Are you Busy or Productive?

 What was your answer the last time someone asked you, “How have you been doing?” If you said, “Busy,” you’re certainly not alone.  We hear it more often than not, and to be perfectly honest, we often feel the same way.

But here’s the deal: There’s a tremendous difference between being busy and being productive. Even more, there’s a big difference between productivity and focused productivity.

As the quote above suggests, being busy and productive without clarity about your priorities and a focus on what’s most important is useless. Heck, you could argue that it’s worse than useless; it’s potentially harmful and damaging.

So, how can you avoid the “productivity trap”? Here are a few ideas:

• Make a “not-to-do” list. Write down all of the things you’re currently doing that aren’t worth the time and effort you’re spending on them. Delegate them, if possible, or…
• Let go of the rest. Focus on the essential items, and if something is not important and not urgent, get rid of it. If you need help with this, check out Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism.
• Plan ahead. Once you know what you will and won’t do, prioritize your to-do list. Some people do this weekly, but most people do it daily, mapping out their agenda for the next day the night before.
• Do a daily recap. While you’re doing your nightly line-up for the following day, do a daily recap to see how you did. What went well? Where can you improve?
• Clear the clutter. Clutter on your desk, your office, your inbox, etc., can be very distracting. Make sure you set aside time weekly to tidy things up. This not only helps keep things clean, it also helps you from getting sidetracked with spontaneous house cleaning.
• Put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes the most daunting step is the first one. But rather than paralysis by analysis, just take one step—in any direction.
• Batch similar tasks together. When you’re putting together your daily line-up card, batch similar tasks together whenever possible. Set aside dedicated time for emails, phone calls, projects, meetings, etc., rather than sporadically spacing them out. Every time you change tasks, there’s an opportunity cost; that’s right, we’re suggesting that you don’t multi-task.
• Set a timer. If you have trouble being disciplined with your time, use a timer. This is an incredibly useful tool for most people. It helps create a sense of urgency, it can alleviate feelings of being overwhelmed, and it creates a light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.
• Schedule mini-workouts. Physical activity boosts energy levels, helps manage hunger and blood sugar levels, improves cognitive function, and boosts productivity. Schedule 5- to 10-minute micro workouts during your work day.
• Improve your communication. If you’re too wordy, you can be leaky valuable time and creating confusion. Keep things as simple as possible and focus on answering questions—not creating new ones.

When you combine productivity with focus, well … that’s where the magic happens.

Hope this helps!

My Experience with Pharma Medications - and Why Going Natural is the Way for Me

I am very lucky that at nearly 50 years of age that I have not had any real health issues.   It could be a testament to my dedication to working out regularly, taking effective supplements and generally eating the right foods.   I am proud of the fact that for over 27 years consistently I have not missed a week or month from working out except one time when I had to have a gum graft and had to stay low key when it came to exercise.

As mentioned, I have worked out consistently for many years, and remained injury free despite how hard core I work out at the gym.  Finally this summer, I noticed some inflammation in my right wrist and it was a little painful and affected my workouts, especially my bench press and barbell curls exercises.  At first, I thought it was carpal tunnel syndrome, so I got myself a wrist wrap and wore it when using my computer.   The inflammation and pain never really went away after a few weeks so I decided to make an appointment with my PCP to have my wrist checked out.

My doctor is pretty laid back and when I have mentioned in the past how I like the natural way to take care of myself,  you can tell his mind was on other ideas to solve people's health issues.

So my doctor checked out my wrist and before he said "It is not Carpal Tunnel" he prescribed me some NaProxen to take care of the inflammation.   I asked if I should try out some Fish Oils and he said nah that stuff is not that effective.    So, I went with it for now.

The local pharmacy didn't even have any record of me since I have never really taken any medications.   The pharmacist went over the medication with me and how often to take it, and then proceed to mumble all of the side effects for the next three minutes.   She went so fast, I asked her to repeat mentioning the side effects a couple of times.   I was like, yikes....

So I started taking the Naproxen and it started to work after about three days.  My wrist was feeling a little better but it was still not 100%.   What I did notice was a bubbly itchy rash forming on all of my fingers on my left hand.   I thought to myself, I have not been near any poison ivy or anything in months, so what could it be?   A rash started to form on my arm too, so I thought, that's it, stop taking the Naproxen and then see how  this can be treated.  I bought some Cortizone cream, but that did not seem to work so guess what, time to see a doctor again. 

It was late on a Friday, so I decided to go to one of those CVS One-Minute Clinics.  They were fast and efficient.  The nurse practitioner took a look at my rash and said it was definitely eczema and that some Predisone would do the trick.    So I went back to the same pharmacy and now they recognized me and didn't even ask for my picture ID.   Again, they went over how to take the medication and mumbled all of the side effects including suppressing my immune system.  Gee, that is not good.

So I took the Predisone for a few days and the rash quickly went away until one night, I noticed that my throat was closing up.   I took some Benadryl and proceeded into a nice deep sleep.  That was the end of taking Predisone, for sure.   My wrist was feeling better, but I was starting to think that time healed the wound versus these meds.

This is not the end of the story though.
I started to notice my eyes swelling up and you got it, pink eye forming.  Great, I was going on a trip in a week, and I had blotches on my eyes.   I thought, I would have to be Bono on my trip and always wear my shades!   My eyes got worse,  and it was a Saturday, so I decided to go to an urgent care facility in my city.  The nurse practitioner was nice and did my vitals and said I had a bad eye infection in both of my eyes.  It was probably due to my weaken immune system that I was not able to fight off the bacteria that formed in my eyes.   She proceeded to give me some eye drops.

I took the eye drops for a few days and at least the pink in my eyes went away, but then these huge styes formed under my eyes and I noticed every time I used the drops, my eyes would sting like crazy.   I was like WTF, what do I do now.   The redness under my eyes was very noticeable to a point that I cancelled appointments and events for the week and we are days away from my trip to Iceland.

This time I made an appointment with my PCP.  This the third time in 4 months I have seen him.  Before 2017, I have not see a doctor for 6 years and never had a health issue.

I mentioned to him that I think I am allergic to just about every medication so how can I get rid of these styes in my eyes and quickly?   He chuckled and recommended a cream for eye styes and an antibiotic for me to take in case the cream doesn't work.

I started using the cream but still have the styes.  They are getting better and hopefully by the time I hit Reykjavik, I can take some pictures and be in them!

So I think for now, I am going to stick to Omega-3 Fish Oils and some great Isotonix vitamins to maintain my health since pharma medications just causes a ripple effect of spending and new issues.   What if I was taking Fish Oils all along?  Would I have had the wrist inflammation to begin with?  Probably not.  Case Closed, it is known the body is natural and the way you should heal your body should be natural too.   

Now to the local drug recycling center to get rid of these meds and all those damn side effects.

You are the CEO of Your Life - So What Are You Are Going to Do About It?

Earlier this week, I decided to be a little social at the company cafeteria and sat down with some people I knew.    I figured why not, the cafeteria was serving some BBQ and it would be great to get my mind off of work for a few minutes.    So, I sat down and the conversation started with some small talk, which led to what people did for evening activities after work.   There were six of us sitting at the lunch table so I am sure I would be hearing about some interesting hobbies, maybe about their children's activities or even about a little side gig they are doing.   Not a chance.

The conversation was dominated by news events, TV shows and more TV Shows.    I heard about "The Walking Dead", "The Game of Thrones", "13 Reasons Why" and then more "Game of Thrones".  The excitement and energy over these TV shows was baffling.   Then everyone looked at me wondering why I was so quiet and then proceeded to ask what do I watch on TV.     I answered, well, I don't really watch TV, except maybe Shark Tank or The Profit.  But most of the time, I read books when I am home.    Being nice, one person asked if I was into Science Fiction books.    I said that I was not into Science Fiction and proceeded to mention that some of my favorite authors are Gary Vaynerchuk,  T. Harv Eker and maybe Napoleon Hill.

By now, everyone looked at me like I was some freak show with no life.   I mean, I don't watch "Game of Thrones"?   How lame is that?  One person asked me if Gary Vaynerchuk was some pyramid scheme.

Ok, now I was at a point, that maybe in the future, I will look to spend lunch with a different crew.

You hear these facts all the time.

95% of people work hard to make the other 5% rich.
It is not the size of your TV, it is the size of your Library, that matters
With today's volatile economy, it is more important than ever to have multiple streams of income.

My impression from the TV addicts I sat with is that they basically rely on their company and their boss to dictate their own success and their free time is staying up to date with the most popular TV shows.  After all, what does "Game of Thrones" have to do with investing in a business?  

I didn't have a problem with my lunch colleagues, in fact it was fun and informative.  The time I spend at lunch made me think of how I am a little different from most of my colleagues at work.

So, let's talk about being the CEO of your life.

You are the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of your life.   You are 100% responsible for your life; its happiness, its wealth and its health.  Your life is the organization and as such will have different departments such as accounting, marketing or health.   In other words, how you manage your finances, your resume, and your wellness.

Here are some tips to get your own departments in order:

- First, assess who you hang with and who influences you, and make any changes that have nothing to do with what you are working to accomplish.

- Second, what is the purpose of your own life?  Is it to be Rich?  Healthy? Compassionate? or all of the above?   Write it down on your dream board so you stay focused.

- Third, assess how you are spending your time.  Are you spending at least 80-90% of time on result producing activities that work toward your goals as the CEO of yourself?  Build a roadmap toward your goals and stay on track.

Personally, my goal is to not rely on a corporation to reach my goals of financial independence and happiness.    I am working toward my goals by reading the right books, hanging with the right people and spending my time on result producing activities "after work" such as my business ventures.  That is what I am doing about it, how about you?

My SmartPhone Bit The Dust, Now What?

Have you had one of those days, where one of the most inconvenient thing happened to you and you become flustered and questioning what to do next?  

Some examples of having a bad day can be getting a flat tire in the middle of the Mass Pike without having AAA to rescue you or dropping a bowl of red spaghetti sauce on your nice white shirt.   Well I had one of those days yesterday while on the last leg of my vacation in the Pine Tree State, Maine.

 Are you ready?

My smartphone went bonkers and bit the dust!

I was supposed to be off the grid for the past few days while spending time in beautiful Maine. However, just like any addict, I was drawn to my smartphone, checking email, the latest Instagram Stories, the Facebook News Feed and review my text messages. Then suddenly, a big bright streak went across my screen and I freaked out.    I think everyone on the beach heard me yell out some choice words while covering their child's ears with those Wonder Woman beach blankets.

My phone proceeded to reboot itself and then came back up and then I was able to see part of the screen while the rest of the display was a nice lime green color.   I desperately checked my Facebook feed and tried to post my 23 pictures of Maine before my phone called it a day.   Luckily I was able to post some nice pictures and check a couple of Instagram stories, then poof... my phone turned a bright red ball of fire!

I had the feeling like I just lost my job and a tree just landed on my new car.   My smartphone is useless and what can I do now.  It was the Fourth of July, so not sure if my pride and joy can be recovered on this holiday.

By not having my smartphone, it made me realize how dependent we are on them.  They give us directions to a park, or can help order our dinner.  You can shop online on your phone or talk to someone half a world away for free.   You can text someone without hearing their annoying voice.  You can be a loner, but yet, you can have thousands of Facebook Friends and Instagram followers.   Smartphones allow us to be popular but have no human interaction for days.   They are generally the cause of all what is wrong today, and ironically the leading cause of auto and pedestrian accidents today.

I look back to the world before smartphones and even cell phones in general.   The days of human interaction since you had no choice.  When cold calling was the cutting edge sales technique.  When phones had a cord on them connected to a wall or when you had to use a paper map to route your way to the beach.  Those were simpler times.

Times when you listened to your music on a CD or cassette tape instead of Spotify and actually watch where you are walking and smiling and saying hi to people on the street.    I remembered when I would spend the night calling my friends on the house phone and battle with my family on who can use the phone next.    Another decision was what to do on a Friday night in person with people.

Back then, you would call someone on the phone and talk to them about going to a music club with people that had lighters, instead of cell phones, to put in the air when a great rock ballad was played.

 Today, it is all about Tinder, Texting and Twitter.   The latter (Twitter) is the evil of our president, so you know how far we have come.

So, I am here, with no smartphone until later in the week when my replacement comes in the mail and I am hungry thinking about a pizza.

Let me see where I put that Yellowpages Phone Book so I can order a pizza from the House of Pizza.  The last I remember, I thought I used the phone book for something else, like a door stop.

Maybe I will keep the good 'ol YellowPages in a safe place next time, since you never know when your smartphone pulls a freak out on you!    Disaster Recovery at its finest.