How to Structure Your Day Like a Stoic

3 min readNov 22, 2020

The Stoic life centred around habits and routines — practices in which they engaged daily, from their waking moments until going to sleep, that provided the structure necessary for a day lived well. These practices can provide a blueprint

“Assemble your life… action by action. And be satisfied if each one achieves its goal… No one can keep that from

“The day has already begun to lessen. It has shrunk considerably, but yet will still allow a goodly space of time if one rises, so to speak, with the day itself. We are more industrious, and we are better men if we anticipate the day and welcome the dawn.” — Seneca
The Stoics believed in rising with the sun. As Seneca states, we are more productive and better people when we wake up in time to greet the sun. This also allows more time for the morning practices that will follow, as well as the stillness that only the early morning can provide, to ensure you are well set up for a day lived well.

We must always remind ourselves of the privilege of being alive, and be grateful for all that we have been given. Remind yourself of this when you wake up. Marcus Aurelius said,
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to

If we view each day as a bonus day — to live, to love, to do the things we love — we can’t help but experience gratitude. Viewing each day in this way will ensure that you live your day well.

The Stoics were big on meditation, although not the standard practice we are accustomed to today. It is important in the morning to be able to sit or go for a walk in silence, listen to what is going on in your body and mind, gather your thoughts, and reflect on the day ahead.
It is important to regularly have this time alone with your thoughts — to find stillness and reset. Marcus Aurelius says,
“People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills. There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind. . . . So constantly give yourself this retreat,

Not only does walking provide physical exercise, but Seneca suggests that it shines a light on the soul:
“Birds that are being prepared for the banquet, that they may be easily fattened through lack of exercise, are kept in darkness; and similarly, if men vegetate without physical activity, their idle bodies are overwhelmed with flesh, and in their self-satisfied retirement the fat of indolence grows upon them…But this, to my thinking, would be among the least of their evils. How much more darkness there is in their souls! Such a man is internally daze

How to Structure Your Day Like a Stoic

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