Straight up now tell me!

Spring is upon us - what a joy! But I'm not feeling so joyous about this upcoming weather change. Let me tell you why. During the latent hibernating months, I was on a mission to workout super hard. Unfortunately, I sat working aside and as the dust clears I'm pushed to go again. Thanks to 007 (my beau) he encourages me, creates workout plans, and suggest awesome reading material for me. Not to mention I just received a treadmill at my place for free! No excuses at this point. I must get ready for summer for goodness sake, I'm a summer baby; I have to be sexified during those months. Okay so when does the conversation turn into action? Now! No, I'm serious - no BS. When you are sick and tired of being sick and tired you take the insane route and just run head first with your arms up screaming at the top of your lungs like spongebob "I'm Ready, I'm Ready!" Maybe I'm a little dramatic but the jig is up -there's no short cuts, becoming fit is a combination of dieting, detoxing, monitoring your eating habits, creating new ones, and the last one (drum roll please) EXERCISING. The thing we all love to avoid. Well, let me just tell you. There's no getting around it - I tried. I remember so vividly during my junior yr at Winston-Salem State University living in these really nice apartments that had a club house with pool access, theater room, and gym. I actually lived directly across the street from it so there was no excuses for me to walk over to use the facility. Well long story short, I worked out (minimum 30 mins on the treadmill) twice a day morning and night. When I say that I was not only my healthiest but I was at a great healthy weight. I didn't look "sick". I just looked very healthy. My point is this - I know how it feels to shed that extra weight that you don't need and it turns your whole life around.

Because I can't go back in time and grab that body back, it's time to put in some work. Thanks to 007, I am now reading "Super Shred" by Dr. Ian Smith. (Yes, I just skipped the first book and went straight to Super Shred) I purchased the book from walmart and after reading a few pages I was sold. I also read plenty of the testimonials on Amazon as well. With this particular book, it all boils down to sticking with your meals and the times you eat in conjunction to working out. What I love about the layout of Super Shred is how it gives you your grocery list and suggested items to buy then it goes into what times you need to be eating etc. I haven't quite finished reading it - actually I'm nowhere near finished but you "multiple book readers" know how that goes. With the exception of my school-related text books, Super Shred will be my primary literary choice of text because I have to get it in by any means necessary. There's not an excuse I could possibly render at this time that should keep me away from challenging myself to commit to a healthier way of living. Last year I wasn't eating as much meat as I'm consuming now to the point people were thinking I was vegetarian. Bottom line, I've got to get back in the habit of making correct choices and create the time to prepare the meals I need to eat.

I'll be following up to update progress while I'm going through these 4 weeks. Good thing is, I won't be doing this alone which is key! I have a good friend joining in and I am sure this will help the both of us with motivation. Our main excuse (which is probably yours as well) is "we don't have time". As busy busy business women, we don't have time! We don't have time to fall into a slight depression due to low self esteem. I'm telling you, I have been there. We've had our moments but no matter what is going on in our business world, if we are working towards a healthy body then that's going to put you, me, and anyone else in a healthy state of mind which in essence will reflect a healthy business and brand!

Thus, creating time is just a matter of rearranging and rescheduling and strategically planning out your day to include a workout and time to properly eat multiple times a day. It won't be easy but it will be worth it (at least that's what I read from the testimonies).

Until next time, 

YaSheeka xoxo

DE-STRESS AND MEET GOALS WITH TIME-MANAGEMENT

De-Stress and Meet Goals with Time-Management

By: Mia Barnett

There are a number of interpretations of time and it’s meaning that stem from an array of backgrounds such as physics, psychology, and even philosophy. Regardless of the interpretation of time one thing that is for sure is as humans get we get older and some at a faster rate than others. As we age not only do we lose the energy that we once had as teenagers and young adults, but we can often feel limited in our ability to reach long-term goals.

Completing short-term goals in a timely fashion produces long-term results. Our productivity stems from our daily tasks and to-do list. As we become more productive we free more time to be used towards completing other tasks that will steadily take us to the next level in life.

When it comes to time-management we must understand that everyone has a different path in life and that includes different goals and needs that must be met in different ways. To understand how to better manage time there must be an understanding of time as a man-made calculation of interval. We must manage our time with flexibility and the knowledge that not all things will workout perfectly.

As a mother of two beautiful girls, graduate student, operator of a start-up business, and full-time employee I alleviate stress through a daily to-do list. First step in organizing your time is to categorize responsibilities, prioritize those categories, and then prioritize within each category. Everyday I prioritize a numbered task lists that includes all main tasks that must be completed before the day is over.

An hourly schedule can make the difference between being late for an interview, meeting, or work.  An hourly schedule includes the time it takes to drive, walk or wait. It helps a person with a very eventful day be able to distress as they have a visual map of exactly how they will fit their activities into their hectic day.  Prioritizing is ordering daily, weekly or monthly tasks from most to least important goals. After following an hourly schedule from day to day we begin to become more aware of how fleeting time is and accomplish more through the subtle pressures of time-constraints.

With time management our brains can focus on the task at hand instead of the time.  Time management has to be coordinated according to your lifestyle and your personal daily tasks. Managing time can be mundane or even challenging at first, but sticking to it through all slip-ups will yield goals becoming dreams. Managing time can yield at least 30 minutes to 1 hour of extra time to exercise, nap, have daily devotional, meditate, or make that important phone call you've been promising to a special someone for weeks. 

Other methods of time-management are making everyday a special day for a particular activity, setting time limits on all activities and organizing work and home space.

An anonymous American proverb to live by is, “If you don't have a plan for yourself you'll be part of someone else's.”

Mia Barnett is a North Carolina A&T State University alumnus, writer, and independent public relations specialist. She has founded Speak to the Heart Inc., a nonprofit organization that seeks to generate awareness of detrimental issues in communities through the arts and special events to yield collective change. As she pursues a Masters degree in Public Relations she aspires to further develop as a community organizer and public relations consultant.

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