Hey guys, Nate here. I'm proud to announce that I'm now the Program Director of Scrawny To Brawny. From now on all of my blogs and articles will be posted on the brand-new Scrawny To Brawny Blog. So if you enjoyed what you read here, please go check it out. (It's awesome, if I say so myself.) I'm keeping the NGE website alive for resource reasons, but will no longer be actively updating it. The best way to get in touch with me is through leaving a comment on the Scrawny To Brawny blog or by posting on the S2B Facebook page. See you guys over at the new blog!
Finding Your Rhythm
I can do all of this with my eyes closed. Can you?
I swear to God I'm the only one out of my circle of friends who can't play a musical instrument and it pisses me off.
Learn one? Fuck that. That sounds rather difficult and time-consuming, really. I haven't got the patience and would rather just be good right away.
(Side note: one of my dreams is to have the magic ability to turn into Jack Johnson, woo a group of girls at a beach party with my quirky melodies, folky guitar strums, and catchy lyrics, and then turn back into myself so I can use my skin flute to make them sing soprano.)
But like anything else worth achieving, learning a musical instrument takes practice and, I imagine, numb fingers and nerves of steel.
I'd rather turn my attention to other things I enjoy doing and that encompass a large part of my life: writing, training, organizing, and social life. (Yes, I plan my social life.)
If I can't have musical rhythm, then dammit, I'll have life rhythm.
So after a lot of tweaking and trial-and-error, I present what works for me and why. Compare it against your own notes and see how they mesh up. (And make sure to leave me a note in the comments if you have a suggestion, idea, or if you want to share what you do; I'd love to hear it.)
Sleep
I'm one of those guys that has to be in bed for at least eight hours. Usually it's more like nine. If I get anything less I feel groggy, pissed off, and am much less productive during the day. For that reason, I usually sleep between 1:00 AM and 9-10:00 AM.
Before I took the job with T-Nation, I had to wake up at six AM. I know there are a lot of trainers who still do that and I have to say you have my full respect.
I'll dream about you.
Eating
We all know how important it is to eat at regular intervals to promote muscle growth, fat loss, and keep our metabolism in check. That's why my normal schedule looks like this:
10:30AM - Breakfast and coffee or Yerba Mate
1:00PM - 1st Lunch
2:30 - Pre-workout snack
4:30 - Second Lunch
7:30 - Dinner and some form of alcohol :)
10:00 - Big freakin' snack
Of course, I'm not always on time. Due to interviews, lunch meetings and other stuff, I may be off by an hour or so. But I never go more than 3-4 hours without eating anything. Trust me, you wouldn't want to be around me if I did.
Writing and Work-related Stuff
I usually check email first thing in the morning before breakfast. (I know, I know; it's not good to do that.) But with my direct superior (Hi Lou!) on Eastern Standard Time and me waking up fairly late, it only makes sense. By the time I'm up at 10:00, it's already noon in Allentown, PA. I usually have 8-15 pertinent messages in my inbox in the morning.
Between breakfast and my workout is the first block or ultra-productivity. I'll rarely get on the Internet between 10:30 and 2:30 and will save this time for working on articles, conducting interviews, brainstorming, marketing, or making new contacts.
My other most productive time is between 9:00PM - Midnight since most all of my friends are going to bed and heading out on the town is more of a weekend thing for me.
Add it all up and it's about six or seven hours of "work" per day. But if you consider writing this blog post; interviewing a fitness competitor; marketing Built for Show; researching an article; traveling; corresponding with the best of the best in the fitness industry; or asking girls what body parts they find attractive; to be actual work, then you are sorely mistaken.
Training
I'm currently working with Mike Robertson and am about to start doing some kettlebell stuff with Mike Mahler. (If you ever get the chance, I strongly recommend hiring someone smarter than you to write your training programs or put you on the right track.) I usually train four to six days a week at around 3:00 PM. I used to train in the evening, but now would rather make dinner with friends, go to a movie, or just hang out.
Training at 3:00 PM enables me to split my day. Work in the morning. Train. Do whatever. Work a little more in the evening.
I've done morning workouts a few times but will never go back. I didn't have any strength and usually felt like absolute shit - not a good combination when you're doing box squats and face pulls.
Social and Family
I know it may seem weird that I actually schedule my social time, but it's the only way I've found to be truly productive and avoid procrastination. If I know I'm going to a movie with my girlfriend, getting beers with my friends, or catching up with my grandpa at 7:00 PM, I'll work my ass off make sure I have everything accomplished before then.
And here's the kicker: when I'm supposed to be relaxing and enjoying their company, I'm actually relaxing and enjoying their company. I'm not worried about work, articles I need to finish, people I need to contact, or other "fire drills." I already got that shit taken care of.
Planning and organization
Every night before I go to bed I write up my next day's tasks with allotted time slots for each. This keeps me focused the next day.
Every Sunday I pick up around my house (my housekeeper does a more thorough job), do laundry, pay bills, cook meals for the week, and take care of other little errands. I also write out my weekly goals and empty out my email inbox, clean out the files on my computer (I save a bunch of random shit throughout the week), and essentially "start over."
A few final notes...
It may seem rigid, but planning my days and following a set schedule has enabled me to stay sane while accomplishing a lot and maintaining a healthy family and social life.
But sometimes shit happens.
When it does, I'm flexible and ready. I'm at ease.
Know why?
Because I know I've got a plan somewhere.
+++++
So what kind of stuff do you plan? What's your day look like? Let me know!
Comments for This Entry
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Oh, c'mon, it doesn't take that much effort to be a half-ass guitar player!
After I get my routine down, I don't schedule much. But the first few weeks of finding my groove were rough.
The only things I really schedule now, oddly enough, are practicing (three hours/day) and training. Unfortunately, I hate practicing at night--I'd rather do other stuff. So I wake up at 6am during the week and get about 1.5 hours done before class/whatever. Then squeeze in the rest sometime over the day.
-CD -
Great post Nate. In attempting to deal with the multitude of things going on in my life at the moment, I'm trying to adopt a similar formula, but it sure ain't easy at the start.
The whole cooking all your meals for the week thing just doesn't work for me. I eat the stuff if it's sitting in my fridge and some stuff just doesn't keep properly for 3 or 4 days. I try to get the majority of my grocery shopping done though, which works pretty well.
Keep up the great blog posts man. Always fun and interesting to read.
Yudi Kerbel
NASM-CPT -
That was a long-ass post Nate! But a good one.
With going to school full-time and working at a restaurant part-time, I don't have the luxury of defining and living my own days like I want.
That'll change soon though and I aspire to get where you are!
John -
Hey Nate not sure you're going to read this seeing as this is a really old post. You said you always wanted to play a musical instrument right? What if I told you that if you practiced 5 minutes a day and learn to play with both hands the piano in 4-6 months. Probably think I'm bullshitting right? Well my Dad created a course up here in Canada (We recently opened up in the States) doing workshops all over to market this course. Check out my dads website www.paulneill.com
and if somehow I managed to peak your curiosity email me at [email protected]
PS: I recently discovered your blog and will be doing my best to follow you and am excited to see you grow in what you do. It has further motivated me to do emulate a lot of what you do.
COMMENT RULES: Critical posts are fine, but if you're rude I'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. But most of all, have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Tim Ferriss for the inspiration.)
Christopher 4:56am Sep 29, 2008