Month: January 2016

Energy and Productivity

You know what I’m struggling with lately? Really noticeable low energy levels. I’ve been on a mission to tackle this. Starting with a visit to my family doctor, to ensure all of my blood levels were normal. My iron is a bit low, so I’ve started on daily iron pills to help improve that. But that can take up to three months to see any effects. So I was wondering what else can I do? I’m going to be tested for low b12 levels. I think this could be a culprit because I really don’t eat a lot of meat or animal product, of which is the major source of b12 in human diets. So that could also be a contributing factor.

But I wanted to know what else I could do to optimize my energy levels on a daily basis, especially when I needed them to be heightened, specifically in classes and at work.

So I went on an internet mission to see what I could do to, to a) improve my energy levels but also b) increase my productivity.

Here is what I’m testing out:

  1. Increase in super foods throughout the day
    –>Adding chia to my breakfast either in overnight oats, smoothies, or scrambled eggs
    –>Mid morning snacks filled with healthy fats and protein by way of home made muffins inspired by Oh She Glow’s Pumpkin Muffins, and adding some almonds to the mix.
  2. Planning out lunches and dinners for the week. I tried to crowd source some easy, grab and go lunch ideas, and Sunny Lenarduzzi suggested a quinoa salad. I’ll be putting that together early this week, and alternating that with my homemade barley and veg soup.
  3. Dinner I’m trying to limit the amount of meat I consume. So ranging with options of homemade pizza, with dough from Bowen Island Pizza Co (Friday night’s treat), veggie stir fry, and turkey tacos among a few others. I hope this also helps me save energy from having to worry about “What’s for dinner”.
  4.  A morning routine-I came across this video from Chase Jarvis care of Sunny Lenarduzzi on Twitter, who talks about how is prioritizes his times into 90 minute chunks. He also links to his top 6 morning routines that keep him at his best. Take a look at that video and let me know what you think. What I’m taking away from them are:
    –>WALKING more. I scheduled in a weekly walk for my boyfriend and I this past week, and we walked for 40 minutes! I was impressed with us, and thought we were really cute, so I want to continue this. I also want to try to add it more into my day-to-day
    –>WATER-I need to get into the habit of carrying my water bottle around more. I want to constantly be sipping on water.

I’m still on the hunt for a few more productivity resources that I can use to improve my days. These are the ones that I will be starting with to focus my energy levels.

Do you have any resources you recommend or that you tune to? Please leave a comment and let me know!

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Revised Priorities Plan

Can you believe it is already past the midway point of January? January for me so far has absolutely been jam packed, as I try to tackle my top three priorities:

  1. Focusing on school
  2. Maintaining a consistent fitness routine
  3. Building maintaining community especially on social media

I shared priorities with a former teacher, and friend recently and she suggested maybe I was tackling too much. This idea kind of shocked me. I mean really, it’s only three goals. But as I reflected on the past weeks, I realized that my energy levels were almost at an all time low. Although I was hitting every point I had aimed to check off, I was not doing it in a sustainable way.

I know for sure that I do not want to feel like I could always use a nap. I want to be energized and revving to go for whatever a day may throw at me. So that means I need to readjust and revise my plan to meet my priorities for January.

On realizing this, I downloaded some new podcasts to listen to in my car, that I knew were inspiring, but would also offer something tangible I could apply in my life. I downloaded a few of Gary Vaynerchuk‘s, Tim Ferris‘, and the Harvard Business Review.

In a recent HBR podcast, 505, Tara Mohr, shared an idea of letting go of fear, but also of praise. This is not something I’ve really thought about before. But it really made sense to me. If you’re a high achiever you might recognize this in yourself. Where you make decisions based on what you can achieve and the praise you will receive. Mohr, suggests that this can hold us back, similar to how fear works.

Another HBR podcast, 504, Heidi Grant Halvorson, shared a new idea to goal setting that really clicked for me. She suggested to frame you goals as if….then….statements. It makes your decision making regarding your goals a little bit easier. And it can also incorporate backup plans. For example, if I have two or more classes on a day, I will do an evening workout.

I definitely suggest downloading those two podcasts. They will explain these ideas much more fully.

Based on these ideas, I’ve revised my January to plan to look like this:

  1. If I have one class, I will exercise in the morning.
  2. If I have two or more classes, I will do an evening class, or a take a rest day.
  3. If I have a test up coming the next week, I will only meet with one person during the week.

*I also want to be really focused on improving my energy levels. The first two weeks of January, saw me meeting my 3x weekly spin classes with 6:15am or 7:15am classes. But then I immediately noticed I hit my first wall of the day midway through my 10am class. This was supporting my fitness goal, but was not positively supporting my academic goals. So I am making this energy level idea a higher priority this month.

I am first addressing this by shifting the timing of my classes, outlined a bit more in my goals above. I am also going to book a consulting appointment with a nutritionist who can help me figuring out if I am fuelling properly.

Did you set new priorities or goals for the new year? Let me know how they are going. Leave a comment below or shoot me an email stephaniepamelafowler@gmail.com. I’m taking Devon Brooks‘ lead and supporting my community to be accountable.

 

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GOALS and Accountability

It’s January. I love this time of the year. Everything feels new and fresh. It’s a new beginning. I like to take the time to refocus on my goals and figure out what my top priorities are coming up. On Devon Brooks‘ last Periscope stream, she talked about focusing on the next 30 days.

That’s not something I’ve done previously, but I am going to try it out to kick off 2016.

Here’s what I have planned for the next 30 days:

  1. Continue 3x weekly spin and 1-2x weekly yoga
  2. Focus on school aiming high in each of my courses. Specifically: 1 hour of math homework daily, 1 hour every other day for biology and chemistry.
  3. Dedicate 10 minutes every few hours engaging with and developing my community on social media.

These hit on points that I’ve identified as my top priorities. I’m not sure that I’ve hit on community before, but it is blantently clear to me, that I LOVE community. I want to support awesome people around me and I finally put a word to it. Community. That’s what it means to me. Supporting kind people, determined to make their imprints on the world.

SO here we go. As we dive into the first week on 2016, let’s move with a full head of steam.

What are you focused on? Let me know! I want to learn about what you are doing. Maybe there’s a way I can help!

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