#2!
congratulations to melissa! her tip was:
“I have a six month old, four year old and watch a seven year old everyday. I refuse to compromise on cooking decent dinners, so I have established this method of having them all together sitting at the kitchen table doing art projects or helping each other with reading while I cook and can participate. It sure beats parking them in front of the tv and the bonus is they love the opportunity to help me cook when the recipe allows!”
with the #2 comment, i kind of like that her punctuality was (randomly) awarded this morning. melissa, send me your address so that i can send you your pad.
the other winner
. . . is me! because your tips were fantastic. i will definitely be making good use of them in the presentation that i will be giving (along with kath and morgan) at the HLS. you can see them all (and read more details) in the comments of this post. several themes seemed to emerge:
✔ write it down. everyone had their favorite methods, from paper planner (like me!) to white board, gcal, or blackberry/iphone. no matter what the method, everyone seemed to agree that getting things out of one’s head and into written form is the best way to go.
✔ everything in its place. this may be as simple as a ‘launching pad’ area for keys/wallet/phone, or as real simple-esque as clear labeled plastic boxes (total eye candy for organization junkies!).
✔ do it in advance. this was applied to anything from making the morning coffee to packing lunch to organizing medicines/pills — the overarching theme here was taking advantage of slower times to prep for the busier ones. i couldn’t agree more.
✔ taking command of your most precious (unrenewable) resource. ie: YOUR TIME. strategies for doing this included blocking things off very clearly hour by hour (best for those with very unstructured jobs/responsibilities), laying out goals for the weekend (mixing the fun in with the necessary!), and generally having a strategy/priority list going into each week.
✔ make eating well easy. i love how many of you are all about packing a lunch from leftovers (i do this all the time). meal planning also got a few shout-outs — i suppose the contest likely selected for those of us who like to figure this part out a week at a time.
thank you all for participating! i hope some of you found the ideas submitted as valuable/inspiring as i did.
coming soon: by request: posts on top organizational tools and keeping it together in med school/residency.
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6.10.10
workout: 4.4 miles with 4 x 400 intervals. i still am having bad calibration issues with my footpod, so i don’t have any exact splits for this workout — but let me assure you that it was SSSLLLOOOWWW. honestly, though, i’m just happy to be back out there right now — hopefully the speed will come in time.
happiness project report: my goal this week is to concentrate on one thing at a time. however, it sort of fell by the wayside — i actually had to look back in my older post to remember what the goal even was! luckily, since this is my very own project, i get to call the shots, so i’m giving this one another week. starting now.
3 Comments
i'm excited for the top tools!
I'd be interested in your take on the following blog's commentary on mind over matter with regards to dieting. I trust your sound and balanced judgement! thanks for considering.
http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/2010/06/07/win-the-mental-battle-life/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+LifeSpotlight+(Fitness+Spotlight)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
anon #2: hmm! you are very flattering. i just read it (lull during my hospital shift!) and here are my thoughts:
i thought it was interesting. many of the writer's views are in line with mine: choosing to be happy, taking control of one's time, and treating time/energy like the valuable resources they are. and of course i love his emphasis on living in the present.
but, i feel like he oversimplifies things with respect to diet/exercise. what if one is eating the right things, but is simply HUNGRY and has trouble losing weight for that reason? also, is eating for enjoyment really so horrible (i hope not)?
i also think that the advice about taking control and not having excuses applies well to someone who does not have children, but perhaps not as well to a family. some people do not have the time luxury that he (or i!) enjoy to prioritize exercise.
overall, a potentially motivating article with soem great points, but not necessarily exactly eye-to-eye with me on everything.
what did YOU think about it?