Today I did nothing

In the 2001 movie Office Space disgruntled worker Peter took a day off (unbeknownst to his boss) and chose to just stay in bed all day. He said something like "today I did nothing and it was everything I ever thought it could be." He was proud of doing nothing.

Have you ever told yourself you were going to carve out some time for yourself just to relax? Conversely have you ever discovered that for the last few hours you have basically accomplished nothing? What is the difference? In results ... not much. But there is a big difference in the effect those two activities might have on you.

The first scenrio: You gave yourself permission to intentionally relax. It was probably empowering and it probably provided a source of energy renewal for your future activities. Maybe an energy boost?

The second scenario: You probably felt a sense of failure. You had intended to do some "stuff" yet you didn't do anything. Now you might be drained.

So, the effects are NOT the same. The only difference here: Being intetional about what you do (or "not do" in this case) Be more like Peter, be more intentional about your decisions and actions.

What is your warm up routine? (at the gym)

So we are told about the importance of warming up before exercising....something to get your blood pumping and your muscles loose.

Some ideas, many of which you may already be doing:

Getting on the treadmill or an elliptical or a stationary bike for a few minutes. Walk or jog 1/4 of a mile (equivalent to one time around a track).

Walking up and down some stairs.

Shooting some baskets on the basketball court.

Jumping rope.

Make your "warm-up" automatic, make it a routine, and make it fun!


As always, consult a doctor before you start or significantly increase your physical activity.

Looking for some new workout exercises? Abs!

Here are a few workout exercises that are atypical and only require an exercise ball:

The "alligator"
http://www.mensfitnessmagazine.co.uk/exercise/sports/912/429/gym_ball_alligator_walk.html

The "jack-knife"
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercises.asp?exercise=14


I have "tried" each of these and let me tell you, in each case I realized over the next few days there were certain abdominal muscles I was not using (at least that is how I felt based on being sore!)

As always, consult a doctor before you start or significantly increasing your physical activity.

Busy Season - Energy Renewal Activities?

So for many accountants, "busy season" is upcoming and its during that time that our time management techniques are tested the most.

So, with that being said, how do you "renew your energy", especially during the busiest times, so that your capacity to get things done increases? We can always try and find more time, but what allows us to do more with the time we have? Energy capacity.

First let's start with your physical energy levels for this post. So, what helps you increase your energy levels?

Great sleep?

Breaks?

Exercise?

Walks?

Walks, in particular, are SO UNDERRATED. Take a time out next time you are stressed out or your brain feels over excerpted and simply take a walk. Get crazy and take a walk outside in the cold for five minutes. Clear your head.

Oh my gosh all those examples TAKE TIME! Isn't that counterproductive when we are real busy? Yes if one feels like they are already working at maximum efficiency, but for the other 99.99% of us who realize we aren't and that the body is incapable of being at maximum efficiency for very long during a day ... these energy renewal activities potentially make us MORE productive during the busiest days.

Thanksgiving Eating

Some ideas and reminders as you begin to jump into your "eating season" .....

"Mono" fats (mono saturated) are better for you than saturated fats. A great source of mono fats: nuts.

Consider going on a run 4 hours after your Thanksgiving "feast" instead of taking a nap. You might sleep better that night!

White meat is lower in fat than dark meat.

Whole grain carbs are generally regarded as better for you than traditional "white" carbs.

Feel good about stuffing your face WHEN you have also worked out that day!

Try to go for extra helpings on the fruits and vegetables versus the rolls and mashed potatoes.

Eat as slow as you can ... your "fullness" will catch up!

Exercise Goals - some to Measure ...

If accountants like to "measure", maybe you will like hearing some of the measurable workout and physical fitness goals I have heard over the years.... Obviously these are WAY across the board and provided for your reference:


Exercising for 10 non-negotiable minutes a day for the next 30 days.

Running a 1/2 marathon within the next 12 months.

Running 1 mile once a week for the next 6 months, lowering your time by 5 seconds each week.

Running a 6 minute mile the same day you bench 200 pounds.

Running 7 miles a week on the treadmill.

Attending 20 aerobics classes by the end of the year.

Going to the track every Saturday morning and running 1 mile and adding 1/4 of a mile each subsequent time until you can run 5 miles straight.


So, ask yourself, would a specific measurable (numeric) exercise goal be something to get you in motion, and motivated? If so, create one, commit to it, and go for it!

An Exercise LifeStyle begins with Why

I have heard a lot of people, especially accountants, say "I need to get in the gym more often." That is great but WHY? You are making choices every day and not doing something is a choice. So, you are really saying I "WANT" to go to the gym more often but I am choosing not to. Admit it ... you simply have a current desire, not a planned commitment.

First off, ask yourself: How important is this to you? What makes this a compelling quest? How does exercising help the other aspects of your life, your relationships, your energy levels at work, and your overall attitude? What is the most successful outcomes you can see in the future based on you fulfilling your commitments? How does it make you feel? How does it make others see you? Lastly, What might be the cost of not exercising?! You may have a lot going on in your life, you need to prioritize this along with everything else. The answers to these questions should help with that.

Now, if you want to move forward and make a commitment, ask yourself: What motivates you best? Is it a long-term lofty goal where you measure success? Or is it more of a daily thing - your desire to feel good about your exercise regimen (and measure that success daily)? How will you measure the success of fulfilling the commitment to exercise you are making to yourself. Do you need an accountability partner?

Now ask yourself: What do I enjoy most about exercising? Some people feel you must get on the treadmill or hit the roads to burn off calories (if that is one of our goals) but there are many ways to burn calories. Pick something you enjoy, like playing soccer, or tennis, or bike riding. The benefits will be there health-wise, and you might be able to "multi-task" by spending quality time with family or friends at the same time. Once you can get to a point where exercise can be more of a "habit" then the original "commitment" ... when days feel strange without it, now you are getting somewhere.

The Fall is typically the time of the year when most people allow their exercise regimen to fall off a little bit. Why? Summer and warm weather is departing? Holidays coming? For accountants: lots of work around 10/15 and then we start to plan year-end work and get busier? If your reasons for exercising are not clear and are not compelling and it's simply not fun ... your choice is probably a lot easier.

Ingredients Police

If you are a health nut, a wanna be health nut, of if you are just trying to improve your diet, you may have heard lately about the trend towards eliminating "trans fats".

Hydrogenated oils - I am not sure what "hydrogenated" means exactly, but it sounds like most people think it is bad for you. Partially hydrogenated oils (or "PHOs" for short) are viewed the same and these things are also called trans fats. You may have heard of some local governments banning these ingredients in restaurants, including New York City!

High Fructose Corn Syrup - This looks to be the newest evil ingredient getting some exposure....think cheap processed sugar. The scary thing is how many food items you will find at the grocery store that contain these things.

So now you know what "PHOs" and "HFCs" are and if you want to, take a gander at the next set of ingredients of food you are about to put in your cart ... but beware for a let-down on many processed foods.

Running the Treadmill Every Time?

I recently discovered a new machine at the gym. The elliptical. OK, I am sure many of you know what that is and many of you have probably used it a lot. I run a lot of 5-Ks, I run on the treadmill a lot, but I never had used an elliptical before last week. Why? Maybe I was being sexist. I saw women on that machine more than men, maybe I assumed it was more designed for women? That sounds bad. When I first jumped on it I found out I was in over my head. After conferring with someone who knew what they were doing, I fell in love with it. Ohhh and I paid for it the next day ... I was walking like a duck.

Are you trying to expand your repoitore? A treadmill and an elliptical both may give you a good aerobic workout but the more variety you can introduce, the more fun you might have, and the more you might push yourself to new physical heights. How many new "ellipticals" are out there for you to try?

No Time for the Gym

I know a lot of people who want to work out but when it comes down to having a consistent routine, they struggle. Their number one reason for not working out:

"I cannot go to the gym because ...... I have too much work to do!"

OK. I wonder about challenging the notion that skipping exercise because you have too much work to do is always logical for everyone.

The assumption here is that these two items are mutually exclusive. If you go to the gym or do something else to exercise, you will "lose" that time and therefore fall behind more than if you didn't. Well I am not so sure that is always the case.

This is coming from someone who tracked my time for three weeks, and actually realized a few things:

1.) I was more productive overall on days when I exercised.

2.) I was in a (much) better mood on days when I exercised.

3.) I slept better on days when I exercised.

Now I am not ready to publish my results in the Journal of Health, but the best evidence for this was getting feedback from other people, especially about my mood. It was pretty unanimous that I was easier to be around on days where I exercised. It was an epiphany in my life and now I make it a non-negotiable routine to exercise for at least 20 minutes every day. The extra motivation is not about exercise goals, but rather ALL MY OTHER GOALS in my life. I have realized, at least for myself, that there is a direct benefit to me and those around me when I have the discipline to get that done. So, with that thinking in mind, it's actually the craziest days where exercise is more important.

When we get stressed, when we feel overwhelmed, sometimes our natural tendencies are to dig our heels in and just work longer. But isn't it really about how much you get done, your productivity, and your results?

Ask yourself three questions:

1.) Do you feel more energized on days you exercise?

2.) Does exercising correlate to higher production at work and around the house? (This is best answered with facts based on time tracking. )

3.) If the answer to questions 1 & 2 are yes, what time are you exercising today?

Healthy Eating Accountants?

If you are an accountant chances are you probably aren't sitting around all week with little to do. We are always running around and because of that, eating a healthy diet during the week can be a challenge. So I would love to hear about "best practices" in keeping to a healthy diet even during our most busy times.

One thing that has worked for me is to pick a few "staples" that are (1) easily eaten fast, (2) are healthy, and (3) I enjoy eating so much that I can eat it more than once a week. I am talking mostly about snacks here.

Cottage cheese - if you like that, especially the lower fat versions, it can serve as a healthy snack where all you have to do is grab it and start scooping into your mouth. Try some blueberries, or other fresh fruit for a topping.

Yogurt - if you get a big tub of the plain flavor ... again this is a snack you just grab and eat. Try throwing a fiber cereal in there and mixing it up. Mmmm good. (Of course everyone's taste buds vary!)

Apple Sauce - sounds simple, and again that is the key. If you like apple sauce buy the small packs for on the go or a big jug for the house. The time that will pass from that moment of extreme hunger until you get some food in your mouth is real short!

So go find your own healthy "staples" that meet those three criteria, and at least part of your diet can be improved.

Working out, High Tech Style

OK, so wearing an iPod while working out is pretty common for many people. Does it improve the experience? Sure it can. It may help some people get through it, and it may help some people exercise better while listening to their favorite inspirational songs. Now some are taking technology to the next level. Here are two tools you may be noticing more and more in the gym and on the running trails:

1.) The Nike+iPod toolkit - as Apple says, "your shoe talks, your nano iPod listens." Using the toolkit you can track every stride you make in your Nike shoes. (select shoes required along with the kit you must buy) Then you can go to nikepulse.com and insert your goals, track your progress, and even link into a community of others doing the same thing. It's pretty cool.

2.) Heart rate monitors - Polar seems to be the company doing the most here. They have equipment you can buy which comes with a watch and a heart rate monitor. (If you have seen the movie "The Incredible Hulk", Universal Studios 2008, you know the risk of letting your heart-rate reach 200!) You can track your heart-rate during your work-outs. The watch will tell you if you are in your "zone" and it captures a lot of good data you can review such as calories burned, time spent working out, etc. You can see it on your watch on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and even download it to your computer. Many of the elliptical machines and treadmills at many gyms are pre-programmed to pick up the data from these devices. So you do not even have to put your hands anywhere on the machine to display your current heart-rate. Very cool!

Working out Helps your Leadership Skills? 3 Reasons

A well-defined and adhered to work-out regimen can help you develop your leadership skills. How do you ask?

First off, it improves your energy levels. Lifting weights on consistent basis, for example, has been proven to burn lactic acid, the very thing that tends to build up inside you during your day and drains your energy capacity. Aerobic activity gets your heart pumping and blood flowing. Have you ever completed a hard run and then felt better immediately after it than you did before it? How do you feel DURING the day at work when you worked out in the morning or at lunch? Do you notice a difference? An extra kick in your step? Positive effect on your ability to lead, sometimes simply by attitude?

Another reason: The discipline needed to stick to a plan (for example working out 4 times a week for 40 minutes each) help builds your self-integrity. We are all busy. There are hundreds of reasons and rationalizations we can use not to work out. It takes a disciplined person to get past all of those and make it a non-negotiable routine. Suddenly, you are dictating part of your time-blocking instead of letting others do it for you. You will feel good about yourself. Your colleagues will notice that, and they will notice your discipline. Remember the workplace is changing: People want to know you outside of work. It is ok to admit you invest in yourself every day. Tell people how working out helps your life overall and your production at work!

Third: It has been proven that it takes disengagement from left-brain activities to put yourself in your creative zone. Why is it most people say they get their best ideas in the shower or on vacation? It's because they are disengaged from all the daily and hourly tasks and responsibilities that flood their brain and keep them in the details. Using a work-out as REAL TIME to think big picture can be a real competitive advantage for you. Of course focus on the activities at hand! Be careful! Watch those machines! But use the time to refresh yourself mentally. You will be surprised about the positive and creative thinking that will flow from you. One idea is to bring a digital voice recorder with you to the gym every once in a while. Whenever you get inspiration on a really good idea, record it! Use voice recognition software to have it automatically dictated into your computer. Wow, now you are being productive. I guaranty you if you try this once, you will have more creative ideas captured during your 40 minute work-out than you did in the last week of your "office" time...ideas that will help you be a better leader both personally AND professionally.