leave The Playground by Stephen Jepson.