Happy Friday!

Let’s start with some inspiration… I like this article on building your personal brand – it’s definitely the world we live in! 

Update: So, it’s Friday and I worked 47.5 hours in 4 days but instead of thinking I got nothing done because my head is spinning due to distractions – I feel energetic and on solid ground!

This new schedule and diet is working – the 6am work start with zero interruptions is crazy good. The protein shakes keep me full until noon. Today was filled with expected distractions but even when I was thrown a few large curveballs – I still handled it with ease.  

I ended day 4 with a call that solidified my next large project – a co development endeavor which I’ll discuss soon. It’s an exciting one – one that will help lift me up where I need to be. 

I set my alarm for 6:30am – I suppose I should sleep in on Saturdays? Hahah. 

Anyhow, here is a pic of exactly how I feel. Next week I’m adding exercise into this schedule. XO!

Day 3 Recap: Awesome! Why? Because I got a lot done and for the first time in a long while, I had enough time to eat dinner and watch a movie with Drew. (We watched Brooklyn, it was good!)

Day 3: 

6:15am at work – successfully had 2 hours of quiet time to knock work out. I’m starting to get used to waking up early! I wrote down my goals, drank a chocolate protein shake and worked through a lot of stuff. We had environmental testing all day at a building I have under contract to purchase so sticking with discipline and schedule wasn’t an option but I kept to my values / goals as much as I could. I left the office around 6pm.

Eating Healthy: 
Over the last week, I’ve found that the following routine keeps my energy steady all day. The ups and downs are nearly zero!

• Water and a protein shake in the AM only. 
• A whole grain bagel with peanut butter for lunch.
• Small snacks throughout the afternoon include yogurt, string cheese, a banana and a cliff bar. 
• Limiting caffeine to the afternoons, too (for the most part!). 
• Of course I had ETS for dinner …😳

Regardless, eating less seems to keep me at a steady, high energy all day. I don’t feel weighted down!  

My Ideal schedule: I’ve read a lot about what business owners / entrepreneurs do to maximize time. This seems to be the ideal schedule based on what I’ve read… obviously this week has been me trying to see if it works for me and my body. So far I have no complaints! 

• 6am – 10am: Focused work. No meetings. No distractions. High priority stuff. No email. Limited social media. Remember: output not input. 
• 10am – 11am : work out of some sort (tbd) to refresh the mind after intense focus.
• 11am – 1pm: Office stuff (meetings, lunch, social media, email, discussing projects, etc..) 
• 1pm – ? : meetings, emails, errands, etc. Moving ideas forward, emails back and forth, calls, etc. Get home or still have time to make up hours on some projects! 

Important to mention: I have to start eating better dinners. Suggestions on protein shake making and / or exercises are welcome! And, I can’t forget to squeeze time in there for daily podcasts – I’ve really been into finding entrepreneur type podcasts…. It keeps me going! 

That’s it for now. Xo! 

I came across this article on Inc.com this weekend that basically said that if I did a certain type of schedule, I would save up to 20 hours a week in time. 20 hours?!! I’m in! 

The articles entire focus is surrounded by the idea of “taking back the morning”…citing that the early mornings are when you’re the most energetic and can do the most work however it often tends to be a time when there are the most distractions. It gives lots of great advice on how to eliminate distraction, maximize time and keep your body and brain motivated. Mornings are for output, not input (I love that!) meaning wake up early, eat right, don’t schedule meetings before noon, focus on your biggest priorities, eliminate   distraction wherever possible, listen to brain music to stay focused… and more… so I decided to try out their suggestions. Why not, right?

DAY ONE.

Total number of hours worked: 13.5

I woke up at 6 AM. I was at the grocery store by 630 to grab healthy supplies and at my office by 7 AM with a plant based protein shake in hand. Being at Wegmans that early when no one is around is definitely strange. I was sleepy because I’m not the easiest early riser… that is for sure. I avoided Facebook and Instagram like the article suggested, too. Once I got to my office, I wrote down all of my goals for the day, outlining even the smallest ones on the list. Based on the articles suggestions, I started on the list – starting with the most important.

Boy was I surprised! Between 7 AM and 930AM, I was shooting out emails left and right, checking items on my list and felt very focused. The brain.fm music really helped me maintain my focus. I made an exception to their rule by taking a meeting at 10 AM with the landscaper returned back to my work quickly.… but left all my other meetings for the afternoon – which worked out great! 

I didn’t take a break like it suggested between 9 and 11 AM for exercise which I should have…  exercise gives you a much-needed boost. But I do plan to incorporate this into the schedule at some point this week. I did however follow a very good meal regimen… The protein shake allowed me to last until noon, I had a banana and a bagel with peanut buttern for lunch, an ice coffee and a hearty granola bar around 3 PM and a small soup for dinner around 8:30pm. I didn’t eat that much – I couldn’t believe how much my body maintained steady energy all day!

Overall, I was able to get 90% of the work done today and finish working at 8:30 PM. It was a long day (13.5 hours!) filled with hundreds of tasks however, even as I write this 11:44 PM, I just don’t feel nearly as exhausted as I normally do!

Anyhow, day one feels awesome. Tomorrow I’m challenging myself to wake up a little bit earlier… 5:30 AM! The catch of all this is to see if it really sticks… waking up early isn’t easy and knowing me I want to snuggle in bed… Lol. 

Btw, This was the only photo I took the entire day. I guess I was crazy focused! This is one of our recent renovations… It’s a beauty! 

I promise to take more photos tomorrow!