I TRIED LIVING LIKE CASEY NEISTAT FOR 7 DAYS

This time last week, I came across Casey Neistat's daily routine video and I knew that this was a sign! I had been thinking about Casey’s insane routine for months so when this popped up on Youtube, I knew it was time to undertake the challenge of living like Casey Neistat for 7 days - starting now. No more excuses!

I really didn't know if this was a challenge that I could complete or if it was going be super easy, if I was gonna be overwhelmed, procrastinating or producing more. But I knew I wanted to know what it was like to live like this machine and imagine the insights I could get from living this way.

He's a hyper successful guy, I wanted to know what makes him so great and was it the routine that was helping him?

Are you up for the challenge of #LivingLikeCasey? So many of you guys have already jumped on board and are getting amazing insights from what I'm hearing so far!

Personally I was experiencing a giant slump when it came to my work. I wasn’t inspired, my work was actually getting worse, I wasn’t loving creating videos, I wasn't working out, I was in a slump and I wanted to get out of it. This challenge couldn’t have come at a better time.

The biggest hurdles of Living Like Casey

1. The idea that scared the crap out of me before even starting the challenge was waking up between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. every single day, to be working for two hours.

2. Exercising twice a day. I wasn't even exercising once a month.

3. Producing daily videos a day, which is something I had never done before.

Day 1:

5am - This day was dedicated to studying the Casey Neistat lifestyle and seeing if it was actually possible for me to do!

7am - Gym time! I definitely didn’t feel like being there. Run 10 miles? No way. 10 kilometers maybe…

10am - Time to start the work day! I didn't want to undertake the task if I couldn't complete day one, but I did! It was hard, but I did it and I was super proud of myself!

Day 2:

The morning was epic productive! What they say is actually super true - between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m. no one is awake and you can work so well because there's nothing else to do. You can't be loud, you have to sit on your computer and work.

5am - I kept waking up at 4:55, my favorite time of the day to wake up now apparently. I really love waking up at this time I get so much done, everyone is asleep, it's a new level of productivity that I didn't expect.

Get out of bed, do not sit in bed. You have to get up, move around, get on to your computer and start working productively. Have a set list of things to do so you don't fall into social media and scrolling.

7:30am - my video is ready to go out! I'm about to go to the gym again, a little bit behind schedule but feeling pretty okay. I just have to not panic, if I panic everything will fall apart. Do not panic Sorelle!

My boyfriend has been feeding me all these supplements to help me workout because let's face it, I need all the help that I can get!

During the morning run there was a bit of a problem. At 2.2 kilometers I started experiencing pain in my left knee. I would suspect that it's probably because I'm not a runner anymore, I used to be when I was young, about 10 years ago, but I haven't really run since. For me to just jump in and start running 10 kilometers a day, it was dumb. I don't know if I recommend this by anyone - it was really dumb.

I decided to push a little bit more and thankfully they stopped hurting. I did it! I can't believe I've ran 20 kilometers in two days!

Day 3:
I am smashing it at the gym, I have no pain, I feel like I've bounced back! I even increase the speed on my treadmill.

Workwise, I am amazed by my productivity. I did not think that I could keep producing videos after videos. Proud as punch! I just finished the next video and it is only 12:30! I didn't think I was capable of producing so much.

I legitimately thought that I was struggling creating 2 videos a week and now I that I am forced to do 7, I feel so re-inspired! I'm capable of creating so much, which I never thought I was going to be able to do! 7 videos in 7 days!

I was always coming up with some sort of excuse to not create.
1. Maybe people won't like it.
2. Maybe it's not the right topic.
3. This is kind of boring, no one wants to watch it.
All these excuses kept on coming into my brain. But when you're so busy and you have a tight schedule, you don't have time to overthink. You just create.

6 - 10pm - Family time was one of the biggest shocks to me, which sounds pretty sad unfortunately. There's something so magical about detaching and being able to enjoy myself and completely forget about work. I actually really enjoy the structure and how it creates more freedom in my brain and in my experiences.

My family and I had a blast! We went out to restaurants, spent some time with the ladies, went to Gong meditation, scooter rides, ice cream dates, salsa dancing. Less work, more fun!

How did I feel about the night time gym session though?
This is one part of the entire process that I despise. Casey, go to sleep, wake up and in a few hours you can go running! You don't need to go to the gym as well.

I'm ready for bed and now I have to get up.

Day 4:
Today is where the physical exercise started getting to me.I managed to get through 5 kilometers but my body does not want to do it.

My mental capacity is so willing, but my body's definitely not. Every single time I attempt to run again, I feel like I'm gonna puke, I don't know if I can keep going.

I was very concerned at this stage that maybe this was going to be the end of my running challenge which is such a huge component of the Casey Neistat lifestyle. If I cut out the run, I feel like I would have failed the entire challenge. Fingers crossed I can get straight back into the flow of things tomorrow.

The nighttime exercise also didn't happen this day. Instead I decided to have a bath, have some tea, a coconut and relax today.

Day 5:
I feel so much more rested today than I was yesterday, so fingers crossed I'll be smashing it at the gym!

Another struggle came into the picture today. Because I have been so busy producing content, running and exercising - all of the stuff that is unusual to me, I haven't done any of my mindful exercises like journaling or meditating, which is starting to catch up on me.

A quick meditation/nap did the job!

I’m catching myself going a little bit out of schedule because of tiredness. My schedule is all over the place and I found myself editing into family and sleep time.

10pm Workout - Yesterday I was really struggling with this whole workout scenario... Well I don't know what happened but today I'm smashing it! I smashed the run, I wasn't tired, I didn't even stop for a break. Right now I'm loving the fact that I'm at the gym! Who is this person?!

I just didn't know what to do before, I didn't understand all these machines, it’s so complicated, but once you get a grasp of it and you see your muscles getting defined and stuff, you start to feel really good!

Food-wise... I'm hungry all the time!
My appetite has gone insane. I could not stop eating.

In a single session of running I was burning around 700 calories - apparently that's a lot! All my usual healthy eating habits went out of the window, which my insides weren’t entirely happy about...

Day 7:
I freaking did it! Tomorrow I'm sleeping in.

I got so much fitter from just one week of living like Casey! By the end of the week I was running non-stop, without breaks, doing the 10 miles! The fast progress of my body's strength really shocked me! I’m about to do my very last workout of the 7 days and I can say I am VERY excited for this to end.

I've learnt a lot about discipline and I have proved to myself how much I can do! I think the surprising byproduct of all of this exercise as well is being flexible with my eating schedule. I usually eat super healthy, but being able to justify eating whatever I want has been has been nice.

INSIGHTS

1. I appreciate the productivity so much.

2. I love the fact that you have no time to waste on social media. You have a specific schedule and so many things to do, you cannot scroll for hours on end.

3. This challenge also helped me realize how many distractions there are in the world. Not just from TV and social media, but everything in general is trying to stop you from creating a really kick-ass life.

4. I now understand that successful people have to have a schedule to not distract themselves. It's like their blinders to make sure they stay on track.

5. You're going to experience resistance from people in your life. They're going to think you're a bit crazy, why do you want to work so much, you're not living life at all - blah blah blah.

Sometimes it's from people that feel guilty for not living their life to the fullest. What I recommend is whenever you're with that person, be ultra present with them and make them feel like a million bucks. Explain to them how important it is for you to stay super focused on your work because you really have some great ideas and you want to execute them.

Don’t give into their complaints because this is your life, not theirs.

6. Having very scheduled blocks of time for things to do was amazing. It makes you super hyper present on what you're doing at that time.

Before, when I didn't have a schedule, my life was just morphing into one another. If I was with the family I was thinking about work, but having blocks of specific time I could detach from everything else and just concentrate on the task at hand.

7. I loved dedicating time to family. 100% keeping this!

Let me know what you thought of this challenge and if there's any aspects of this you would like to take into your own life.

As always, you can find me on Youtube and Instagram for more of my crazy experiments and Advanced Selfies!

Until next time guys, peace!