Are you a slave to the machine? Do you mindlessly scroll through pics on Instagram doubling tapping after only looking at image for about two seconds or less? Think about the last the photo you liked on social media. What was it? Who posted it? Why did you like?
Do you find yourself screwing off in your workspace? Do you watch random YouTube videos of cats when the time is ticking down on a project or assignment?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then take a quick look at my Prezi presentation to find out some tips on how to avoid distractions that lead to procrastination.
You'll like it, you get to click on things, waste time, and learn something!!!!!!!
Check out my Prezi presentation on how to avoid distractions and put yourself on the right track to avoid procrastination.
Above is the link to the longer story about me and why I want to share my experiences with you.
I went through depression, anxiety, PTSD, bankruptcy, the loss of family members. Eventually finding a purpose through my wife, traveling and wanting to inspire others.
Here is a short video about me and why I'm doing Crimson Beard Moto.
The gist is, after spending 21 years in the military after retirement I found myself on a lot of meds and depressed for what appeared to be no reason at all. I've been on a journey of self exploration for the last four years and nothing seemed to work or make sense until now. Everyday I'm learning to become a better person by forcing myself to give up my bad habits. I just hope that my story and my shared experiences can help someone else find their "why."
I have been lifting weights since I was a senior in high school. I only wish I would've started earlier and had been more serious with it throughout my life. I didn't become a "bigger" guy until my first deployment with the United States Marine Corps in 1998. I was lucky enough to be friends with a dedicated meathead. On that six-month deployment, I went from a 145lb skinny guy to a 185lb tough guy.
Throughout my life, I've been in and out of the gym pretty inconsistently. I've always loved the iron, but my story is one of being non-committal to many things in my life. Though lifting iron has always been a constant, it has never been continuous- until now.
I found Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program when I worked at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School through the football team's strength and conditioning coach. My boss and I had decided to take a hiatus from drinking booze and throw ourselves into the gym to see how big and strong we could get. I asked the conditioning coach for some advice on how to get big and strong. That's when he introduced me to Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program.
I had toyed around with many programs in the past, leading up to my journey with 5/3/1, I had tried Gym Jones, Crossfit watched many YouTube influencers like CT Fletcher and Kali Muscle. At one point in my life, I had a subscription to Flex magazine. The best program that I had found before 5/3/1 was based on heavy lifts and no more than 5-6 reps per set. I can't remember what it was called, but it had something to do with dinosaurs as it was an old school, throw up on the gym floor type of program.
Within six months of the 5/3/1 program, my bench press went from 225 to 380 pounds. I had never really paid much attention to my squat, but I had the opportunity to work with a guy who was a power lifter who taught me proper technique, and that mixed with 5/3/1, I could finally get in the rack and smash six wheels (315lbs) with ease. My deadlift became respectable as well, and I started thinking about competing in powerlifting. Along with the strength came size. My neck was 18" my arms fluctuated between 18 and 19 inches, respectively.
The 5/3/1 program was like smoking crack. Four weeks cycle, my one rep max was jumping up in weight. It was insane if it's one thing that keeps me in the gym; it is the gains.
In 2016 I had surgery on my throat to open up my airway to try and fix my sleep apnea. I couldn't eat for a month, and I stayed out of the gym and never really went back until 2019. I would go in and screw around a bit, but it was a massive hit to my ego not being able to crush the weight that I had worked so hard to be able to destroy.
This year I started college, and in an attempt to be more disciplined, I decided to use physical fitness as a point of discipline and continuity in my life. I wake up every morning and do some form of physical fitness. On Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturdays, I go into my garage and lift weights. At the beginning of the Semester in August, I set a goal that by November, I would have my bench back up to 300lbs. I dusted off my 5/3/1 book, recorded my one-rep-max, and got to work. I can proudly and safely say that I could probably hit 305 raw right now, but I'm not going to attempt anything until November and stick to my program.
Why I like 5/3/1:
It's simple and easy to follow. By having percentage-based guidelines that allow weekly progression, you will see your numbers go up. I do my workouts in my DIY home gym, and my access to equipment is limited. I focus on the core lifts, bench press, and military press.
It's a great program for people who use the excuse, "I don't have the time." You can seriously just focus on doing the core lift and leaving the gym. For anybody who is serious with their gym time, 5/3/1 is an amazing program, and I think you'll be blown away by your numbers after the first cycle.
I'll leave some links so you can check out for yourself. The book cost around 20 bucks on amazon and is well worth the investment.
Will it work for women?
Hell to the yeah. When I was dating my wife at the time she didn't just go to the gym with me she worked out with me. She was able to squat 315 pounds and she would make the bitch bois in the gym uncomfortable in the squat rack. One because she is hot, 2 she was under a 315lb bar with no pussy pad. Her bench was 155 and she could pull 300 off the floor in her deadlift. The power she built from the program took her from doing a few weak ass pull-ups to ripping 10 no problem. All of this in just 6 months of being on the program. She wasn't bodybuilder yoked but she was beautifully built.
IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING SLEEP ISSUES PLEASE SEE A DOCTOR.
If you are anything like me, you don't feel as if there is enough time in the day to accomplish what you need to accomplish. If you are really like me, you are a victim of your own procrastination. My procrastination is another topic we will cover in a different post; in this post, we will discuss how to work sleep into your time management.
My schedule as it stands today is this:
0400- wake up
0415-0445- Exercise (give or take an hour or more)
0530-0600 Breakfast
0600-0630 Personal hygiene
0630-0900 Personal Development.
I try to get to bed at 2330 or earlier at the max end; I force myself to be in bed by midnight. As in the previous post about pulling morningers, I sleep for at least three hours, waking up at three, to accomplish tasks that I might not have performed during the previous day.
To avoid health issue fatigue and to be sharper during the day, I started researching micro-Napping. I remember this style of napping from a Mythbusters episode that I was not able to find during my research, but I was able to find several news and peer-reviewed articles that discuss the benefits of micro-napping.
There is a difference between micro-napping and micro-sleeping. The difference is micro-napping is a sleep you want to take, and micro-sleeping is a sleep you often don't realize is happening to you. Micro-sleeping is that sleep that happens suddenly to you while sitting in a boring meeting, class, and sadly sometimes at the wheel of your car.
Micro-napping is the idea of taking a nap or two during your workday, maybe on a break at work or in-between classes.
I will leave links at the bottom to some of the articles I researched so you can come up with micro-napping strategies that best suites your level of health and lifestyle.
According to studies by NASA researched by Catherine Milner and Kimberly Cote they state that "Longer naps will allow you to enter deeper sleep, which will contribute to the grogginess - also called sleep inertia - experienced upon awakening and disrupt nighttime sleep."
Most of the studies that I've researched call for 20 minutes or less of napping. Mainly this is to avoid sleep inertia. In the article from wearethemighty.com they write that "NASA's research showed that naps really could fully restore cognitive function at the same rate as a full night's sleep. The space agency found that pilots who slept in the cockpit for 26 minutes showed alertness improvements of up to 54 percent and job performance improvements by 34 percent, compared to pilots who didn't nap. But 26 minutes might be a little long."
I've been trying to take at least two micro-naps to increase my stamina and my mental cognition throughout the day. I also exercise every day and try and have a healthy diet. I did find some studies that say that napping can be detrimental to your health. That is why I'm telling you it's very important to seek a physician's advice, especially if you have preexisting health conditions.
In the video I've posted from Dr. Oz, he has an interesting napping technique involving drinking a cup of coffee before taking your micro-nap. The method behind his madness, he explains, is that coffee takes about 30 minutes to makes it way through the body before it starts its stimulating effects. Also, realize that everyone absorbs caffeine differently, and results may vary from person to person and whether or not you drink it on an empty stomach.
In my experience so far, the naps are working for me, and I will continue to develop a micro-napping strategy and keep you posted.
Good luck with the time management. Make sure you seek a physician's advice and keep a good record of all the variables in your micro-napping.
What time of day were you lying down or sitting up, how dark it was, how much sleep you got the night before, even the temperature of the room. Those are just a few of the variables you should be taking into consideration when micro-napping.
MILNER, C.E. and COTE, K.A. (2009), Benefits of napping in healthy adults: impact of nap length, time of day, age, and experience with napping. Journal of Sleep Research, 18: 272-281. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00718.x
Today I want to quit school and travel. I feel like I spend all my time in this dark office in the basement of my house. I feel boxed in by these four walls.
At the beginning of this year, I decided I wanted to take my hobby to a different level. I applied to the Cleveland Institute of Art to turn my photography into a skill that would fuel my passion for travel and adventure. I wanted to be around creative people. I wanted to create. The first year is a foundation year with mandatory drawing classes and design classes, and no photography. I'm so far out of my comfort zone. I don't have time to shoot pictures or improve my craft. That's how I feel anyway. Trapped.
As I struggled to keep up in my online class this afternoon, my inner negativity started to get loud and unbearable. My week suddenly became very daunting, and I began to catastrophize and spiral out of control with my negativity.
I took a time out and went into my garage and turned on Never Give Up from Motiversity on YouTube. I started lifting weights and listening to the message. I turned the sound up loud to drown out my inner bitch. I didn't count reps. I just pushed and pulled until it burned until I couldn't hear anything except for the sound of my own breath, and my heart thumping against my chest. I'm alive. I'm not a fucking quitter. I'm human, I have weaknesses, but I can also control that shit. When I start talking to myself like a fucking pussy, I have to find a way to break it up and push my passion to the forefront of negativity. Watching motivational videos is one way; for me, physical fitness is another way. Put myself through a little pain to put things in perspective. We will get through this. I'm human, but I'm not a fucking quitter.
If you are feeling like this; give the video above a listen and put yourself through some pain.
YOU CAN DO IT!
DON'T QUIT!
HOLD ON!
VICTORY GOES TO THOSE WHO FINISH, TO THOSE WHO NEVER GIVE UP!
Last weekend I decided to allocate my time to procrastination rather than to the overwhelming load of homework that was due this week. The procrastination was so bad I didn't complete one of my assignments that I had to turn in this morning.
When I allow myself pleasure over production, I punish myself by working late into the night. I've changed up my tactics when it comes to the all-nighter. I don't try to pull the all-nighter anymore. I go to bed. I started doing this last week, and so far (up until today), my strategy has been working.
I'll go to bed at around midnight, wake up at 0300 and hop on the Peleton and get a fifteen-minute oxygen-starved workout in to wake me up. I then grab a cup of coffee and suck down a protein shake. All of this takes about 30 minutes, then I sit down and nug out the rest of my homework.
Unfortunately for me, part of the assignment due today was to turn in progressive shade paint swatches. Yellow decided to kick my ass, and I ended up using all of my paint and was unable to finish the last two swatches. My attention to detail in my finished work was good enough for the teacher to give until next Thursday. In favor of fairness, I told her I would also do the assignment she had decided to make "optional."
I call this new strategy, "my penance" I need to address my procrastination and punish myself as needed. That means I'm up at three and working out within 10 minutes of the alarm going off. I don't feel fatigued until about 1100, but that's only if the teacher gives us a lecture. Last Friday, I pulled the same stunt, and I was not tired until I got home after school around 1700. During class, we painted; for me, painting is very therapeutic. I believe I fell into a flow state, and I even stayed two hours after class working on my paint swatches.
With this semester coming to a close, I'm going to make a mission for myself to stop procrastinating today. I will keep you updated on how that goes for me. If you follow me on Twitter, I'll give you a play by play if I start to slip. I'm going to hold myself accountable by making it public. Feel free to encourage me when I start slipping.
