I spent my morning doing this:
It wasn’t so bad. :) I don’t think I mind getting stuck in an airport when it’s my own choice (two free tickets to get bumped to a later flight). I had fun people-watching and catching up on e-mails.
Plus, I was given a voucher for a free meal. So I also saved $10!
I waited until right before my flight boarded (at 12:30 PM) to look for food, which was a bit of a mistake because I ended up wandering around the food court with a slightly panicked look on my face. As I’ve written about numerous times, the most difficult part of being a vegetarian is trying to find healthy options at places like the mall or the airport. It’s so much easier to find healthy non-vegetarian choices (grilled chicken sandwiches or salads abound!).
There were lots of choices, but I really didn’t want to get stuck eating Chinese buffet or greasy pizza. After a weekend of traveling, I was craving something more wholesome.
Surprisingly, I found the best option at an Italian restaurant.
For $9, I got a leafy green salad with three fun toppings: cold wild rice with pecans and cranberries, mozzarella and tomatoes, and chilled grilled veggies.
It definitely hit the spot.
I’m currently in the air (gotta love Airtran’s WIFI) headed to Orlando for a layover, and then I’m jumping back on a plane for another long flight to Charlotte. My desk is my tray table. 🙂
Priorities
As I mentioned this morning, one of the presentations during the Healthy Living Summit was about organizing your life and making time for what really matters to you. I was manning the video camera during the presentation, but one of the activities really stuck with me so I thought I’d share it on the blog. This is basically how the presentation went, with some tweaks:
Step one: Realize that there are 168 hours in the week. 56 of those hours should probably be spent asleep. In order to maximize our time and schedule in ‘free time,’ we need to be more aware about how we spend our energy.
Step two: List out your priorities. Some of these priorities are negotiable and some are probably non-negotiable. Of course, these priorities are different for other people.
Here’s my list in order of priority (as of last week):
- My blogs/career/freelance writing
- Spending time with my Husband
- Getting an adequate amount of sleep
- Working out 4 – 5 times a week/training for my upcoming marathon
- Shopping for and preparing healthy meals
- Planning the Healthy Living Summit
- Helping the Husband with his business
- Walking James and cuddling Maggie
- Spending time with my friends/talking to my friends on the phone or G-Chat
- Interacting with other bloggers and reading other blogs
- Reading actual books, relaxing, and writing for pleasure
- Watching my favorite television shows
Please note that I put the Husband second ONLY because I am our sole source of income right now, and I need to keep a roof over our heads. :) And all that healthy food on the table. However, as is true for most of us, my work/play balance is very lopsided. I probably spend about 50 – 65 hours a week (over seven days) tied to the computer (I obviously LOVE what I do and am NOT complaining; it just takes up a lot of my time).
Step three: Identify which priorities you can downgrade or drop completely. Also identify new priorities that you would like to focus more on.
Because the Summit is over, I no longer have to spend 5 – 15 hours a week working on it. With some that extra time, I’m going to begin volunteering at Girls On The Run for three hours a week. I would also like to become more focused in my work habits so that I can always get 8 hours of regular sleep while breaking the cycle of working on the computer until 11 PM and waking up feeling groggy at 7 AM.
Step four: Get organized by using a paper calendar or online calendar. Look for ways to plan ahead so your priorities get accomplished and you don’t feel overwhelmed.
I already use Google Calendar to plan my workdays, and an online Excel Spreadsheet to schedule and track my workouts. In Google Calendar, I’ve penciled in a new reminder EVERY DAY to shut down the computer by 9:30. My workaholism is well-documented on the blog, and I think I’m hurting myself more than helping myself by constantly pulling all nighters. Work will always be a priority, but I want to spend more time with my Husband and more time getting restful sleep. Now that I’ve downgraded my schedule a bit, hopefully I can achieve that goal. 🙂
What are your priorities? What do you want to pay more attention to? What extraneous commitments do you wish you could focus less on? Sometimes just putting it down on paper can help make it a reality!
The presentation sounds really interesting, thanks for the tips! 🙂