Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge Week of April 12, 2020

Tags

Brainstorm, Execute, Make a list, Plan, Prioritize, Spread Your Wings, Sunday, Weekly Challenge

This week’s challenge: Go through your to-do list or create one. Then decide what is the most important thing to get done first, and so on. Prioritize the most important tasks you need to get done first, brainstorm and plan, and execute.

This will help you knock down that to-do list that continues to grow and get you back on track doing the most important stuff first. Procrastinators (like I used to be), tend to focus on the easy stuff, while those big, painful projects just sit there. Before you know it, the year is gone, and you still have those big things sitting there. Prioritize those big things and get’em done. You’ll feel great when you do. The easy little tasks will still be there when you’re done.

As always, if you do this challenge, reply to this posting in the comments. I’d like to hear how this helped you.

Until next time…

Dave

 

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Oh, Those Little Surprises

Tags

Actions, Attitude, Blind-sided, Emotions, Execute, Plan, Surprises, Think

You ever wake up, looking forward to your day, and then get a phone call, email, or text that upends everything? Yeah, you know those days, right? The days you wish you would never have gotten out of bed, or called in sick to binge watch Netflix or get on your XBOX and get in some Call of Duty.

The key to getting through these days is to realize how important our attitude is. All of us get these “little surprises”. They are as common as breathing. So what do I mean by attitude?

Our attitude relates to how we deal with these surprises. Do we take them in stride or do we let them blow away our whole day, week, or month?

What I have found to be most effective is to not react so quickly. Take some time to understand what this surprise is asking of you. Do you need to fill out a form, make a phone call, or seek someone’s council? Decide what you need to do with whatever you got blindsided by. It may be as simple as marking a date on a calendar to revisit when you can do something about it. In other circumstances, you may need to sit down and put together a plan of action.

This planning phase takes a lot of “edge” off of the surprise and gets you thinking about how to solve the problem or finish this new task. The less emotion you are, the better. Just start brainstorming for ideas, write them down, decide which action makes the most sense, and plan out a course of action.

The next time you get blind-sided by something, take your time. Let the initial emotional reaction subside. Then think. You’ll find you always have a solution available.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Workout Routine – My Schedule

Tags

Achieve, Cardio and Strength Exercises, Drink Water, Eat consistently, Exercise Bands, Grind, healthy living, Move, Plan, Walking

Here’s my workout schedule for the week:

Mon – Sun

• Walk 10 minutes x 2
• Exercise Bands x 1 (full body strength training and bodyweight exercises)
• Get up and move around each hour
• 3 meals per day shooting for < 2500 calories
• Drink 1 gallon of water per day

See you at the finish line!

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Weekly Review – Do Nothing Days – President’s Day

Tags

Catch Up, Do Nothing Days, Gauge, Plan, President's Day, Review, Track, Weekly Review

Hello, readers. I wanted to reach out to you today to discuss giving yourself a down day during your week. A down day allows you to contemplate what you’ve done, assess your progress toward your goals, and let you relax and enjoy quiet time with yourself. I use Sunday as my “do nothing day”.

Do Nothing Days and The Weekly Review

Having a day during the week where I can choose what I want to do is a great way to give my mind a break, have fun, and get caught up on things that required my attention during the week but fell to the wayside. It is also the day I do my laundry, clean up my office, and organize for the upcoming week.

There are daily habits I do not miss. I always meditate, read, write, and exercise. I also take time to spend on one of my classes I am taking to keep the brain engaged. The habits I stick to on Sundays are my critical to-dos I want to continue to build as strong habits.

The other thing I do is what I call a “weekly review”. This is a practice of taking stock of what I have done, where I am regarding my goals, and making a note of anything I must do in the upcoming week is not already in my planner. If you have not done a weekly review before or don’t know what it is, I recommend a book by David Allen called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity. In this book, David describes best-practices for you to use for your weekly review.

Here’s a snapshot of what I do. I clean out my “Paper” Inbox. This is where I capture any snail-mail I receive during the week. This could be bills you have received. This could be magazines you haven’t glanced at. Then I look at all my ongoing projects. Am I on track with my book writing, my programming course, my other courses? How about my exercise routine? Is it working for me? What about my bucket list? Is it up-to-date? Are there other things I came up with during the week I want to add to my bucket list? Your weekly review will differ from mine, since you will have other priorities, other things you must do personally, and other ideas about the things you’d like to do with your life. Finally, I test my progress toward my goals.

What do I do for the rest of the day? I watch a movie I’ve tagged to watch; I get in some extra fiction reading; I go to a nice coffee shop and just hang out; I get in some video game playing. The sky is the limit. I strive to do something I don’t do the rest of the week to give my mind a break. I really enjoy doing mindless things that give me a mental and physical break.

President’s Day

Tomorrow is President’s Day. If you live outside the states, this holiday is where Americans celebrate the Presidents of the past and present. It is a national holiday recognized by most employers. This means that this is a 3-day weekend for those of my readership that still work at an office.

I use holidays as another day to relax and do what I want. I still work on my priorities but take it easy and do something fun. Playing video games, watching some TV, listening to music and enjoying a cup of coffee are my ideas of having fun.

My Weekly Review

I am on track with all my goals so far. I am well on my way to reading 48 books this year. I am making progress on my weight loss. I have changed my diet and enjoying the benefits. My writing is on track and I am making steady progress toward all my classes I am engaged in. I have no special appointments or activities to take care of this week and everything is in a state of flow. Today, I’ll get in some video game play after I have knocked out all my daily to-dos. One of my to-dos is to straighten out my home office and get laundry done. Besides that, the rest of the day is mine!

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. I also hope you have something fun planned for President’s Day (If you celebrate this holiday).

Until next time…

Dave