Lex Fridman’s daily routine can help you smash your programming goals
As a programmer, you’ve got to improve your skills so that you don’t get left behind. But learning a new programming language can be hard AF.
So how do you push past the pain?
Someone we can turn to is Lex Fridman. He’s a computer scientist and YouTuber who hosts The Lex Fridman podcast, and he’s interviewed world-leading figures, including Elon and Zucks.
In one of his videos, he shares a day in his life to show how he structures his day to maximize his time. It’s insanely productive (in a good way!)
Here’s a breakdown of his day.
Mantra routine — morning
This isn’t woo-woo. Lex is practical, and his mantra routine reflects this.
It’s split into four parts.
Part I: Rules
He says, “I remind myself of the constraints in which the game is to be played.”
Such rules include:
- Getting 6–8 hours of sleep each night
- Only checking social media when he posts (1–3 times a day)
- Exercising every single day — even if he’s in pain. “I find a body part that’s not injured and exercise that.”
Part II: Visualize
Next, he visualizes his day ahead, “Like I’m in a game of Sims…”
He then says aloud three things he’s grateful for and meditates on the idea he might die.
“Today could be my last day on Earth.”
Part III: Goals
After visualizing his day, he visualizes his goals. Lex starts with ambitious ones. These are long-term, five-year goals. His short-term goals come next.
Lex defines short-term goals as things he can do by the end of the year.
Part IV: Principles
Finally, he lists his core principles. You can think of these as affirmations.
He admits his principles are cliche. They’re about being compassionate, empathetic, and having strength.
Deep work session — four hours
Once he completes his mantra routine, Lex begins his first four-hour deep work session. This is the hardest part of his day, and his work revolves around AI.
Before he starts, he has water, coffee, and a toilet break, so he’s ready to hit the day. “I try to minimize these breaks during deep work sessions.”
He works with zero distractions. No phone. No music. Nothing. Any loose ideas down are typed onto a Google doc so he can address them later. He wants to focus on the task at hand.
“Just get the job done. Don’t think about it too much and feel good once it’s complete.” — Lex Fridman
Social media & music — 30 minutes
Lex treats himself after the first deep work session.
He gives himself 10 minutes on social media and 20 minutes making music. 10 minutes on social media is to upload content and respond to comments. The 20 minutes with music is to play the guitar or piano.
“In the real world, I’m currently single, but in the music world, I’m in an open relationship with this beautiful guitar. Open relationship because sometimes I cheat on her with the acoustic.” — Lex Fridman
Exercise — two hours
Next comes two hours of exercise.
He does six miles of running every day. After that, he decides how far he wants to go. The total run takes about an hour.
He then does an intense bodyweight session. This comprises five pull-ups and ten push-ups every minute for 15 minutes. David Goggins inspires it.
He does all this without eating. However, he takes a salt pill before running to get a dose of electrolytes.
He’ll then jump in a cold shower for one minute, with a cheesy songs playlist going where he knows the one-minute mark. He might eat afterward if he’s feeling like it.
Deep work session — four hours
Then comes Lex’s second deep work session.
He aims for eight hours of deep work a day.
Again, zero distractions.
Eating
The meal he cooked in the video doesn’t look the most appetizing, but it does look nutritious.
It’s essentially ground beef with a few veggies thrown in. His “ground-floor” veggie is cauliflower. “When I really want to get crazy and party, I go with carrots.”
It’s part of Lex’s keto diet and comes to about 1800–2000 calories.
He also drinks an Athletic Greens shake “that’s packed with nutrients” and takes a number of tablets. These are:
- Sodium — He takes one tablet a day
- Magnesium glycinate — These tablets helped stop his keto diet headaches
- Potassium — “Just to make sure you get enough electrolytes”
- Fish oil — To keep joints healthy
“So much of nutrition science is barely a science… I like to listen to my own body and do a one-person, one-subject scientific experiment to feel good.” — Lex Fridman
Shallow work session — four hours
The work he tackles here isn’t as mentally taxing.
On this particular day of filming, Lex’s plan was to:
- Finish the deep work project from his last session (about an hour)
- Do some podcast editing on Adobe Premiere (about two hours)
- Check email (about an hour). He does this no more than three times a day. The first two times are to check for emergencies.
If he’s not feeling great, he might watch Netflix or YouTube documentaries or hang out with friends.
“The possibilities of chaos are wide open, so I can do whatever the hell I want.” — Lex Fridman
Evening reading — two hours
The work doesn’t stop.
To wrap things up, Lex finishes the day with one hour of academic paper reading. “Today, I’m skimming two machine learning and neuroscience papers that someone suggested.”
The reason he does this is to “think deeply beyond the paper.”
He then does an hour of fiction reading. In this video, he was reading Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.
“When I have a lot of energy, I just chill on the bed and read […] When I’m feeling tired, I jump to the desk […]” — Lex Fridman
Takeaways
Lex Fridman’s daily routine is super inspiring. He carries a light, positive energy, and he gets through an immense amount of hard work every single day.
And although it’s unlikely that most of us will be able to power through the same amount of work he gets through, it’s something to aspire to.
Here’s a summary of his schedule:
- Mantra routine — This is split into four parts: rules, visualization, goals, and principles.
- Deep work session #1 — Four hours of work with zero distractions.
- Social media & music — 10 minutes for social and 20 minutes on the guitar or piano. “Music gives me a private moment of joy.”
- Exercise — A run of six miles or more, followed by a bodyweight session. This takes about two hours in total.
- Deep work session #2 — Again, four hours of work with zero distractions. Loose thoughts are logged in a Google Doc.
- Eating — Lex follows a keto diet and supports it with supplements.
- Shallow work session — This four hours is “open to chaos”.
- Evening reading — One hour of academic papers, followed by an hour of fiction.
“I value a few things in this world. One of them is hard work […] The other is love and compassion towards other people. With those two things, it’s one hell of a good life.” — Lex Fridman
Feeling pumped to take on the world? Let’s channel that into something productive!
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