First one should have a prayer rule that you have developed with your spiritual father. Saint Theophan offers this advice,
Do not make a rule that is too long and drawn out for you. It is better to stand at prayer a little more often and to make a few prostrations during the course of the day, doing this frequently, so that the entire day is filled with prostrations.For those who already have a regular daily prayer routine and a prayer rule they follow and feel the need for more prayers, especially during the Lenten period or other fasting time, he offers this advice,
Pray a little more without the prayerbook, expressing your vital spiritual needs to the Lord in your own words. In the morning and evening, red no more than on ordinary days, but before the beginning of the recited prayer and afterward, pray your own prayers. In between the prayers that you read, insert your own prayer with prostrations, both from the waist and to the ground, and from a kneeling position.Then after you have completed your regular prayers is advises this,
Do some reading with meditation. You need to read, not to pack your mind with diverse information and ideas, but to receive edification and to understand how best to accomplish those things which are necessary for us us...
It goes without saying that he implies spiritual books for this purpose, Scripture, lives of the saints or books by well known spiritual fathers and elders.
Saint Theophan the Recluse