My neighbor's bamboo is flexible and resilient.

My neighbor has a bamboo forest in his backyard. I haven’t paid much attention to bamboo until moving in and watching this amazing plant.

No other plant grows faster than bamboo. I’ve watched brand new sprouts of it grow as high as 3 feet in 2 days! I have pulled a few sprouts from the ground in an attempt to create a controlled planting of it.

Here’s why I love bamboo and have made bamboo my mentor.

1. Bamboo is resilient. For two years now I have watched bamboo and how it reacts to the different seasons. Regardless of temperature or precipitation, the bamboo has remained standing. Personally, I’ve weathered many storms as a working man. I’ve managed to keep my home and keep my family fed after losing my job and transitioning into self-employment. I remain standing after my battles and have grown stronger as a result.

2. Bamboo is flexible. It’s amazing to watch this stuff when it rains or snows. As you can see in my photo above, bamboo will bend and flex, but never break. When you are self-employed, expect to be forced to bend or flex while trying to keep things moving. Being flexible is essential as you have many hats to wear. Otherwise, you may snap under the pressure.

3. Bamboo grows fast. Within a few weeks I’ve watched the bamboo rise as high as ten feet! I don’t plan on growing any taller as I already stand at 6’2” and I’m comfortable with that. My point is I have to realize that to achieve the goals that I want to achieve in life I have to grow. I have to grow spiritually, I have to grow through education, I have to grow in the habits I am trying to form.

4. Bamboo is versatile. Bamboo is used for many things. Scaffolding, flooring, decoration, fishing poles, Pandas eat it, fencemaking, bridges, walking sticks are only a few of the many things Bamboo can be used for. In my business, I have to how to do a variety of tasks. I have to be versatile. I believe in filling up your toolbox and learning as much as you possibly can.

Sometimes you have to look to nature and emulate nature to keep you going. A boss from an old job told me to examine nature when I needed a creative spark. I chose bamboo.

Are you a Productivity Hero?

A productivity hero gets his job done in the most efficient manner possible and enjoys his free time.

A productivity hero fights time and uses elite time-saving techniques that only a few have mastered.

Today is your lucky day.

The Productivity Hero has released some of his most powerful techniques just for you.

1. Break your tasks into chunks. Let’s face it, some of us can’t clear a building in a single bound. Don’t try to be super-human. Trying to get a HUGE job done in a single sitting is one of the leading causes of procrastination. Instead, break your task or project into smaller, more feasible tasks. You will gain momentum and the rest of the tasks will seem less daunting.

2. Get organized. Heroes, for the most part, are not slobs. You’ll find that they keep their gear neatly packed away and easily accessible so they can get to it when they need it. Look at Batman and his damn Batcave! Or how Superman takes care of his outfit and has it nice and folded up when he needs it. Keep all of your gear in order and make it easily accessible. You will be more productive as a result.

3. Perfect is for perfectionists. Most heroes are not perfect and they know it. Every hero has a weakness or vulnerability. They have come to terms with the fact that they are not perfect. If they had not, there would be a whole lot more crime in this world. You don’t have to be perfect either. Do the best that you can do at your job, but don’t hold off on starting it or finishing it because it’s not perfect.

4. Chase one thing at a time. Think about Spiderman and how he swings around the city while fighting crime. It would be impossible for him to fight two bad guys in two different places at once. When you are doing your own job, focus on one task at a time. Forget thinking you are the multitasking hero. Multitasking dissipates energy and keeps you from giving all of your effort to getting one thing done.

5. Try pen and paper. Think about some of your favorite heroes. What tools or weapons did they have at their disposal? Typically, it wasn’t much. Ok, you’re right… Batman had a belt full of gadgets. What about Superman? All he had was a skin tight suit and red boots. Listen, my point is forget about all the productivity gadgets you think you need. Write down what you need to do with a pen and paper and cross it off when you are done. It’s an amazing feeling.

6. Do what you do. Batman knew he had limitations. He knew that he couldn’t just burst into flight and fly to space if he wanted to. In your own situation, if you want to be wildly successful, focus on doing what you do best. Don’t try to be everything to everyone.

7. Avoid distractions. Imagine what would happen if our heroes were constantly distracted by Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, email, tv, kids… I think you get the picture. If you want to get stuff done you have to shut things off and set expectations with who might be trying to contact you to save the world.

If you follow these seven techniques, you too could be a productivity hero.

Photo credit ultravioletmonkeysons @ flickr

Back when I worked in the cubicle I never said no to a Chipotle burrito. I was always the first to the powdered donuts when one of our clients would bring them in. Week by week I was adding pounds to my ass.

My pants were getting ridiculously tight. I went from wearing a belt to leaving my pants unbuttoned (seriously ).

So, how did I lose my fat ass?

It was hard, but I did it.

By changing my diet and adding lots of exercise to my schedule, I was able to lose 15 pounds of fat and add 5-7 pounds of muscle and my ass went from jiggly and dimply to rock solid and firm.

The Lose My Fat Ass Diet

My diet consisted of 5-6 small meals per day. I ate eggs and oatmeal in the morning for my first meal for the most part. At mid-morning I would consume a protein shake or bar. For lunch for 8 solid weeks I ate a can of tuna and a spinach salad with low fat balsamic dressing. Every damn day I had a can of tuna! At around two I would have another protein bar or shake. For dinner I would generally eat what my wife fixed and add protein if necessary.

The idea is to add protein to your diet and keep it running through your system.

The Lose My Fat Ass Workout

I worked out for 8 solid weeks 6 days a week without missing a workout. I rose early at the time and worked out every morning. Occasionally, I would do a cardio workout on my lunch hour if I slept too long.

I felt like a robot.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I would do upper body and lower body workouts alternating each day. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I would do 20 minutes of intense cardio.

I went from a size 36 in pants to a size 31 and need a belt. The plan was 12 weeks, but when I lost my job and became cubicleless, my schedule got all screwed up.

I was most excited about being able to see my abs again. My wife gave me much motivation including telling me I was starting to look like Daniel Craig from Bond.

In future posts, I’ll go into more detail on how I did the workouts.

I hate being sleepy in the daytime! I know that I can’t nap because I won’t be able to go to sleep. I know that I can’t drink coffee, because I know that will keep me awake too. What’s the solution to daytime sleepiness?

Getting quality sleep is essential in combatting daytime sleepiness. It’s about getting into a rhythm of sleep where you generally go to sleep and rise about the same time. I’m currently challenging myself to rise earlier. By rising earlier, I’m forced to go to sleep earlier at night.

Eventually, I hope to get into a rhythm and become more productive.

If you are experiencing chronic and constant daytime sleepiness you should seek a physician’s advice.

Personally, I expect some daytime sleepiness until I can get into a normal sleep routine or habit.

As machines become more and more efficient and perfect, so it will become clear that imperfection is the greatness of man.
– Ernst Fischer

Robots don’t complain.
Robots have to be maintained to work efficiently.
Robots have to be programmed to do the job right, but once they are programmed they can do a job faster than a human.
Robots have to be reprogrammed to do a new task.

Stop Complaining
Robots don’t complain. Complaining is making excuses. When you start to complain about the job you have to do, you are looking for reasons to not do it. So, maybe your job is harder than it should be. Maybe your boss is being a jerk. Maybe it’s too hot where you have to work. Don’t complain. Just do the work and get it done. Like a robot.

Perform Maintenance
Robots are machines that must be maintained in order to remain efficient. Sometimes their parts need to be replaced or they need to be lubed up. How about us humans? How do we maintain ourselves to make sure we are in top condition to perform at our highest levels?

• Quality Sleep – I can’t stress this enough. Getting quality sleep is essential if you want to be efficient at what you do. Getting quality sleep is considered routine maintenance. Robots power down too you know.
• Get Exercise – To keep your heart healthy and to make your body function the way that it should, routine exercise is necessary. You should do at least 30 minutes of exercise 3 – 5 days per week. If you don’t want to feel slow, lethargic, lazy and sluggish: get out and start walking, running or lifting weights.
• Eat Nutritiously – It’s amazing how good I feel when I am eating well-balanced and nutritious meals. Your body was designed to take in nutritious food. If you fill your body full of crap all the time, you’re going to feel like crap all the time. Would a robot eat crap?
• Take Vitamins – Again, your body was designed to take in proper supplements to function correctly. Talk to your physician about what supplements you should take. Personally, I take a B-Vitamin, C-Vitamin, D-Vitamin and an Omega-3 capsule. I rarely get sick, even around 4 kids that are always sick and I believe it has a lot to do with the vitamins I take. (I was getting sick once per month prior to taking vitamins.)

Program Yourself
To do a task correctly, robots need to be programmed. Robots that work in an automobile factory don’t just start assembling cars on their own. They are given specific instructions and have a specific task.

We are the same way, aren’t we? I didn’t just sit down and start designing websites. I have spent years researching, reading, taking courses and actually doing the work to learn how to do what I do.

In order to do a job as efficiently as possible you must program yourself to do so.

photo courtesy of flickr @ tannermoehle.com

I am now realizing the great benefits to rising earlier.  Ben Franklin was right. I am wealthier as I have more time to get paying jobs done. Getting work for me is not the problem. Finding the time to get it all done is the hard part.

Today I got up at 6:20am. This is the first time in quite some time that I have gotten up before 7am.

Now that I have 2 – 2 1/2 hours extra per day, I’m able to knock out projects in the morning prior to any major distractions.

Does rising early sound like something you would want to do?

Maybe you are not currently self-employed. Maybe you have a new skill that you want to learn, but you can’t seem to find the time to do it.

I have GREAT news for you!

Getting up earlier is the PERFECT time to do this.

Have you ever thought about setting up your own website or blog similar to this? What if I told you that you can earn money from a blog if you were to devote 2 hours per day to it? Would you be interested?

In the coming weeks I will begin a series of posts that describe in detail how to put together websites and blogs that will earn you money. The exciting part is these websites never shut off. They are always on and always able to earn you money.

Don’t miss it.

Get connected to my rss feed so you will be the first to read my posts that help me earn extra money each month.

Stop Procrastination Tip #1: Get quality sleep

Quality sleep leads to focused attention. When you get a good night of uninterrupted sleep, you’ll find daily tasks the following day much easier to get done. Personally, I think you can avoid many bad habits with a good night of quality sleep.

Stop Procrastination Tip #2: Make a list

Make a list of everything you have to get done personally and professionally. Rate each item on the list using a 1 – 10 scale. Each number that you go up represents 10 minutes of work that needs to be done. If you have items on your list that exceeds 30 to 40 minutes, you may need to break that item down into smaller portions. Here’s an example from my own life.

Change the oil: 6 – Wow, better break that one down.

• Buy oil and filter: 1
• Change oil: 4
• Dispose of oil: 1

When you break items down like this you realize that your task isn’t as daunting as you might have originally thought and it makes it easier for you to build up momentum towards the next task on the list.

Stop Procrastination Tip #3 Avoid distractions

Our lives are FULL of distractions. Make sure you have a nice quiet area where you can do your work. I recently move my operations from a hot, upstairs office downstairs into the cool basement. I’ve been much more productive and have had fewer reasons to procrastinate since. The hot inferno of an office was a definite distraction for me.

Many of us have been caught up into the time sucker of social media. Facebook, Twitter, etc. has made it sooo easy to waste time. If you HAVE to get on these websites, limit yourself to 10-15 minutes during a lunch break or after your work is complete.

Other huge distractions are email and the cell phone. How can you possibly get any work done if the cell phone is constantly buzzing from Facebook updates or texts or if your new email message indicator is dinging every minute or two.

Stop Procrastination Tip #4 Challenge yourself

Challenging myself has been the biggest help for me in trying to stop procrastination. When I set a goal like “lose 10 pounds”, I go into a mode that forces me to realize how I am going to achieve that goal. This begins a routine that will eventually turn into a habit if I keep it going. I believe that routines help you build momentum. Routines create positive energy and will help you in other areas of your life. It’s like you psyche yourself up to do better for yourself.

Follow these four tips and you will be on your way to stop procrastination in its tracks!

I set myself up for a perfect night of sleep, yet I had trouble falling asleep. I had great ambitions of rising earlier today. I had planned on getting up at 5:40am. Instead, I rose at 6:10am.

Having Trouble Falling Asleep Sucks When You Want To Sleep

Ok, maybe I did something I shouldn’t have done. We had an extended birthday party for my son and I drank to glasses of Pepsi and had a big piece of cake. My last glass of soda was a little after 7:00pm and I went to bed right around 10:00pm.

Another thing that is not helping is the rest of my family isn’t quite on board with rising early like I am. Therefore, they are up later and I can hear everything that is going on. Perhaps I need to look into earplugs. I worry about that because then I may not hear the alarm going off. I would also be paranoid about not hearing a potential intruder at night. I know what you’re probably saying: “It’s a wonder you sleep at night!”

I can’t stand it when I have trouble falling asleep. I was extremely tired getting into bed. Oh well, I guess be more aware of what I’m eating and drinking prior to saying good night.

On the brightside, I did rise early again!

Are you getting enough quality sleep? This post is an offering of tips that have helped me enjoy quality sleep.

Quality Sleep Defined

These are tips that have worked for me personally to achieve quality sleep.

I’m sure you’ve heard that 7-8 hours of quality sleep is what you need each night. Quality sleep is getting 7-8 hours of uninterrupted deep sleep.

My Tips on Getting Quality Sleep

Quality Sleep Tip #1: Exercise

Whenever I am exercising I typically fall into a regular sleeping pattern. It’s much easier for me to fall asleep and I generally end up with a better quality of sleep as a result. Try to avoid exercising a few hours prior to your sleep time.

Quality Sleep Tip #2: Limit Caffeine Intake

This is hard for me to do, but I’m slowly cutting out caffeine. If you have to have caffeine during the day make sure to cut yourself off 4-5 hours prior to going to sleep.

Quality Sleep Tip #3: Avoid Snacking Before Bedtime

Snacking before going to bed will raise blood sugar levels making it hard to fall asleep. When you come down from the sugar rush you can actually wake up totally screwing you for the balance of your sleep!

Quality Sleep Tip #4: Avoid Napping

Do your best to avoid napping during the day. Once you have fallen into a regular sleeping pattern you shouldn’t need a nap during the day.

Quality Sleep Tip #5: Sleep in a Dark and Cool Room

The slightest amount of light can disrupt your circadium rhythm. If you have to get up to use the restroom try to avoid turning on the light. Your body will stop producing melatonin immediately if you are awake and lights are on. When our kids were babies, I would be so in trouble the next day at work if I had to get up and the lights were on. Occasionally, if one of them wakes up puking we have to turn on the lights to clean it up and I become a total zombie at work. Personally, I like a cool room to sleep in. I sleep much more comfortably when I have to warm up to a cool room versus trying to cool off to a warm room.

Quality Sleep Tip #6: Avoid Watching TV Before Bed

Television stimulates the brain and fills your heads full of thoughts that have to be processed before you fall asleep.

These tips help me get a better quality sleep each night. I’m much more productive during the day when I have had quality sleep at night.

Leave a comment and let me know your methods for producing quality sleep.

Have you ever considered self employment? Have you ever thought about the disadvantages of working for the man and the advantages of working for yourself or vice versa?

Have you ever thought about the amount of time you give your employer in relation to what you get back for compensation? Are there times that you feel like a slave?

I admit, having a steady paycheck is very reassuring, especially with 4 kids. What happens when that steady paycheck goes away? Sometimes the money is just not there to pay you. There’s nothing more horrifying than relying on a paycheck and being told that it’s not there for the month. That really makes you reevaluate what you are doing.

In this economy there aren’t too many jobs that are safe. You never know when the pink slip is coming.

Do you have a backup plan?

Have you ever considered doing something on your own to earn an income and sustain life? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in charge and be responsible for your own paycheck?

I’m here to tell you that it’s scary and at the same time exciting! Whether your are forced into trying to earn money for yourself or you decide to do it, the time could never be better.

What does it take to be self employed?

That question is the point of this entire blog and can’t be answered in one post. In short you obviously need a method or way of making money.

Personally, I design websites and logos in addition to earning passive income from affiliate marketing. Passive income is essentially money that you earn while you are sleeping, eating, playing with kids, eating dinner, etc. The money I earn passively is steadily increasing. My goal is for my passive income to exceed my active income.

To go into business for yourself you also need accounting experience, a high level of self-discipline, a business plan, a marketing plan, a support network, an understanding spouse/mate, coffee, sleep, good health, etc.

Self employment is not easy. What is though? Regardless of what you are doing, you should give it your all.

Stay tuned and I’ll tell you about what works for me and what does not.