Lately, I’ve been interested in the topic of time. I don’t know about you…but I never feel like there’s enough of it. We have a relatively predictable life — get up, drop off the kid at daycare, go to work, come home from work, try and get a work out in, eat dinner, go to bed. Predictability and routine can be a good thing (I personally advocate for it in a lot of my blog posts), but it can also feel suffocating and leave us with a feeling of never having enough time for the things we really want to do.  Does anyone else feel this way? I certainly do… — Which begs the question — what am I spending …read more

There are so many benefits to swimming. In fact, very few exercises have all of the benefits I’m about to describe to you. As you know from my post Workout Schedule I incorporate about three swims a week and I truly look forward to these workouts. Swim workouts feels great and are good for me. Here’s a few reasons why: #1 – Swimming is both a cardio and strength building workout On any given day, I will go back and forth trying to decide whether to do a cardio or strength building workout. A big factor in my decision tends to hang on what I did the day before, and if I’m still sore from the experience. Not with swimming, though! …read more

Lately I’ve been reflecting on my work life and where I’d like to be in the future, in terms of both my career and my daily environment. I also feel exhausted by the idea that I’ll have to work 8 hours a day for the rest of my working career — presumably another 35 years. In a world where working from home and flexibility is king, I know I can’t be the only millennial with this concern… One of my career goals (see blog post about Prioritizing Career goals) is to have a truly flexible schedule. So, I asked myself, if I had full control over schedule what would I want it to look like? Part of this whole process …read more

By many counts, Warren Buffet is seen as the most successful investor of the 20th century. At the moment he’s worth over 88 billion dollars! So naturally when I hear career advice from Mr. Buffet, I’m inclined to listen. He’s also really great at managing his time and saying no, which are both individual arts within themselves. The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money. Warren Buffett One of Warren Buffet’s long term employees once asked his boss how to prioritize career goals and focus on the most important tasks that will achieve the highest results. More than just following the 80/20 rule or the “Pareto Principle,” he wanted to know how to narrow down his list of …read more

Have you ever read a book/magazine/article or listened to a podcast that completely changed the way you thought about something, especially when that something affects your daily life? Gary Taubes book, called Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It was that book for me. In his book, Taubes argues that the modern diet with its inclusion of too many carbohydrates, particularly refined carbohydrates,is a primary contributor to the obesity epidemic in America. He also argues that no matter how much you exercise, nutrition is the most important factor in determining health. Moreover, the model of calories in, calories out or “I can eat this dessert — I ran 3 miles today!” is just plain wrong. Good Calories, …read more

They say it’s about the journey, not the destination. That’s absolutely true. As we’re renovating my house right now, I’m starting to realize that the journey is way longer than the destination anyway — so better to have a good attitude about both and enjoy them! This mantra can also be applied to our work life. Recently, I’ve become interested in working smarter not harder. After all, people are promoted and provided opportunities because they add value to the organization, not necessarily because they work harder than everyone else. Like many folks, my job is multifaceted and I’m constantly working and balancing multiple projects and priorities. One  of the ways I’ve found to work smarter is to not worry so …read more

One of my recent life “hacks” that has totally changed my vacationing and my work life, is to return from vacation on a Saturday. Assuming that is that you are leaving for a vacation sometime during the weekend or week and are expecting to return to work on a Monday. Previously, I had always returned from a long vacation on a Sunday to try and soak up as much vacation time as I could. It’s hard not to have this mentality since the average American worker receives only 10 paid days of vacation time a year. According to Gusto.com, an astonishing 23% of American workers have no paid vacation days at all. I happen to have 12 annually, and I …read more

Exercise is vitally important, we all know this. Exercise can help control weight, boost moods, boost energy, help fight off chronic health conditions and diseases, promote better sleep and better sex. For me, routine is key when it comes to exercise. I have a fairly regimented workout schedule. In fact, I have a pretty regimented schedule in general. If you’ve ever read Gretchen Rubin’s book, Better than Before, I’m considered an “Upholder,” which means I’m pretty good with habit formation and sticking to routines that are important to me — and exercise is very important to me. By the way, if you haven’t read Better than Before, you absolutely should. It’s by far one of my favorite books. In it, …read more

One of my key weight maintaining strategies is to only eat dessert on purpose. What I mean by that is to plan for dessert. Don’t let the spontaneous temptations to snack on treats — some may call them opportunities rather than temptations — allow you to consume calories that you didn’t plan for and thereby ruin your otherwise good intentions and disciplines. When I say “dessert”, I mean anything that’s remotely sweet and has a lot of sugar — that includes candies, cocktails, muffins, donuts, granola bars, a ton of fruit, even some yogurts . . . We see these temptations all around us — at the office there’s usually a bowl of candy, donuts, birthday cake or cupcakes, cookies, …read more

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