I'm an Admitted Time Waster

Every day I contend with my natural inclination to "goof off." I I love to learn plus I love to read so you can imagine what a distraction the Internet can be for me. Hence, I rely on a daily program of goal setting, reviewing my goals, and using EFT and NLP techniques to keep myself focused and follow-through. I also use an incredible tool for keeping myself on task called the MotivAider (more on the MotivAider below).

I've been using GoalPro software for several years. The latest version 6.0 offers many improvements and enhancements. If you're ready for the Rolls Royce of Goal Setting programs, give GoalPro 6.0 a test drive.

My other software for weight loss picks are listed here as well. I love software - I'd spend all day doing nothing but installing and playing with new software if I coud get away with it - I'm always testing everything new that comes along, so if you hear of a program you'd like me to check out, just let me know. Meanwhile, try some of my favorites - tracking what you eat especially can go a long way toward helping you learn to modify your habits and work out a plan you can live with while achieving your weight loss goals.

MotivAider: My No. 1 all Time Favorite

If I had to choose one thing to keep out of everything I own, it would be my MotivAider. I love this thing. I'm never without it. It keeps me on track and on time. I use it when I'm working, when I'm exercising, and when I'm getting things done. It's a cross between a timer and a stop watch. You can set the timer to vibrate at whatever interval you want, as short as one minute and up to 12 hours. It clips onto your waistband or slips in a pocket.

The MotivAider is especially useful for habit change, especially if you are using a technique which needs to be repeated throughout the day such as doing EFT on your "issue of the day" once an hour, all day long. You know what I'm talking about - when you say you are going to do something three times a day for a week and after a couple of days you realize, you forgot to do it at all. The MotivAider helps you remember by vibrating at your preset intervals, and then you get it done.

Here are a few of the ways I use mine:

1. Keeping myself on task. I set it for 10 or 15 minutes to work on a task such as cleaning my desk. When it vibrates, I move on to the next thing. This is good for a person like me who would spend all day doing nothing but organizing my desk.
   
   
2. Housecleaning and Organizing. I set it for 30 minutes (maybe an hour if we're tackling my son's room!) to do a chore such as cleaning - after 30 minutes, I'll stop and do something else. This makes household chores more agreeable by doing it in short spurts and you'd be amazed how much you can accomplish in just half an hour.
   
   
3. Break Tasks into Small Bits Gets Them Done. I've used the timer approach my whole life, but I greatly prefer the gentle vibration to the loud, obnoxious ringing of an alarm. I've used it with my son, saying, we're going to clean your room for half an hour - setting the timer and then getting to work. He'll do it, when he knows it's just for a certain, short period of time, and he too is amazed how much gets accomplished in such a short period of time.
   
   
4. Clean the House During the Commercials. I've also used it to prove how quickly certain disagreeable tasks such as emptying the dishwasher can be. Set the MotivAider for five minutes and set to work - you'll find the job is done before the vibration starts. Five short minutes, big deal. Get those jobs done during the commercial break of your favorite show.
   
   
5. Work While Watching TV. I don't watch often but when I do catch a show I always set my MotivAider for four minutes during commercials and run to my office to "get something done." Nothing is more frustrating to me than sitting through commercials on TV, and that makes the time fly.
   
   
6. Timer for Interval Training. Nothing beats the MotivAider for timing interval training. Have you ever done interval training? It's an excellent way to increase your exercise intensity but the trouble is, how do you keep track of the time? That's where the MotivAider comes in. If you want to exercise at a certain pace for five minutes, then harder for another five, then harder still for another five, then back to the beginning and start the cycle again. Do that two or three times and you're ready to drop, achieving your fitness goals in much less tmie. That's efficiency in action and experts agree that interval training is effective.
   
   Try doing that with a regular timer. It's simple with my MotivAider.
   
   
7. Do EFT at Regular Intervals. If you're working an a big issue, you'll want to do EFT work throughout the day, but how to remember to do it? With everything else going on, it's too easy to think you'll remember, but find you don't. I use my MotivAider as an easy reminder to do my EFT sessions on a specific topic, choosing one for each day for instance. Usually I'll set it for every half hour or once an hour. Using longer intervals I find the buzzing startles me ;-) I also use it to remind me to have a drink of water every time it vibrates, helping me getting plenty of water during the day.

You can see why I love the MotivAider. I'd buy another one if I ever lost this one, but since I've dropped it down a flight of hardwood stairs several times, and dropped it on the concrete a time or two, together with leaving it runinng all night long countless times, it appears virtually indestructible. I've had mine about a year and-a-half and have never needed a new battery, and as I said, I leave it running a lot (I don't mean to - maybe I should set it to remind me to shut it off?). This is my all time favorite gadget - I would be lost without mine.

Keep a Food & Exercise Diary

Every few weeks I make an effort to track my eating, down to the last peanut. Tracking every bite, every lick, really can open your eyes to the eating you do that you don't even realize. It also helps you see how several extra hundred calories a day are very easly to miss.