A fresh start

Continuing on this toolkit trend I decided to go with reorganizing for today.

I've been having a certain level of trouble getting started with my school year, the motivation just hasn't come.

So, in an attempt to get a fresh start, I decided to reorganize my room and it ended with some awesome results. I moved my dresser, bed, and desk around. It made it feel as though I was in a completely new room with a new start to my year. I am sure I will wake up tomorrow with a new sense of motivation. Good things.

Natural Coffee?

Had to wake up at 7:00 AM today to finish up a project for the guys that are coming in town from Pepsi. Usually when I wake up this early, my shower is immediately followed by a trip to Dunkin Donuts because America runs on Dunkin.

This time around I decided to give our breathing exercises a chance to act as a natural stimulant. I spent about 5 minutes sitting at my desk doing combinations of our exercises. Although I did feel considerably more awake than I did before, the affect faded pretty quickly. I guess as I begin to do this more often it will last for a longer time period?

Change of scenery

Today I asked my roommate if I could do my homework in his room. Initially he was against the idea, because after all..I was asking to invade his personal space. But, after explaining to him what the assignment is, he gave me the green light.

I have to say that this experiment worked out pretty well. I found that because I was not in my own environment with my own things...I couldn't get distracted. I didn't want to do something else, I didn't want to turn on his TV, and I definitely didn't want to jump in his bed.

In the end I got my work done pretty quick due to the lack of distractions and found I had plenty of time for myself

Rearranging

So the toolkit has a few suggestions that I have decided to give a try. Today I gave the first one a shot and have to say, I wasn't that crazy about it.

Everyday, I wake up..roll out of bed and take a shower. Showering is the absolute first thing I do when I get up, but not today. Today, I went the whole day without showering and waited until going to bed. I know of people who do this and thought I'd give it a shot to see how I did with the change.

I did not do well.

I felt out of sync all day, I felt tired, I felt unorganized, I even felt a little slower mentally.

Needless to say, I will be showering tomorrow morning.

Helping Hand

My favorite kind of labor, without a doubt, is marketing...its the best. Today I was able to watch the fruits of other peoples labor and provide feedback from the experiences I have had.

Usually I try to avoid attending extra meetings, I've had quite a few of them over the years, and I have been trying to use my evenings for other activities. However, this years Marketing Summit Team asked me to come and see their practice presentation. They did pretty well, but I am glad I decided to attend because I was able to share with them tips and tricks that I wish I had known about going into this situation. The number 1 suggestion was making sure you get the right sleep. Our team had great work, but after being up for 36 hours straight, the presentation was quite a lackluster event.

Keep on walkin

Today I'm walkin, walkin everywhere. So far it has actually been an awesome experience because I am noticing things that I never have before despite the fact I've driven by them 1,000 times. Didn't even notice the huge Pepsi building on what used to be Tobacco Rd? Which, by the way...holy shit, that RJ Reynolds building covers the length of that entire road. I didn't even realize that place was still functional.

Another nice thing about this task is that I am seeing people I don't usually see due to the fact I drive to and from campus and that is about it. I got a ride from Sam, he saw me walking on the side of the road and scooped me. We haven't seen eachother that much this semester so it was good to catch up

Don't forget to...

Breathe.

For anyone who has lifted weights or played sports, one thing they have always heard is "don't forget to breathe." This makes sense for obvious reasons, but rarely have I ever consciously thought about what that exactly means, and why it can be such a difference maker.

Since we have been doing these breathing exercises in class, I have become more aware of my breathing and the changes that occur due to the situation I am in.

Today I focused on exaggerating my breathing no matter what I was doing and where I was going, and I've got to say...I definitely felt more centered and had a pretty positive outlook on things. This is tough for me to admit because my Mom has been telling me for years that there is a special power to conscious breathing. Odds are that I still won't tell her about this.

Laborious Activities

This week we are supposed to focus on labor... Not sure what I am gonna do for this one. I will have to get back to you on this one.

Catching up

One thing I am absolutely terrible at is keeping in touch with people who are not in my immediate surroundings. Needless to say, after being at Wake for this long and having so many friends graduate, this is not a great thing to be bad at. I don't know why, I guess I am just not one for picking up the phone and making calls to someone I haven't seen or talked to in months.

Instead of watching TV today, I got out my phone and made some calls to 5 guys that I haven't spoken to in ages. This is definitely something I am going to continue to do, because it was great to hear what everyone is doing and how different their lives are from one another now a days. Even more surprising was that a group of my buddies now lives about two houses down from my best friend from home and I didn't even know it.

Bowling can be a time suck

Alright, I know, usually bowling isn't one of the first activities people think of going to do. In all honesty, a month ago I definitely think some kind of judgment would be made if you told me you bowled as a hobby.

With this whole no TV thing, I have spent a little more time bowling and have to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been awhile since I've had to learn something new, and bowling has offered that opportunity. It isn't just about rolling the ball down the lane for me, it is more about mastering the form and getting the muscle memory aspect down. This is what I really enjoyed about playing sports in highschool, so its a nice flash from the past (even though bowling doesn't quite meet that level of competition or importance).

A Cleaner Version

So today was my first real day of doing away with the ole TV for the week. I decided the only way this is gonna happen is if I get myself out of the house and away from boredom.

Today's goal: Get everything cleaned up.

I spent the extra time following classes to finally give my room a real cleaning, catch up on the pile of laundry that has always seemed to be an uphill battle, and most importantly...my car got a little TLC.

The car looks great, smells great, and makes me feel great. After all the road trips I have taken, going to and from Baltimore this year, it had gotten pretty dirty in there.

First day was a success, got some stuff done that I've been wanting to do for awhile.

Life without TV

So... This week the assignment is to focus on "The Spaces in Between" and I wasn't exactly sure what I would do for this one. After giving it a little thought and convincing myself I could do it, I have decided to cut TV out of the equation for the week.

This is huge for me because my spaces in between are usually filled by turning on the TV to watch whatever is on SportsCenter or the newest movie that HBO has playing. I think this will be a pretty interesting experiment, because my initial guess is that I will have a significantly more time on my hands.