Bryan Buckley

What is the Absolute Best Way to Hijack Your Day?

Three Key Benefits of Planning Your Day Ahead

How do you start the work part of your day? I’ve found this question has dumb-founded more people and caused more defensiveness than almost any other question.

Why? Because it questions how someone uses their time and you might as well dive right into religion and politics since you’re gaining so much credibility. (don’t do that, bad idea!)

What is the absolute best way to hijack your day? Here’s the gun-point answer:

Here are some of the rich benefits to reacting:

You get to react all day long
You get to make excuses why you didn’t get anything done
You’re not responsible for the outcome
You get to do it all over again tomorrow and act like today never happened!

Compelling, huh? (insert sarcasm here)

But is there another way? What if this way is not working for you? If you’re a motivated, busy professional who wants to excel in areas only you can control, this may be average and acceptable for everyone else but not you.

What if you went into your day with a plan? A guide that let you know what was important and what should be done by the end of the day? This simple process could be a game changer for most people.

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

Yet I hear over and over that people don’t have time to plan. Really? But they have time to waste time by either doing non-productive work or checking social media, personal email, etc. Not blaming, just saying.

It truly gets down to making choices that will ultimately make you more effective. It’s not getting defensive and truly being will to learn and grow how to embrace better in your life.

“Do not mistake activity for achievement” said economist Mabel Newcomber, and I could not agree with her more.

Most people get to the end of their day and wonder where the day went and spent it on almost everything that was either not important or what actually needed to be accomplished.

And the problem only worsens as the next day. My opinion is to make the bad man stop. For those following along at home, this is a solvable problem.

It’s also a great opportunity to choose what not to do. Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism (must read) said,

“Sometimes what you DON’T do is just as important as what you do.”

But this is not a spare of the moment decision. It requires pre-thought and decision which comes out of planning your day.

There are Three Key Benefits of Planning Your Day:

1. Focus

Nothing beats focus. When you choose to plan and not react to your day, good things happen. I find when I do not plan my day, I am so random. I jump from task to task and although busy all day, I don’t feel like I really accomplished anything and exhausted. (go figure)

But when I plan my day, I know WHAT to do and as a result can focus on what I planned and needed to do. What a difference! And it’s amazing the results when you focus and distractions are “sold separately.”

2. Priorities

The goal is to determine the three most important priorities of the day (author Kenneth Ziegler in his book, Organizing for Success calls them “Veggies”). Once chosen “prioritize your priorities.”

At the end of the day, you will ALWAYS have completed the most important priority of the day. How good would THAT feel?

One of my favorite yet most challenging questions comes from the book, The One Thing by Gary Keller, who asks,

“What is the ONE thing I can do such that by doing it EVERYTHING else will be easier or unnecessary?”

Imagine if you answered that question every morning when setting your priorities..? But choosing your daily priorities is a direct result from the small time investment in planning your day.

3. Results

If you’re a high achiever which most motivated professionals are, then you love results. Yet I’ve found when I don’t have a plan I don’t see any real results and get frustration included at no additional charge.

I’ve yet to meet or read about a successful person who chooses a “shotgun” approach to their day. They see results in direct correlation to their plan for the day. Then why should you if you want to be effective?

[tweetthis]Here’s my advice if you’re not consistently planning right now: PLAN 2 PLAN. – Bryan Paul Buckley[/tweetthis]

Choose a realistic amount of time to begin, say just 5 minutes and schedule it in your day. Let it be your first 5 minutes. Then see what happens. Evaluate at the end of the week and measure the power of focus, setting priorities, and simply weigh the results.

You may find that 5 minutes needs to grow and I’ll even throw in an extra 5 minutes right now at no additional charge. (said in a cheesy infomercial voice)

But seriously, I’ve never heard about a person who began planning who every went back to reacting to their day. Are you up for the challenge?

Or if you are planning your day, what could you do to make it more effective?

Closing Question:

How consistent are you at planning your day? And when you do, how much better are the results?

Three Compelling Reasons Why Breakfast is a No Brainer

There is one decision every single person alive makes each and every morning. This decision will affect you the rest of the day.

Ironically, so many people make a poor decision and as a result do not even know how much better their day could be if they made a better decision.

Did you know the first substance you put in your body makes a HUGE difference in the quality of your day ahead?

But sadly, many people do one or more of the following:

Pour it

Caffeinate it

Junk it

Unwrap it

Sugar it

Nuke it

Inhale it

Skip it

[tweetthis]The goal should not be “what’s easiest or quickest” but what is “healthiest and most effective” to start your day nutritionally.[/tweetthis]

Ironically, so many people have been “doing breakfast ineffectively” for so long they don’t know how good it could be if breakfast was actually healthy!

Here are THREE Compelling Reasons Why Breakfast is a No Brainer:

Kick Start Your Metabolism

Research has shown that when you eat a good meal in the morning it kick starts your metabolism which ultimately allows you to burn fat sooner in the day.

After a night of sleep, your body needs a wake-up call and putting something “healthy in the tank” is the best way to kick start your metabolism which will provide benefits the rest of the day.

“Skipping breakfast, or any other meal for that matter, is not a good idea”, says Michelle Bishop, clinical program coordinator for Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Center.

“Breakfast helps boost the metabolism, and when you begin skipping meals, your metabolism can be affected as well. Your metabolism helps break down your food into smaller pieces. If you don’t give your metabolism something to do, it slows down and get stored as fat in the body.” Increased body fat anyone…?

http://www.ahchealthenews.com/2013/06/17/proper-diet-can-boost-your-mood-and-energy-levels/

Energy

When I cheat, I feel it all morning and pay for it sometimes all day. I justify it because it seems easy but never worth it. I drag and concentrate more on food than I normally do and as a result, set myself up to make another poor decision. Been there?

Instead, I prefer a healthy, energy-focused breakfast that sets my body up for the fuel it needs to attack the morning and ultimately the day ahead.

For short-term and long-term energy boosts, make a habit of eating a high-fiber, carbohydrate-rich breakfast, says Jaimie Davis, PhD, RD, research associate at the Institute for Prevention Research at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/fiber-health-benefits-11/fatigue-fighters-six-quick-ways-boost-energy

Nutrition focus for the day – momentum

If I’m running late, lazy (I be honest amongst friends, right?) or just plain exhausted, I may choose to have a bowl of cereal or a muffin and it starts a series of unfortunate events.

I almost always never correct this with the next meal but justify my behavior and make another poor choice at lunch. Then dinner. Then a late night snack.

“People skip breakfast thinking they’re cutting calories, but by mid-morning and lunch, that person is starved,” says Milton Stokes, RD, MPH, chief dietitian for St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City. “Breakfast skippers replace calories during the day with mindless nibbling, bingeing at lunch and dinner. They set themselves up for failure.”

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/lose-weight-eat-breakfast

But this is completely solvable when you begin the day with a great breakfast. If you’ve worked out in the morning then had the right breakfast, your chances of tanking lunch, dinner, or snacking dramatically decreases. If you’re anything like me, that’s the focus and discipline I need to succeed.

For example, here is my average breakfast that’s worth the 10 minutes of preparation time:

Organic eggs (scrambled / fried / poached) cooked in coconut oil and served with salsa
Sautéed Spinach with grape tomatoes cooked in coconut oil & garlic salt
Fruit – berries / banana, etc.
Avocado
Beverage – coconut water mixed with orange, cranberry or blueberry juice

This type of breakfast kick starts my metabolism, gives me energy, and serious momentum for a nutrition focus. Did it take a few minutes to prepare? Absolutely. And it was worth every minute from the nutrition to the taste. In the end, the planning was absolutely worth the result.

Seriously, ten minutes to prepare and ten minutes to eat and clean up. So worth the time and effort nutrition fans!

As a result, I find my morning is SO much stronger and I’m far more likely to make healthier food choices the remainder of the day.

Book Recommendations:

It Starts With Food by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig
Paleo Lunches & Breakfasts on the Go by Diane Rodgers
Good Morning Paleo by Jane Barthelmey

Question for Comments:

Which is the most compelling reason for you to create a top shelf breakfast?

kickstart your metabolism

energy

nutrition focus for the day

The Three Most Likely Culprits to Derail Being Physically Better

The Direct Correlation Between Nutrition & Fitness

Is there a link between nutrition and fitness?

Is it possible that if there is a lack of focus on one, it directly affects the other?

Do you find that if you’re not working out, you’re more likely to derail your nutrition plan?

Or if you’re eating healthy, you’re more likely to workout and definitely see results sooner?

Here’s a picture of me on any given day if I’m not fully aware of the direct correlation between nutrition and fitness:

Here are the Three Most Likely Culprits to Derail Me at Any One Time:

1. INJURY

A couple of days ago I tweaked a muscle in my back and I got my money’s worth and then some.

I would absolutely love to give some tall tale meat-head response of how I pulled this muscle lifting some impressive amount of weight (insert who could care less here)

Instead, the truth and reality is I was sore from a workout, turned quickly, and my 45-year-old body rebelled like a teenager being given a curfew. That was it. Done. No workouts for at least a week.

2. WEATHER

I live in the Chicago land area. Any given year, 4 -5 months are hibernation time to a local. Are we used to it? Absolutely. Do we like to get outside and exercise like the other 7-8 months? Fat chance (pun inserted for emphasis).

And like a bear coming out of hibernation (Chicago Bear that is), there is a price to pay for that long winter’s nap.

Not everyone has weather as an issue, but a good portion of the country could blame this seasonal struggle. And isn’t weather relative anyway?

3. LAZINESS

Nothing beats the becoming physically better battle more than good old-fashioned laziness. Just look around. How long would it take to prove this theory?

You wish you could blame something or someone else but the truth is all of your energy is thinking of excuses and your workout stops there.

I find that after my injury heals and / or the weather improves, if I’ve been out of the routine long enough, my next foe is the battle of laziness.

Nutrition and Fitness have a direct correlation. One word:

Results

Nothing motivates behavior more than results. If I’m working my abs and start to see another six-pack other than the one that caused the problem in the first place, I am all the more motivated due to the results.

The key is watching and waiting for it then leveraging it. Let me give you an example.

As mentioned earlier, I’m unable to workout at all for at least a week due to this injury. AND the weather has not broken yet in Chicago.

I VERY EASILY can just wait for both the injury and the weather to change my circumstances. Or…

I could prepare for it by paying CLOSE ATTENTION to my nutrition right now knowing that the injury will heal and the weather will improve soon.

Once I do, I’m in THAT much better of a position to take on FITNESS since my NUTRITION is in balance.

So, what is the moral of the story (besides don’t do drugs)?

Know thyself. You know what can and will derail you in the key area of becoming physically better.

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You also know the direct correlation between FITNESS and NUTRITION in your own body.

The reality is both affect each other and if you can leverage one of them (for me, nutrition), I can directly affect the other one (fitness).

Closing Question:

What derails you in the areas of nutrition and fitness…?