Friday, November 18, 2016

Working At Home: Distractions, Focus and Getting Stuff Done

Working at home is so amazing! Sitting in your jammies, busting out work while sipping coffee and eating bon bons. Stopping to take a mid morning nap and do a little yoga. Fixing a lovely lunch and then powering through a To-Do list that would make Santa jealous.

Yeah right.

Working at home looks more like this.

Fire up laptop. Open needed documents. Work five minutes. Computer decides to update.  Restart computer. Open needed documents. Work three minutes. Remember you need to wash gym towels. Go start a load. Computer goes to sleep. Open needed documents. Computer battery low. Find charger. Work ten minutes. Spouse comes in and needs help with a project outside. Need food. Open needed documents. Husband leaves TV on. Get sucked into Netflix. Open needed documents. Work 7 minutes. Realize you need to brush teeth. Open needed documents. Wait, you have to pee! Work 5 minutes. Remember to move towels to dryer. Open needed documents. Start signing song that's playing on Pandora. Need calculator. Find calculator. Work 5 minutes. Phone goes off. Solve life crisis for somebody. Open needed documents. Remember you need to make a Facebook post about Paleo Challenge. Open needed documents. Realize it's time to get ready to go to your afternoon work.

Yep, that's typically how it goes for me if I don't really structure and discipline myself. 5 hours of "work" time results in only about 30 minutes of actual work. This is how I get things done now.


Step 1: Decide how long to work and what I'm working on.

I'm usually good for a thirty minute stretch and then my brain needs a break so that's what I usually shoot for. I decide exactly what I want to work on and what I want to accomplish in this work period.

Step 2: Gather everything

Do a brief run through in your head of what you will need to get this task done. Paper, pen, calculator, water, charger, documents open on your computer, files, receipts, reference books...whatever you need, gather it now.

Step 3: Turn off all distractions

For me, this means the TV has to be off. I cannot work if I am even remotely interested in what's on at the moment. Somewhere in my brain is always listening to what is being said and that keeps me from being as productive as possible. I do like to have music on, but it cannot have lyrics and it cannot be instrumental versions of songs with lyrics. This means that 'Classical Focus" on Pandora is great, because it has no words, but it has a soothing rhythm. And while I love the "Pop Goes Classical" channel, my brain will be signing, "Para...Para...Paradise...." from Coldplay even though it's all violins and cellos.

Turning off all distractions also means that nothing can be open on my computer except the files & tabs I need to accomplish the project. If I am working on registration forms and score cards for an event we are hosting, then no internet tabs, no temptations! If I am working on a nutrition plan for a client, I will have My Fitness Pal open, but that's it! No email, no Facebook...

Put your phone on Do Not Disturb and then turn it upside down. Nothing will probably happen in thirty minutes that can't wait.

Step 4: Pee

Your bladder has an innate timer set to go off exactly two minutes after you sit down to work. And it is really hard to work and focus for a full thirty minutes when your bladder is doing everything in it's power to get your attention. Prevent this by going before you start. Even if you don't think you need to go, as my Grandmother said, try!

Step 5: Set a timer and work

Now you are ready to go hard! Make sure your computer is awake and all files are ready. Grab that phone one last time and set a timer and turn your phone back over. Work hard and no peaking at the timer! Inevitably, during your work time you will think of 90 million things that are really important that you need to do RIGHT NOW that have nothing to do with the project you are working on. Have a notepad beside you and jot down those random thoughts when they pop into your head and keep working. When it goes off, proceed to Step 6! Or, if you find yourself in the Zone and working like the Little Engine That Could, then keep going!


Step 6: Play!
Yay you! You earned a little break! Grab a snack. Jump on the Book of Faces. Look at that postie note with all the things you need to and do those that are truly important.

Step 7: Repeat
To have a truly productive day, repeat this cycle.

I think that you'll find you can get more done in 3-4 mini hyper focused work session each day than if you just spend 5 hours of your day "working".



Stay Strong Y'all!

Hey, I know you may not know me that well, but can I ask you to do something for me? Do me a favor and subscribe to my email list. Not only will you be able to keep up with all my random thoughts, I'll send you my weekly planner printable!


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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

This Is Why We Have A Health Crisis In America! (Well, One Reason)

 No.

NO!

Noooooo!

No.

This is not a breakfast sandwich!

It's a cookie.

A cookie.

I know you, dear reader, can see that this is a sneaky, smarmy marketing trick and realize this is not a breakfast sandwich. But how many people in this country are being tricked by the words and labels used on this box?

"4 hours of NUTRITIOUS steady energy"

"15 g whole grain"

First off, let's look at that ingredient list. The  number one ingredient is whole grain wheat flour. That's not a terrible thing in and of itself, but many people have gluten and wheat sensitivities. My beef with this first ingredient is if the basis of your breakfast is FLOUR, your not getting the most out of your breakfast!

Second ingredient: SUGAR! (hint, there's your energy)

Third ingredient: Enriched flour. Life lesson, it's called enriched flour because they strip all the good stuff out of it in processing and have to put stuff back in. I liken it to them dumping some multi-vitamins into the flour drum. See all those things in parenthesis? That's the vitamins they are adding back in! Here's a thought. Why two flours?? Why not just use the better one for all the baking??? OR maybe we should eat things that have Niacin (a Vitamin B), iron (found in meats and beans), Mononitrate and riboflavin (more Bs) naturally?

Fourth ingredient: Whole grain blend. If it's the fourth ingredient, there can't be that much. And now we are up to 3 flours. So basically, flour, flour, sugar, flour.

Fifth ingredient: Palm oil. Ah ha! There it is ! The refined carb, processed food trifecta. Flour, sugar, oil.

You can make basically anything with those three ingredients. And those ingredients have basically zero health benefits. Seriously, pick up any prepackaged food in a box and look. It is probably 90% those three things, right?

I read somewhere that if the name of an object has the word "luxury" in it's title, it's really not luxury at all and is just trying really hard to be fancy. Same goes for "classy". People and places that are truly classy would never use that word to describe themselves.

I feel the same way about foods. If the package has to scream at you that it's healthy, it's most likely not.

While I'm on a soapbox, here's a few other things that aren't breakfast foods.

Chocolate breakfast muffins.

Pop-Tarts

Granola Bars

Most cereals

Aim for a breakfast that has complex carbs, proteins and fats to truly keep you full and give you energy.


Now, you may be asking yourself, "If it's so terrible, why does she have it?" Good questions guys! Every Friday Kroger has a Friday Freebie that you can load to your Kroger card. I ALWAYS get the Friday Freebie because I like free stuff. And even if the offering is junk, there is a place for junk in any healthy diet within reason.

This is mainly refined carbs so I might eat it pre or post workout to bump up my carbs a bit. Or if I have some carbs left over at the end of the day I might eat it as a dessert treat. It will definitely NOT replace my morning meal which really does give me 4 hours of nutritious steady energy.

**Disclaimer- this post was written and set to publish prior to me being in a Paleo Challenge. Lol, this is DEFINITELY a no go for me right now.**

Stay Strong Y'all!

Hey, I know you may not know me that well, but can I ask you to do something for me? Do me a favor and subscribe to my email list. Not only will you be able to keep up with all my random thoughts, I'll send you my weekly planner printable!


And if you are hip on the social media, 

Follow me on Facebook at Angie McCord, Fitness, Nutrition and Life Improvement.


Follow me out on Instagram, I'm doodleturtle. I'm even more random fun over at IG!