Write It Down: The Simple Habit That Reduces Stress and Boosts Progress

0:00Welcome to the Power of Progress Podcast, where we talk about mindset, motion, and momentum. We get you from thinking to doing, turning your thoughts into actions, but break through your barriers so you can achieve your goals. I am your host, Scott Friedman, and let's get started. All right, everyone for today's episode. We are digging into the archives of my former podcast, Scott Speaks Fitness, and I just found a bunch of episodes I really loved, and I was like, you know what? People need to hear this message again on the Power of Progress. So without further ado, this was an episode that I recorded a couple years ago, and it's still love it, still holds true. So I hope you enjoy it. All right, everyone. Welcome back to the show.

1:00So today, probably a quick episode, not going to go too crazy with the amazing detail that is the show, but what I want to go over today is today is Sunday, December 19th, 2021. So this will be released tomorrow, 1220, and we know that Christmas, Christmas Eve is around the corner. So many people have off. They're going home. Many people aren't going to be at work this week. So today's episode is really about identifying and planning out your week, because it's going to be different than normal. It's going to be different than what you normally do, so you're not in that normal routine. So what we tend to do in these situations is, well, you know, the week's different. I don't really need to, you know, I don't need, you know, my routine will be off. I won't eat the same blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It'll be different. I don't need to work out. I don't need to do this. It's only one week. You know, so on, so forth, that doesn't really, no, that doesn't fly with me. Not really. It's, look, you're still going to have plenty of days.

2:01You know, I'm going in. I know I have the day off on Thursday and Friday this week, and so my routine will be slightly different than normal, but I'm still planning the whole week out. I'm still planning what I want to do. And so, you know, take, you know, take Monday, obviously, when you listen to this, take the day and we plan out what you're going to do this week to help you achieve your goal. Okay. So, my goal this particular week is to quote, is to mitigate the damage that I'm going to be doing to my body through Christmas. I know that I have a very traditional Christmas, you know, as someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas because I'm Jewish, it's, we do Chinese food and there's a very specific reason why we do Chinese food. It's because no other place is open to order from on Christmas Eve, so we do Chinese food. We had that for like two days straight. So, I'm not eating well for two days. I already know that, but that doesn't mean I have to not work out. It doesn't mean I don't have to eat other food, doesn't mean I can't, you know, be on my routine. I know the first three days will be relatively similar. I mean, the hours are different, things like that, but overall, you know, I can still

3:02be on a routine. So, I've been planning out my week so far, so kind of give you a rundown of what I'm going to be doing this week to help you figure out what you're going to be doing this week. So, make sure you are planning. So, for example, I know that tomorrow is Monday and I am actually covering the entire day at my facility. So, the plan is probably either, you know, probably at the end of the day is to do, probably like, you know, I'll do it all by way, all of this is including kind of my rehab for my shoulders. So, I'll do a couple of different rehab exercises for my shoulder, which doesn't take too much time or effort. Just kind of do it. I can be in regular workload. I can be in clothes, you know, like jeans and stuff and do that kind of stuff. Not very complicated, but do some rehab on the shoulder to get this thing moving forward, which I'm not sure if it's helping or not. So, I need to test this out. So, I'm going to test it out tomorrow as well just to kind of see where it's at because I would love to be able to do some pushups eventually, but really, I mean, it's just it's hard. I can't lift weights. So, it's got to do rehab. But then in terms of the damage mitigation, as if you've ever listened to an episode before, go back on the episodes and listen to damage mitigation for the holidays.

4:03And really, it's basically I'm going to do some extra cardio this week is really kind of my plan. So, I don't, you know, go crazy. I hope I'll weigh less on Friday, right? And then I will be able to eat and I'll kind of even things out if I do all the extra cardio. Again, not the most exact science, but it's something for you to do if you want to. So, on Monday, I'm going to do some rehab on the shoulder and then I'm going to focus on my legs in terms of cardio. I'm going to do probably a stair master that I've had to guess depending on my feet, feel my feet are pretty sore. I'm having some fascia, planar fascia issues at the moment. I was just very, very tight, very sore. So, I'm not really sure if I want to run or not, but I might run or do the stair master. Either way, like 30 minutes or something like that, just to get going, get the heart rate moving and that's it for Monday. Tuesday, I'm probably just going to do a lifting day. Probably just do some squats, some, you know, lunges, stuff like that. Nothing crazy, just, but, you know, get the workout in. And then Wednesday, I'm going to do another cardio day in terms of, like, I'll probably do some, probably do the opposite.

5:04I'll probably run on Wednesday for sure. And then Thursday will be more of a, in my way, rehab on every day. There's probably nothing, probably get my body a break. Friday, I'll probably do something at, I'm going to my parents house, I'm picking up the Chinese food. I'll probably do something on Friday morning, something in my apartment, something in my apartment gym. That's very, very small, but something very, like, just high intensity ask. So, like, you know, like, plank jacks or mountain climbers or jumping jacks, things like that. I'll probably do something along those lines to get the cardio in. And then that's about it. That's my week. I'm not doing a lot of workouts this week, but I am going to definitely try and work out. And I think on Thursday, maybe I'll do a lower body lifting day as well. That could be something I, I tend to do, but that's, I have a general outline. And the thing is the schedule is a lot different than it normally is. I normally have more time to work out to be totally honest. I normally have a different schedule. So, I have to adapt my current schedule to my current workout routine to fit the schedule.

6:04This goes back to another episode I had of not being too rigid and being able to work out at different times, doing different things than what you're used to. And just being able to do it. And so, with holidays coming up, just be aware that if you have a different routine, that you should still try and work out. You still have a goal. Your goal doesn't stop because it's Christmas, okay, or New Year's or whatever is coming up. It doesn't stop. So, think about what you want to do and plan it out accordingly. And by the way, if you listen to this on Monday or Tuesday or whatever, you listen to it. It doesn't matter. It's the same concept applies. Even if it's one day, okay, even if it's one day that you're going to work out, you just, okay, I'm not going to work out this week, but I'll get one day in after listening to this episode. Do it. Or even a half a day. Like, whatever it is, just get the workout in because you're going to think yourself later because doing that, doing that something is going to help you towards your goals. Period and story. It's going to help. So, plan it out. And also, when you do plan out your day, like, I'm doing, it gives you clarity. When you don't plan out your day, your mind is just all over the place. It's like, what do I do? How do I do it?

7:04I will do it. I have enough time. Like, it's almost like you're throwing paint at a wall, okay, and it's just like, it's just a glob of stuff. You can't, like, there's no discernible thing you're looking at versus, like, actually painting the wall and making going in strokes, things like that. It's very smooth. It's very easy. That's what planning does. Planning organizes your thoughts. And so, it doesn't overwhelm you, but when you're just, when you're just firing out thoughts, it's overwhelming. If you ever had a to-do list, right, a to-do list at work, and it's like, okay, I do these 10 different things. Well, it's not so complicated. You just got, you know, you go through the list and you finish it. But what happens if you don't write it down? I don't happen for me when I don't write down what I have to do, number one, I forget it, and number two, it like sits in my, it sits in the back of my mind, and it's just like, it's a constant thought versus when I need to write it down to get it out of my head so that I don't have to remember, and so that it's not like constantly firing, oh, I gotta do this, gotta do this, gotta do this, gotta do this, oh, and this, and this. Oh, don't forget about this. And it's just shooting. And it's like, oh, my gosh, you feel overwhelmed.

8:06You feel crazy about it. It's like, I'm like, how am I supposed to do all this stuff? But I write it down, and it makes it a lot easier to track, to get done, to organize. So that's what you should do with your workouts, especially on the, again, I'm saying this generally, you should always do this with your workouts, but on a week where it's not going to be normal, okay, where you're doing things differently, it's also important to write down this stuff because you're, you're going to be trying to think it through and it's just kind of, it's, it's not organized and it makes you more, when you're not organizing your mind. It makes you stressed. It makes you frustrated and you're less likely to do what you need to do because you're going to be more anxious and annoyed and it's like, you're just gonna say, screw it and go. Alright, I hope you enjoyed today's episode if you like today's show, do me a favor and hit the follow or subscribe button and leave a five star review so more people like yourself can start building momentum towards their goals. Also, if you're interested in my 10 minutes to take off method, where I teach you to master your first 10 minutes and soar to victory, then book a call on my calendar at my

9:10progress call dot com, my progress call dot com. Otherwise, have a great rest of your day and I will talk to you next time.