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Why You May Not Be Performing at Your Best While Working From Home

We’re on part four of a six-part article series on how to leverage being home right now for an extended period of time to prepare you for the road.

Or to say it another way, Six Ways to Leverage Home Life to Improve Road Life.

The first article focused on energy habit #1 of MOVE and how to stand more (think up on your feet not down on your butt), walk more (think forward not just still), run more (think cardio and getting your heart rate up), and lift more (think strength training).

The second focused on energy habit #2 of FUEL and how to leverage the MTHC Formula (Make the Healthiest Choice) to continually hydrate (think early and often), eat clean and green (think fewer ingredients and less processed than more dark greens and vegetables), and snack strategically (think planned energy boost).

The third article focused on energy habit #3 of REST and how to leverage the Strategic Resting Formula to Sleep (think Improve then Increase), Breaks (think Move the Body, Rest the Mind), and Downtime (think Time to Be, NOT to Be On).

The first three energy habits are physical. Now we’ll shift to the mental energy habits.

I’m a HUGE Chicago sports fan and although we’ve had our championship droughts from time-to-time, I’ve seen every professional team in my lifetime win at least one championship.

The ultimate time to be a Chicago sports fan was in the 90s with the Bulls winning six championships in eight years.

In fact, it was so influential in sports history that ESPN created The Last Dance a 10-part docu-series on the last year of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls but also tying in his entire career, key players, and moments throughout his time with the Bulls.

I’ve watched every episode at least two times and one of the major underlying themes was Michael Jordan’s incredible commitment to perform at the highest level over a long period of time. Even the best in the world, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird saw this in Jordan early on.

He was intentional in everything he did and willing to do whatever it took to perform at the highest level. He made everyone and everything better as a result.

Yet too many road warriors whether we’re on the road or now working from home could NOT take a more opposite approach.

We meander our way throughout our day feeling busy and overwhelmed but not producing results at the end of the day.

And this is why you may not be performing at your best while working from home.

In The Last Dance, Michael Jordan was willing to do whatever it took to perform at the highest level and would use absolutely anything to motivate him. And that’s exactly what we need to do right now working from home to prepare us for when we get back on the road.

Why You May Not Be Performing at Your Best While Working From Home

There are three elements to a successful Working-From-Home Day to perform at the highest level:

 

CLEAR PLAN

Key Phrase – Think Planned Priorities

I define a plan as “thinking on paper and telling your time where to go.”

There are three main parts of my working from home plan that I call Creating Your Master Evil Plan:

These ironically enough are the same three for Road Life and in the Elite Road Warrior book called Road Plan:

Energy Habits

I don’t leave my energy habits up for chance or just whenever I can fit them in. Ironically, I knock out 4 of my energy habits in the Early Morning Window Block before my workday even begins:

Develop – (read my Bible and another motivational book then write in my Elite Road Warrior Journal as well as develop content such as this podcast or a LinkedIn article)
Move – I’ll workout, consisting of Run More / Lift More
Connect – with the Fam in a thoughtful, meaningful way before the day begins
Fuel – hydrate and have a Clean & Green breakfast
I do all of these before the specific energy habit of Perform. Why? To get in what matters most to me and also sets my day up to succeed.

Key3

There are three key action items that will determine if your day ahead is a success or not.

I’m not talking about your overwhelming task list.

These are the Key3 that will make or break your day.

How do you know what to choose?

Well, if you DON’T get them done, you won’t feel like you made the most of your day, something was incomplete or missing, or you “didn’t leave it all on the field” to use a sports analogy.

Those are the days when I feel I was busy the entire day but don’t feel like I really got anything done. I look back and think “I was always doing something but what did I actually accomplish?”

For the record, I hate those days and avoid them whenever possible.

And it starts with creating my Key3 for the day ahead.

Here is my process:

  • Brainstorm what I want to accomplish for the day (and this is always a long list)
  • I look for themes – what are clusters I can group together
  • I narrow them down to the most crucial 3
  • I list them in order of most important, 2nd most, then 3rd.
  • Then I start with my 1st of the Key3.

I want to feel I made the absolute most of the day and did what was key to me and that comes from creating your Key3.

Note: I don’t toss out my ToDo List – I use it to brainstorm then come back to the incomplete portions of the list only AFTER I’ve completed my Key3.

Schedule

I still need to schedule my Breaks (to move the body, rest the mind) and Downtime (time to be, not to be on) which is my 5th energy habit of the day.

I need to schedule my meetings and appointments for the day ahead or review what has already been scheduled.

Remember the key phrase: Planned Priorities

We want to plan our priorities at the beginning of the day so you perform at your best doing what is most important – on purpose.

This is one element to a successful Working-From-Home Day to perform (which is energy habit #4) and at the highest level with. One down and two to go – after, this short break…

The 1st necessary element to a successful Working-From-Home Day to perform at the highest level was a CLEAR PLAN. Once we have that in place we move to element two:

 

BLOCK & TACKLE

Key Phrase – Think Planned Road Blocks

Block & Tackle is a football term that means doing the fundamentals to allow your team a chance at winning. A team that does not Block & Tackle well almost always loses because they are undisciplined which results in giving up costly points and useless penalties.

In the business world, Block & Tackle means you’re blocking out a specific amount of time to work on one specific task.

Did you catch that? Block & Tackle means you’re blocking out a specific amount of time to work on one specific task.

On the road, I refer to Block & Tackle as Road Blocks. We’re choosing to put the roadblocks out to put in or block in what is important. I’m intentionally blocking time out on the road for a specific time to work on one specific task.

But pertaining to working from home, we’ll stick with the term Time Blocks.

In the book, Start Finishing – How to go from Idea to Done by Charlie Gilkey, there are four specific time blocks:

  • Focus Time Blocks – 90-120 minutes blocks of time when we’re especially creative, inspired, and able to do high-level work that requires focus (this would be your key3). Focus blocks fuel your best work.

Critical – NO distractions / turn off all alerts / close email / turn off your phone

  • Social Time Blocks – 90-120 minute blocks of time when we’re primed and energetically in the right space to meet other people. This is interacting with people in real-time. This is your video and audio time when you’re home and have meetings, set calls, etc.

Critical – Spread these out throughout the day otherwise it will drain you. Also, take your calls on a walk. Productivity expert, Marcey Rader, calls them Walkie Talkies. Get some movement in, get outside, and double dip with the call and exercise.

  • Administrative Time Blocks – 30-60 minutes low-energy blocks of time when we’re not in the zone to do the work that requires “heavy lifting” but there are still types of work to do effectively. Think email, phone calls, CRM work, digital, paper filing, low-level filing, organizing, etc.

Critical – Batch admin tasks together which means lumping the same kind of work together (30 minutes of e-mailing, 30 minutes of calls, 30 minutes of CRM updates).

  • Recovery Time Blocks – variable-length blocks of time that we use for activities that recharge us such as a lunch break without a screen, going for a 15-minute mid-morning or mid-afternoon walk to “move the body and rest the mind.”

Remember, the other three-time blocks of focus, social and admin are energy output blocks, and just like a battery that outputs energy, they need to be charged. This is done with the Recovery Time Block.

Critical – Do NOT underestimate or devalue the importance of the recovery time block especially working from home. You need to recharge and stop thinking you’re superhuman and the quality of your work won’t suffer. Lies nothing but lies.

I live my day working from home leveraging these four-time blocks. Each day the amount and length will look different but that can be planned ahead of time and must be scheduled.

Be intentional about putting up Road Blocks that intentionally keep what you want in your day.

The 3rd necessary element to a successful Working-From-Home Day to perform at the highest level is

 

ENERGY PACING

Key Phrase – Think Planned Energy Boosts

This element of Energy Pacing is the unsung hero of Perform. It’s the Scottie Pippen in energy habits.

You need to know your energy levels throughout the day.

It’s key you match your time block with your energy level. Don’t try and do Focus Work if you’re tired or hungry – your results will suffer.

Pacing is monitoring your energy levels.

I use a term called an Energyologist (another Buckley-ism). My made-up definition for my made-up word is:

AN ENERGYOLOGIST IS THE PERSONAL STUDY OF YOUR ENERGY

The only person who can know your energy is you. Most people don’t even know their own energy levels, so how in the world could they possibly know or even care about YOUR energy?

Become an Energyologist for your own good because it’s a key element for effective pacing.

You must be responsible to monitor your energy levels.

Pacing is asking the right questions.

1. When is my energy highest within the day?

Everyone is different from how energy flows within us during the average day on the road and now at home.

If you tend to be more of a morning person in general, your energy may be the highest at that section of the day. But is it in the early morning when you first wake up? Mid or late morning? The entire morning? If you’re an evening person in general, is it early evening? Late evening? The entire evening?

The key is to match specific levels of work to your energy level. For example, I have the most energy to be creative first thing in the morning. I’m not necessarily social at that time, but my mind is clearest to create. This is my writing time, project time, etc.

This is when I tend to do my deep work, so I try to do whatever I can, even on the road, to match my highest energy level to the time of day that can allow me to maximize my time and efforts. It’s a challenge and a dance, but it’s worth the effort.

2. Why is my energy low right now?

Often, the answer may be as simple as, it’s 2 pm and you’ve not stopped for lunch. Or what you ate for lunch is sitting in your gut like a 20 lb. dumbbell because it was a poor choice. Or because the only movement you’ve had in numerous hours is your fingers on the keyboard and multiple yawn reps.

Sometimes, it’s bigger like running on little or low-quality sleep. This cannot be solved at the moment but can be in a few hours by getting to bed on time or even earlier to bank energy for tomorrow afternoon. Finding the why of your energy drop is key to solving the problem and not repeating it day after day. STOP the bleeding.

3. Is there anything I can do to change my energy level?

Once you know why your energy level is low, you can do something about it.

Go eat something healthy.

Stand up and stretch.

Take a break and go for a quick walk to move the body and rest the mind.

You’ll be surprised how much doing something different puts positive fuel in your body or even gets you moving.

Certain tasks give me a hit of energy so I’ll switch to that task. Listening to some music gets me up along with some quick-hit exercises like push-ups, burpees, and leg squats to get that heart rate up.

You need to figure out what can change your energy level besides getting a hit of sugar that you’ll regret later.

4. How can I match my tasks with my energy?

Sometimes a small tweak is not going to change your energy level. So, I pick a low-energy task that requires more time, and I dedicate the time to that task. I have a list of low-energy tasks I can turn to at any given moment that needs forward motion.

These are the no-brainer, little-to-no-thinking tasks that need attention but definitely NOT during high-energy moments.

Often, working on a few of these tasks for 15 or 30 minutes is all I need to snap me out of the low-energy funk.

Other times, I’m going to ride the low-energy tasks out for the remainder of my day because it’s just one of those days. It’s not a big deal when it is mid- to late- afternoon, but it’s a major concern if it’s 1:05 pm. Learn to match energy with the task.

Pacing is making key changes to boost my energy

1. Change of position

Stretch, stand, walk, do push-ups (seriously, try it!), and just move. Our bodies aren’t designed to sit in one place for long periods of time and this is especially true when you work from home and are seemingly always on a Zoom Call. This ironically zaps the energy out of us, even though all we’re doing is sitting.

2. Change of location

What if I worked in a different location? It may mean moving to a different room or possibly to a completely new environment to make the most of the afternoon. If I’m struggling with my energy, I’ll move to the patio and bring my noise-canceling headphones. A different vibe often brings me a hit of much-needed energy.

3. Change of activity

Learning to have a pulse in my energy is huge for productivity. It’s SO easy to try and force something when the reality is your energy is just not there. Don’t force it. Adjust and evaluate. Sometimes, the worst thing is to force something that ends up taking twice as long with results that are half as good. Holy bad math, Batman.

If you were to only change your energy levels throughout your day, you would see a major difference with the results of your work at the end of the day.

 

Let’s Make This Happen! Your action items may be:

  • Doing as many energy habits as you can before your workday begins
  • Creating a Key3
  • Getting better at scheduling your day
  • Creating Time Blocks for Focus Work, Administrative Work, and Recovery time
  • Monitoring your Energy Levels and making changes in the moment to increase your energy

There is so much here to help you perform at the highest level for your work. I challenge you to take and focus on one or two items to up your work game at home.

Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all time! – Hands down, drop the mic, I’m out

Elite Road Warrior Journal

Elite Road Warrior Group has partnered with Mawdesley & Co. and the Write One Line Project to create the branded Elite Road Warrior Journal. A portion of the profits go to the “Future With A Purpose” fund supporting special needs adults and their families.
Each journal is black, original artisan leather that each piece is unique in texture and feel so no two journals are alike. The leather is soft and thin so it is easy to carry on the road.
This will be the last leather journal you ever need to buy. You can use this cover for the rest of your life!
The journal is branded and comes with a leather pen loop to serve as an enclosure for the journal.
There are two sections to the journal:
  • Think Space Journal Insert – one centralized location to “process your thoughts”
  • Road Life Journal Insert – this is where you “monitor your heart” and find out how you’re REALLY doing
With 2 refillable inserts, when you fill one up, slip it out and insert a new insert which you can purchase on this same Elite Road Warrior site.
You’ll also receive a Getting Started Companion Guide with key questions and ideas to enhance your writing experience.
Energy Habit Focus – DEVELOP

Written by

How You Can Pace Your Energy on the Road to Maximize Productivity

Jonathan has to prepare for a big presentation to win a huge deal for his company and for his chance at a promotion. He’s worked through the first three key areas of PERFORM.

Jonathan has learned how to plan, and he has seen improvements. He regularly schedules time blocks to block and tackle. But he finds himself pushing too hard then dragging when trying to maximize focus work and deep work. He came to me to figure this out, and it came down to one word: pacing.

The problem is, you may know what to do with block and tackle, but like Jonathan, you may be too tired and not at your best during the time block.

One of the biggest errors road warriors make is the inability to pace themselves.

They, by default, have their energy consumed and easily end up in the exhaustion cycle of busy, thinking, “I can’t stop now,” which easily leads into the beat down, where they think, “I can’t take this anymore.” In no time, they are in burn out: “I can’t keep going.”

LEARNING TO PACE YOURSELF ON THE ROAD IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO PERFORMING AT AN OPTIMAL LEVEL ON THE ROAD.

You find the concept of pacing in sports. Coaches spread out a player’s minutes in order to pace their energy to last the entire game.

Often, it’s very predictable with star athletes who strategically come out of the game at the end of the first quarter then sit the first few minutes of the second quarter to get extra rest to increase their energy throughout the game.

Runners have a similar pattern if they run any amount of distance. You cannot sprint the entire race; you must settle into a pace that allows you to have the endurance to finish the race.

But, road warriors seem to sprint the entire day, rest very little, then start the sprint all over again the next day, and we wonder why we come home absolutely exhausted and crash over the weekend.

We are completely useless and unavailable to our family, and often go right back out there and do it all over again the next trip!

Business travel is actually a marathon that requires pacing. Most of us are on the road for more than one day, so we need to find a pace to make it effectively through multiple days of a trip. It seems logical because you’re on the road going from one place to another, to meeting after meeting.

Now, I can already hear the pushback: “You don’t know my schedule!” Correct, I don’t. But I’ve been there and I am coaching many who are still there right now. Many go so hard the first day by getting up early for a flight, changing time zones and staying out too late the first night.

They wonder why they’re sharp as a bowling ball the second day of the trip! (This guy is also the king of excuses, and if you really pull back the cover on his day, you will see that most of the pacing was a choice that could’ve been changed. This kind of guy has potential if he’s willing to drop the defense and learn about pacing.)

It’s not only possible to pace yourself on the road, but it’s also necessary to truly perform at the level you want so you can be at your best.

HOW DO YOU PACE YOURSELF WITH BUSINESS TRAVEL?

PACING IS MONITORING YOUR ENERGY LEVELS

I use a term called an Energyologist (another Buckley-ism). My made-up definition for my made-up word is:

AN ENERGYOLOGIST IS…

A PERSONAL STUDY OF YOUR OWN ENERGY

The only person who can know your own energy is you. In fact, most people don’t even know their own energy levels, so how in the world could they possibly know or even care about YOUR energy? Become an Energyologist for your own good because it’s a key element for effective pacing.

Awareness is a HUGE buzzword right now because most people, especially on the road, are moving at an unsustainable pace. They are laser-focused (or simply oblivious) and unaware of anything around them let alone how they’re personally doing.

This must change, road warriors. You must be responsible to monitor your energy levels. Maybe this will help.

There are three directions of energy:

Consume Energy – The road by default consumes our energy with the travel, delays, time zone changes, different cities, and hotels, always having to be on.

Conserve Energy – This is a choice and often, it’s about what we DON’T do.

Create Energy – This is the biggest choice that must be done consistently by choosing energy-giving behaviors (energy habits) that will create much-needed energy.

You must become an Energyologist so you know how the road will either consume, conserve, or create energy for you, but you must look for it. Do you know what happens when you don’t decide?

The result is sideways energy, which ultimately consumes your energy.

PACING IS ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

1. WHEN IS MY ENERGY HIGHEST WITHIN THE DAY?

Each of us is different from how energy flows within us during the average day on the road. If you tend to be more of a morning person in general, your energy may be the highest at that section of the day.

But is it in the early morning when you first wake up? Mid or late morning? The entire morning? If you’re an evening person in general, is it early evening? Late evening? The entire evening?

The key is to match specific levels of work to your energy level.

For example, I have the most energy to be creative first thing in the morning. I’m not necessarily social at that time, but my mind is clearest to create. This is my writing time, project time, etc.

This is when I tend to do my deep work, so I try to do whatever I can, even on the road, to match my highest energy level to the time of day that can allow me to maximize my time and efforts. It’s a challenge and a dance, but it’s worth the effort.

2. WHY IS MY ENERGY LOW RIGHT NOW?

Often, the answer may be as simple as, it’s 2 pm and you’ve not stopped for lunch. Or what you ate for lunch is sitting in your gut like a 20 lb. dumbbell because it was a poor choice. Or because the only movement you’ve had in numerous hours is your fingers on the keyboard and multiple yawn reps. C’mon, man.

Sometimes, it’s bigger like running on little or low-quality sleep. This cannot be solved at the moment but can be in a few hours by getting to bed on time or even earlier to bank energy for tomorrow afternoon.

Finding the why of your energy drop is key to solving the problem and not repeating it day after day. STOP the bleeding.

3. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO CHANGE MY ENERGY LEVEL?

Once you know why your energy level is low, you can actually do something about it. Go eat something healthy. Stand up and stretch. Take a break and go for a quick walk to move the body and rest the mind.

You’ll be surprised how much doing something different that puts positive fuel in your body or even gets you moving will do for low energy.

Certain tasks give me a hit of energy so I’ll switch to that task. Listening to some music gets me up along with some quick-hit exercises like push-ups, burpees, and leg squats to get that heart rate up.

You need to figure out what can change your energy level besides getting a hit of sugar that you’ll regret later.

4. HOW CAN I MATCH MY TASKS WITH MY ENERGY?

Sometimes a small tweak is not going to change your energy level. So, I pick a low-energy task that requires more time, and I dedicate the time to that task. I have a list of low-energy tasks I can turn to at any given moment that needs forward motion.

These are the no- brainer, little-to-no-thinking tasks that need attention but definitely NOT during high-energy moments.

Often, working on a few of these tasks for 15 or 30 minutes is all I need to snap me out of the low-energy funk. Other times, I’m going to ride the low-energy tasks out for the remainder of my day because it’s just one of those days.

It’s not a big deal when it is mid- to late- afternoon, but it’s a major concern if it’s 1:05 pm. Learn to match energy with the task.

PACING IS MAKING KEY CHANGES TO BOOST MY ENERGY

1. CHANGE OF POSITION

Stretch, stand, walk, do push-ups (seriously, try it!), and just move. Our bodies aren’t designed to sit in one place for long periods of time. This ironically zaps the energy out of us, even though all we’re doing is sitting.

2. CHANGE OF LOCATION

What if I worked in a different location? It may mean moving to a different room or possibly to a completely new environment to make the most of the afternoon. If I’m struggling with my energy, I’ll move to the hotel lobby and bring my noise-canceling headphones. A different vibe often brings me a hit of much-needed energy.

3. CHANGE OF ACTIVITY

Learning to have a pulse in my energy is huge for productivity. It’s SO easy to try and force something when the reality is your energy is just not there. Don’t force it. Adjust and evaluate. Sometimes, the worst thing is to force something that ends up taking twice as long with results that are half as good. Holy bad math, Batman.

BABY STEP TO PACING

Awareness is first and foremost, because most road warriors simply aren’t aware of what is consuming their energy, nor do they know ways to conserve or create energy. You need to begin to look at how your energy flows within your day so you can maximize the high and decrease the low to become an Energyologist so you can perform at an elite level on the road.

THREE-POINTERS

1. There are three directions of energy: consume, conserve, and create.

2. Learn to ask the right questions: Why is my energy low right now? Is there anything I can do to change my energy level? How can I match my task with my energy?

3. Learn to implement key changes to boost your energy: change of position, change of location, and change of activity.

Four Foods That Will Ruin Your Business Trip

Most of what we hear these days are what we have heard and been taught most of our lives, (with a few people who claim THEY HAVE that NEW, ONE answer for EVERYTHING,) but it seems like for some reason we FORGET about one particular topic quickly – eating healthy. And that’s before we even get on the road.

Unless we are very ill or extremely disciplined, we start our day with good intentions, something happens to throw us off, then… down the drain we go, grabbing whatever seems easy and quick.

Ten minutes after eating that packaged corn dog from the vending machine, we are slowed down to that carb coma, asking ourselves, WHY DID I JUST DO THAT?

And that is the beginning of feeling sluggish for the rest of the business trip.

 

 

I am probably not going to be giving you earth-shattering news about what four things will ruin your business trip, BUT if you take in just these few things and begin to implement them into your life, maybe you can have the energy you want to be the BETTER you!

Four Foods That Will Ruin Your Business Trip

 

  1. SUGAR

No brainer? You are right. But why is it that we are still talking about it and struggling with it in our own world?

Because we can’t seem to get this issue licked yet! This would be the number one food that will ruin your trip.

If you want to start your day with sugar, you will find yourself more hungry throughout the day, a roller coaster of emotions and energy, and ultimately be finding yourself falling flat sometime throughout the day.

Two Tips…

  • Instead of saying you will NOT eat sugar, start with a protein and veggie breakfast to help combat those cravings and help with that spur of the moment issue later on in the day.
  • Drink lots of purified water throughout the day.

Sugar is in almost everything. It’s hard enough to monitor it at home but on the road? So do your best to minimize but preferably eliminate what you KNOW has sugar in. Give your road day a chance!

 

2. PROCESSED FOODS

Another energy suck throughout the day is processed foods. They are high in sugar, virtually no nutrients, no fiber, usually high calorie, and act like a pure sugar giving us that need for the next high.

On the road, it’s so easy to just reach for something processed. It’s all around us, especially at the airport and gas station.

Two Tips…

  • Take your time to pick out something that resembles fresh food at the airport, grocery store, or restaurant.  It may take time to feel better if you are used to eating processed foods, but watch your natural energy return as you eat REAL food.
  • You can still get packaged food with a minimal amount of processing.  Which may mean to load up on nuts, seeds, fruit, protein bars, and the like BEFORE you travel.

 

3. HIGH AMOUNTS OF CAFFEINE

Caffeine is not the enemy that some will tell you.

BUT, the average person consumes more than double the recommended amounts of caffeine that we should consume especially, coffee, and that is during the mornings alone!

Most caffeine can give you the same ups and downs that sugar does throughout the day.

And road warriors consume caffeine all day and evening. It’s our “go-to” for the afternoon meeting and often “just a splash” in our mixed drink later.

Sooo, what you say?  You are sending your energy production, blood sugar, and cortisol up and down,

Which in turn contributes to BELLY FAT over time.

Two Tips…

  • My favorite pick-me-up-go-to is MATCHA TEA!  You can find this at almost any of the big coffee chains nowadays and in any store in powder packets ready to hot or cold water.  This will not give you as much of a crash and has a TON of antioxidant support.
  • If you are going to have coffee have half decaf and go without all the extra sugar.  Try a little stevia for some sweetness.

 

4. TOO MANY CARBS IN THE MORNING

I know this sounds redundant because again, you have heard it before, BUT when you start your day with a carb-heavy meal, even healthy ones, you will NOT feel your best the rest of the day.

Our bodies really need more protein in the AM and carbs in the later afternoon when our bodies are calling for more energy.

Two Tips…

  • Start paying attention to what you’re putting in your system for food in the morning. Change starts with awareness.
  • Whether you are intermittent fasting, keto, paleo, or fast food dieting (LOL), start your day off with MORE protein and fats and a very slim amount of carbs.

One Example

Eggs with turkey bacon, half of the avocado, with two tomato slices.  Total time is about 10 min of prep.  EASY! AND, this is always available on the road.

I always say, when you don’t have your health, you have NOTHING.  These four suggestions are small changes that can make a big difference in the physiology of your energy, health, AND focus on your business travel.

Travel is stressful on our bodies.  Even though our bodies are resilient, that excuse only stretches so far until the stresses of your world start to eat away at living your potential.  Start small.  It will help you make permanent changes.

 

About the Article Author…

Treva Thompson is a holistic health practitioner and a Functional diagnostic nutrition specialist working primarily with people who struggle with energy depletion, GI struggles, and autoimmune diseases through functional lab tests, food as medicine, targeted supplements, and lifestyle management.

This is a mouthful to say that she loves to help people get back to when they felt their BEST! She is passionate about watching people thrive in their lives!

She lives in Omaha, Nebraska with her new husband of six months (but high school and college sweetheart,) where they share seven children, two dogs, and a VERY crazy but fun life!

If you would like more information on how to start feeling better, reach out and we can have a complimentary consultation on how to get your energy back. I use a comprehensive approach through functional lab testing, nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle management.  treva@livingtree.co

8 Difficult Lessons I Learned After An Unexpected Hospital Visit and Emergency Surgery

Life. Any questions?

It’s amazing how quickly life can turn in a moment’s notice and of course, little to no warning.

I had forgotten how quickly you’re headed down the path of “just another day” and things take an unexpected turn.

This was my story.

 

Two weeks I was in Atlanta on business travel. A week like every other week except waking up sick Tuesday morning but nothing I couldn’t push through, right? And I did.

By lunch, it was so bad I didn’t have lunch. Not a good sign. I check into my hotel early due to feeling so lousy. I never do that.

I laid down for just a minute mid afternoon. Again, I never do that.

Two hours later, I get up to visit Sun Trust Park, the Atlanta Braves new stadium.

Why is that a big deal? Well, I’ve been inside every single current major league baseball park and since Atlanta opened a new park, I HAD to update my current streak.

And obviously this was a big deal considering how sick I was at the time and didn’t even know it yet. I absolutely loved the new park but was so sick I left by the end of the 6th inning. UGH!

Tuesday night I could not have been in more pain and was up every second that night. I’ve had food poisoning but this felt different and far worse.

I woke up the next morning, exhausted but after a shower and some movement, I felt a little better (all things considered, right?)

I had to check out of my hotel and was flying home early this afternoon. I could do this right? So, of course I did a training on Wednesday.

I made it to the airport hoping to catch an earlier flight when in fact the country was completely clear except South Florida which, of course, is where my plane was coming. So, I not only was unable to catch an earlier flight but my original flight took off two hours late. Again, of course.

Wednesday night I was up every second of that night as well in brutal pain. WHAT is going on?!?!?

When I finally made it to the doctor and after extensive tests on Thursday and Friday, my liver was inflamed and my gallbladder was severely infected and needed to be removed quickly.

Here, on the road, I was passing gallstones. Lovely. Unbelievable.

I haven’t been admitted in a hospital for 28 years and it would be my home for the next four days.

After getting my gallbladder removed over the weekend, I found out 10% end up with gallstones in their bile duct and since I was an over-achiever, of course I had to be in that limited percentile. So, that procedure was the very next day.

What an unbelievable seven day stretch for me which started on the road of all places.

Here are 8 Difficult Lessons I Learned From An Unexpected Hospital Visit and Emergency Surgery 

1. Physical Pain Stops Life In Its Tracks

I know how to “do the road” routine but when you hit a certain level of physical pain, life just stops especially knowing what I know now.

My routine was dramatically thrown off the moment pain hit that was way beyond the “suck it up buttercup” and required something more of me than to keep pushing through it.

My pace was dramatically altered and therefore so were my results which was very difficult for me.

I was quickly reminded how physical pain just stops life and business as usual.

2. It’s Not What You Think

Originally with stomach pain and aches, you think flu. But when it increased and as much as I travel, I thought it was food poisoning.

Then when it just wouldn’t end and I came home from traveling, the doctor began running tests and my liver was inflamed.

This led to checking my liver and pancreas which led to discovering I had an incredibly infected gallbladder that had to be removed quickly.

Then I had gallstones in my bile duct which only happens 10% or less of the time.

This just reminded me how often where you start out thinking “this is it”only leads you down a path but is rarely it in the beginning.

3. I Had to Become a Patient Patient

For most people, patience is sold separately. And for someone who hadn’t been in a hospital bed for over 28 years, I was now putting a difficult word in “patient” with another challenging reference of the same word.

I’m the go getter not the down and outer and now I’m confined to a hospital bed. This is NOT what I had planned.

To me, being patient is a challenge enough but to have to be patient as a patient in the hospital with everything else going on was more than I had expected.

Now, life has not gone the way I had planned for at least two plus decades now for me and even though most of it was self-inflicted, it’s still difficult. But it did teach me more patience than I had as a young high achiever and seemingly more than the average person.

There were a couple of times when some close friends who visited specifically mentioned the patience I was demonstrating at a very challenging time and reflecting back, I’m proud of this specific growth area in my life.

This specific challenge proved I still have a ton of ways to grow in this key character area of my life.

It’s rare I just have no idea what’s going on or what’s going to happen next but I found myself in this place day after day and it was paralyzing.

4. Challenged by Lack of Sleep and Eating

I was thankful for the hospital this time and the constant attention but it was no place to get rest ironically enough. If I accomplished a cat nap, I was a happy camper but it took a toll on me day after day and night after night.

They needed to monitor me consistently to confirm any changes to my gallbladder bursting but what I desperately needed was rest which eluded me every single hour in the hospital.

And since I was having a ton of tests and a couple of surgeries, eating was the 1st thing taken off my menu. Literally. Chicken broth was the luxury until the last morning. I was already weak from the surgery and tests but living off chicken broth and water was something I had to get used to. Tough way to get my girlish figure back for sure!

I just couldn’t wait to sleep for more than just a few hours and to eat something, anything was going to be a monumental moment.

5. Things are NOT Going to Get Done and Are Going to Have to Wait

This was one of the hardest lessons for me. From the little things of having a lunch with a friend to my weekend plans to not traveling to Philadelphia next week would be on hold.

Then what about the podcast? I made a promise from the start never to miss a weekly episode.

And now I can’t drive or travel for a week and unable to run or workout for a month. Wait, I didn’t sign up for this part of the program!

But it’s part of the package for me, like it or not.

6. Time Can Go Backwards

Time is always moving forward to me and often times, feels like my biggest enemy. I’m always fighting it.

With my travel schedule, 5 kids, busy sports weekends, and church, time is my most valuable asset.

But not when you’re really sick and in the hospital. The second hand can actually be suspended for minutes at a time.

One day specifically was on Monday, June 11th. I had my gallbladder removed the day before and was still in a ton of pain. They needed to go back in for the “buy one surgery, get one free”deal to remove gallstones out of my bile duct.

The earliest they could do the surgery was 3:30pm which meant a complete fast from any food or drink from midnight on. This would be one… long…. day.

My pain was high, my energy and spirits were low and there was that blasted clock just messing with me.

7. The Amount of Sick, Struggling People

The doctors suggested I take walks to encourage the healing in my abdomen area so I would take my IV pole, and head out for a cruise down the hospital hallways. The results were sad and depressing. So many very sick, overweight, people who were just existing.

My heart went out for them. I found the only thing I could do was smile and wave. I was amazed how often they would engage back with a smile and give me a look of “keep going, don’t become like me” look in their eyes.

It made me stop and just wonder what their day to day life is really like.

What got them tot his point? What does an average day look like in their world? Will things get any better for them?

I’m not usually around the “down and out” so this opened up my heart in a way it’s not been opened in a long time.

I don’t spend a lot of time in this mental place but God used it to move my heart and open up a level of compassion and empathy that hadn’t been touched in this way in quite awhile.

8. How Grateful I am for My Health

This whole experience has just reminded me how grateful I truly am for my health. I have my health issues and maybe more than others and often self-inflicted but the reality is I am healthy and this brief pit stop was literally a painful reminder of the gift of our health.

There are few things more we take for granted than our health and this was a painful reminder (literally) what a gift of being healthy is for me.

I know I have a lot of adjustments ahead of me with no gallbladder, a fatty liver, and a harder recover than planned but so thankful I’m on the other side and my health is on my side.

Closing Thoughts…

This journey has been far more than I ever thought and as a result I have a long way to go with other digestive issues along with an inflamed liver. I highly recommend the following post by Positive Health Wellness called 10 Liver-Friendly Foods for Natural Cleansing. Check out out HERE.

In the End…

This isn’t a normal post for me but in light of this last two weeks, it’s real and I thought others could be reminded of the difficult lessons I recently learned the hard way.

I recorded a podcast episode on this subject on The Energy Edge Podcast. Here’s a link if you’re interested or you can find the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and the Google Play Store, etc.