The Secrets To A Productive And Successful Morning Routine

Why Shock Clock 2?

Maybe you’ve lost a job. Maybe you’ve ruined a relationship. Maybe you’re wasting your college years in bed—all because you can’t get up on time.

If that’s you, you already know why you need the Shock Clock 2.

But what if it’s not? Sure, you don’t always get up when you say you will. You catch those extra snooze minutes whenever you can, and while it makes you late for work every once in a while, you always roll out of bed before the situation gets dire.

All in all, you’ve got your act together. So why do you need the Shock Clock 2?

The reason you need the Shock Clock 2 is the difference between surviving, and truly thriving.

Mornings: The Key to Success

Over and over, studies have shown that the most successful people are the ones who curate a productive morning routine for themselves, and get up early every day to implement it.

In other words, a key part of maximizing your productivity and potential lies in three steps.

  1. Design your routine
  2. Wake up early
  3. Implement it consistently

It makes sense that this simple sequence has proven so important. There are a few basic psychological reasons why your brain is primed to turn a productive morning into a productive day, and eventually, a productive lifetime.

First, the very act of consciously choosing a morning routine helps you set and test achievable goals. As you decide what three things you’re going to prioritize above everything else, you cut through the negativity, anxiety, and excuses that we all struggle to resist. You start living boldly and intentionally.

Secondly, achieving a goal first thing in the morning (even a very small goal) primes your brain. The brain is constantly receiving and interpreting cues that become our impulses, desires, and habits. So by accomplishing a task as soon as you leap out of bed, you’re basically telling your brain that you’re the boss, and you’re here to get things done. You’ll be surprised to find how well your brain cooperates.

Finally, when we’re on a consistent sleep schedule, we naturally receive a rush of energy and action hormones in the morning. Our circadian rhythm uses these hormones to get our bodies ready for the day. And when you hack that natural rush with a morning routine, you’ll find getting your hardest task out of the way is easier than you’d ever thought possible.

Your Morning Routine

Ok, so you’re sold on the value of a morning routine, but how do you get in the habit of one? And more importantly, how do you stick to it?

That’s where Pavlok comes in. Pavlok’s Morning Routine module will helps you cross that first hurdle: setting your intention. Just plug in the three most important things that you want to see happen each morning, and the app will remind you each and every day. If you don’t mark them as done, you’ll get a zap!

But setting your intention is only part of the story. To get that morning energy rush, you need to have a consistent circadian rhythm. And to help your brain establish your morning routine as a habit, you need to get it done every day at the same time. You need peaceful, consistent early morning time to yourself.

That means rolling out of bed just in time for a shower and a bagel won’t cut it anymore.

Luckily, Shock Clock 2 is here to help. Since it actually tracks your sleep, you’ll wake up at the lightest part of your sleep cycle. That means maximum energy, minimum grogginess. And the Shock Clock 2 provides that extra accountability you need in order to fully reap the benefits of the Morning Routine module.

You won’t be able to turn off your alarm while still half-asleep and unaware of what you’re doing. Instead, you’ll need to solve a math problem, or do some vigorous aerobic exercise. And the Shock Clock 2 can notify your friends or post to your social media if you aren’t meeting your goals. Even if you don’t have the willpower to zap yourself, one of your buddies will!

Together, the Shock Clock 2 and Morning Routine module are an unbeatable team to master your mornings. Goodbye to being rushed in the morning, goodbye to feeling unfocused all day, goodbye to living your second best life.

So what are you waiting for? Come check us out on Indiegogo, and start becoming the person you were meant to be.

What’s New In The Latest Firmware Update

 

Hey Shockers!

As you know we recently released our latest firmware update with a ton of bug fixes and new features released. The Pavlok team continues to work hard to make the Pavlok hardware and software combination the absolute best way to improve your habits for good.

Here’s what’s new with the latest update.

Don’t have a Pavlok? Order now. Or download the app on IOS and Android (no hardware required.)

Pavlok Firmware Update

  • Vibe strength now works down to 10%
  • Low-battery indicator added: at 7% or lower a periodic (every 30s) red LED flash occur. This is a unique pattern of three sets of two very short flashes. Connecting to the charger will clear this.
  • Clock-not-set warning flash added: when the battery discharges fully, the real-time clock (RTC) chip will not be set after power is restored, until the device is paired with the app. When this condition exists, the red LED will flash periodically in a warning pattern: two sets of two short flashes followed by a one-second long pulse. The warning flash should stop within a few seconds of connecting to the phone.

        Jumping jack option added for alarms

  • More flexible stimulus (vibe/beep/zap) and LED combinations.
  • Alarm stimuli are now sequential, so instead of vibe+beep+zap occurring together, an alarm will now do vibe, pause, beep, pause, zap, pause, and repeat (or an appropriate subset, depending on the selected stimuli).
  • Stimulus pattern durations (on and off times) are now controllable from 10ms up to 10s.
  • Snooze indicator with triple yellow LED flashes every 10s as long as alarm is snoozed.
  • Fixed alarm dialog is shown properly if phone is paired after alarm has already triggered.
  • Implemented haptic feedback for initial button press: a quick vibe that simulates the “click” of a regular button. Also added additional vibes for “long” and “very long” presses, to signal when you’ve held the button long enough.
  • Alarms are now cancelled when the button is held down long enough (2.5s) even while it’s still being held down.
  • Pressing the button will cancel any active stimulus (including multi-zap!) and no additional stimulus will be started as long as the button is held down (except the haptic feedback, and the double-vibe when an alarm is stopped).

    Hand detect now allows selection of several stimulus patterns: vibe, beep, zap, or “countdown” which cycles through vibe (3 short ones), beep (3 short ones), then a sequence of 3 zaps, before starting over. The zap level is configurable as well.

  • Vibe and beep stimulus patterns now include a green LED indicator whenever the motor or buzzer is active, for additional user feedback.

We’re very excited to continue adding improvements to firmware to help you reach your goals.

As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or need help transforming your habits, please reach out to support@wp.pavlok.com

Introducing Pavlok DeNail

Happy Easter fellow shockers,

Today we couldn’t be more excited to announce the latest addition to the Pavlok family – Pavlok DeNail.

We have been secretly at work on this for the last several months and truly believe it is the most important moment of the company since Pavlok was originally founded.

Having helped thousands of people all around the world break bad habits, we’re always looking for ways to make habit change even easier!

And while Pavlok already has an incredibly high success rate in helping Pavlok users quit smoking, quit biting their nails, cutting back on sweets and more…

We know we can do even better. Which is why we built Pavlok DeNail.

Pavlok DeNail was specifically designed to ensure 100% that you can quit your bad habits for good, specifically biting your nails.

We mean it. 100% success rate guaranteed. No that’s not a typo.

It’s the very first wearable of its kind, and it’s going to revolutionize how we view habits. Pavlok DeNail takes habit change to the extreme.

So how does Pavlok DeNail work?

Like the regular Pavlok, you wear you wear the Pavlok DeNail throughout the day.

With its state of the art hand detection and integrations with dozens of apps, Pavlok DeNail will ensure you will stop biting your nails and quickly.

You’ve already used Pavlok, and it has helped significantly, but you want to go that extra mile.

With Pavlok DeNail we have introduced the three strikes, and they are gone feature.

Bite your nails once? Strike one.

Bite your nails twice? Strike two.

Bite your nails three times?

Pavlok DeNail will activate, and your device will immediately explode, leaving you with serious (and potentially life-threatening) injuries.

You can’t bite your nails if you’re missing your hand.

This goes for smoking as well. You’ll sure think twice about lighting up a cigarette after a 10k hospital bill.

Best yet, the Pavlok DeNail is fully customizable, so you can tweak it to fit your exact needs.

Want five warnings before your device goes nuclear? Easily change your settings in the intuitive and easy to use app.

Want your device to play the Jaws movie soundtrack before it explodes? The choice is yours.

We’ve been fortunate to have a few users test the Pavlok DeNail beta and here is what they had to say…

“Before Pavlok DeNail I couldn’t stop biting my nails. Nothing worked. After I lost my first finger, I haven’t had the urge to bite my nails even once. Despite the hundreds of questions I get about my missing finger, I couldn’t be happier! Thanks, Pavlok!”

“Knowing my Pavlok DeNail explode the after I miss gym three times in a row… is so motivating!!!”

We expect our first batch of Pavlok DeNail’s to sell out very quickly.

If you’re tired of your bad habits holding you back, it’s time you give Pavlok DeNail a try.

Order Pavlok Pavlok DeNail now.

Disclaimer: Pavlok is not responsible for any lost limbs or medical bills that will likely occur during the use of Pavlok DeNail . Please consult with a nutritionist, life coach, and physician before starting any exercise program and take out a life insurance policy before purchasing your Pavlok Code Red.

P.S. APRIL FOOLS!

6 Proven Ways To Reduce Procrastination

As much as we try to deny it, the truth is, we all struggle with procrastination from time to time, and for many of us, procrastination is a serious issue that affects our relationships, career, habits, and life.

While there’s no way to cut out procrastination entirely, there are a few tips and strategies to help you gain more control of your time and energy throughout the day.

Here are five tips you can try:

Make It Difficult To Procrastinate

It’s no secret that from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, we are bombarded with distractions.  Ads, commercials, social media, texts, popups, family responsibilities, all pounce for our attention throughout the day.

You can have every intention to have a productive day but have a single tweet distract you for hours.

While the likes of social media and modern communication certainly have their place, one of the easiest ways to reduce your procrastination is to make it difficult to procrastinate.

For example, our founder Maneesh recently removed his Facebook app from his phone and has found it to improve his peace of mind and productivity substantially.

Maybe you love spending hours upon hours on Reddit or can play CandyCrush until your battery dies.

Maybe you like playing a few rounds of Call of Duty or like to stock up on cleaning supplies instead of getting things done.

Make it as difficult as possible for you to partake in the habits that affect you most.

Remove Twitter from your phone. Disconnect from the internet when writing. Commit to cleaning the home only on Sunday’s and not any other day of the week.

Of course, there will always be things to tempt you throughout the day no matter what measures you put in place, but making it difficult for you to fall into your bad habits can make all the difference in the world.

Commit To Just Five Minutes

Many times, the reason we procrastinate is that we are overwhelmed with all the things we have to do.

Writing a 20-page paper for work is enough to scare anyone who is sane. Trying a new complex workout with exercises you can’t even pronounce is a sure way to ensure you won’t follow through.

An easy trick to get yourself to stop procrastinating is to commit to doing a task for five minutes. After five minutes feel free to browse Reddit or watch Netflix for as long as your heart desires.

Many times, however, once you’ve overcome the initial resistance of starting, it’s not that bad. You’ll often notice those five minutes quickly turn into an hour of highly productive work. Sometimes, five minutes is all you can do — and that’s perfectly okay.

The goal is to get moving and see where your action taking gets you. While simple on the surface, the five-minute trick is a powerful way to get more things done and have plenty of time to enjoy the rest of your day in peace.

Use Pavlok

Sometimes all you need is a push in the right direction, which is why thousands of people around the world have used the Pavlok wearable to help them fight procrastination and improve their productivity. With dozens of customizable ways to help keep you on track, Pavlok can help even if you’re a self-defined “lifelong procrastinator.”

You can use services such as the Pavlok Chrome extension, IFTTT,  Alexa, and more to ensure you are giving yourself the best chance to succeed.

Have your Pavlok buzz, beep, or zap you when you open too many tabs.

Have your Pavlok zap you if you aren’t at the gym by 6 PM.

Using the Pavlok to bring awareness to your distracting habits and behaviors will give you the tools and data needed to change your environment and routine.

If you need an extra boost to help you quit procrastinating, Pavlok can help.

Procrastinate With Purpose

While procrastination does tend to get a bad rap, and for a good reason, it’s not always the end of the world to spend an hour or two doing nothing “productive.”

The best way to fight procrastination is by procrastinating with purpose. It’s perfectly okay to spend an hour or two watching Netflix.

You don’t always have to be go-go-go productive for every second that you’re awake.

The secret to procrastinating with purpose is to hit your defined goals for the day and then allow yourself to do what you please; this typically can be done by establishing your three “MIT’s” for the day.

In the morning define your three most important tasks for the day, the ones that you would feel great about accomplishing and once those are done and checked off your list, feel free to continue you working or curl up on the couch and watch your favorite sitcom. The choice is yours.

Punish Yourself

Okay. That might sound extreme, but for many, having a specific and slightly painful ‘consequence’ for procrastinating is just enough motivation to get things done.

Maybe you’ve been putting off cleaning your garage for a year. Bet your friend $100 bucks it will be done by the weekend.

Maybe you’ve put off updating your resume despite the urgent need. Have your friend send it out incomplete to your three favorite companies if you don’t get it finished.

You get the idea. While the self-punish method to avoid procrastination doesn’t work for everyone if you continue to struggle with procrastination no matter what you try, give this a go, we promise the results will surprise you.

Stop Overthinking

Another reason we tend to procrastinate is that we fall into the trap of overthinking. What if I do a bad job on the presentation? What no one reads the blog post I’m about to write?

What will my friends and family say about me trying to the write a book?

If you find yourself procrastinating, especially on tasks you typically enjoy, perhaps you’re letting outside influence hold you back from getting to work.

The first step to overcome overthinking is to become aware that it happens. Are you too concerned with what others will think? Are you worried you might come up short?

Don’t let the fear of mistakes and not being perfect prevent you from getting started in the first place.

No matter what project, habit, or task you’re trying to tackle, have a basic plan and do your best to execute it. You can’t improve or grow by living on the sidelines.

Don’t let the sneaky overthinking trap keep you stuck in the same procrastination loop.

Putting It All Together

While procrastination will never go away, you can always learn how to manage it more efficiently; if you’re tired of procrastinating on a regular basis and ready to change your approach, give one of our six suggested strategies a try.

Don’t let procrastination prevent you from being your best self.

-Team Pavlok

 

13 Must Read Books To Improve Your Habits and Life

Happy Friday Shockers! We hope you had a great week!  Team Pavlok has an exciting weekend ahead with our founder and CEO Maneesh giving a TEDx talk on the greatest story ever told.  You can hear his outline of the speech here.

While we typically reserve Friday’s for sharing interesting stories around the web, a fellow Shocker recently asked what some of the best books on habits were, so our team put together some of our favorites.

As you know, habit change and personal growth are a never-ending journey – there’s always more we can learn!

While not all these books are specifically related to habits, we’re confident you’ll find a gem or two to help you take your habits and life to the next level!

The Power of Habit – Easily one of the most popular habit books in the last ten years, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg shares the latest scientific discoveries on how to change your habits and behavior. If you haven’t given this a read yet, cancel your weekend plans.

Mindset:The New Psychology of Success – Written by Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., this incredibly successful book put the concept “growth mindset” on the personal development map. Dweck shares some of the best insights and strategies to live an exceptional life.

The One Thing – With so many apps, hacks, and strategies pulling us in thousands of directions, it’s no wonder it’s so hard to make lasting change. The One Thing challenges us to hone our focus and make daily strides in the areas of our lives that matter. If you’ve struggled to stay focused on your big picture goals this book is for you.

Drive – Understanding motivation and how it affects your day to life is essential in building a life in which you’re growing and improving every day. In this excellent book, Daniel Pink shares the latest research on motivation and why it’s so misunderstood. You’ll walk away with a new understanding of the world after you finish this one.

Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Quit Smoking – One of the most popular books on how to quit smoking every written, Allen Carr takes a unique approach to how to quit smoking for good. If you’ve struggled to quit smoking no matter what you’ve tried, this book will give you the mindset needed to become a non-smoker once and for all.

Make It Stick – Learning how to learn is one of the most beneficial investments you can ever make. Unfortunately, we rarely take the time to examine how we’ve been taught to learn and whether or not what we have been taught is effective.  Drawing on the latest psychology and cognitive science, you’ll learn how to be more productive in your personal and professional life.

The Miracle Morning – One of the best selling books in recent memory, and for good reason, Hal Elrod shares his incredible transformation from having a morning routine. Even if you’ve never considered yourself a ‘morning person’ this book is packed with actionable insight on how to get the most out of your day.

The Motivation Myth – “Motivation” is perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts in science and personal development today. What’s the real ‘secret’ to motivation? Are people born with the ‘motivation’ gene? One of INC.com’s most popular columnists shares a deep dive of the latest research on motivation, and his findings will surprise you.

The Now Habit – Procrastination is a habit. The Now Habit shares actionable steps and strategies to help you stop delaying and get to work. With dozens of inspiring stories from ‘lifelong procrastinators,’ there’s plenty to take away and apply in your life. While we all procrastinate from time to time, this book will show you how to be more productive and get more done than you ever thought possible.

Nudge – With the average person making hundreds of choices each day, everything we do from what we wear to our bedtime routine can change the quality of our life. Nudge shares the latest research on how to make high-quality decisions that will create positive ripples throughout every area of your life.

Predictably Irrational – One of the most popular books among the Pavlok team, Dan Ariely shows how irrational humans are. Why do we spend hundreds of dollars on a night out, but cut out coupons for the grocery? Why do we have such counterproductive habits when it comes to romantic relationships? This book is a true masterclass in human behavior.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull – This short story about a seagull committed to living his best life is sure to move you to think about how you can take your life to the next level. It didn’t sell millions of copies around the world on accident. If you’ve ever struggled to fit in especially when it comes to your personal development journey pick up a copy today.

The Compound Effect – Small actions add up over time. Instead of swinging for the fences with your habits, finances, and fitness, invest in the long term and take small actions each day. If you’ve struggled to lose weight, quit smoking, or move up in your career, this book is a must-read.

That’s it for our special edition of #LinkFriday.

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next week!

-Team Pavlok

Three New Features And How To Update Your Pavlok Firmware to 5.3.0

Hey there Shockers!

We’re VERY excited to announce that we have just launched firmware update 5.3.0. The Pavlok team has been hard at work behind the scenes continuing to improve Pavlok and make habit change easier than ever.

Here are a few key updates pushed live with the new update.

-Hand Detection
-Light Stage Sleep Alarms
-Double Tap

How To Update Your Firmware to 5.3.0

Hand Detection

Light Sleep Alarms

Double Tap

As always, please let us know if you run into any issues or have any questions.

Yours in habit change,

-The Pavlok Team