Working from Home

I’ve officially been in Vancouver for over six whole weeks now and even though I don’t know a lot about the city – I feel completely adjusted. Some days are more stressful than others (I’m working on keeping the stress to a minimum because we all know stress doesn’t drive productivity nor is good for your body) but days like today I have to accept that I’ve just got to stay focused and let things happen.

I’m on a mission to spend less money because when money out > money in, you have got to control expenditures. Last night Faith and I decided to watch the Canuck’s game from home online (for free!) and make dinner at home versus going out to watch it.

Woo money-saving!

This morning instead of running out to a coffee shop I decided to stay in and try my home concentration skills. After breakfast:

I found myself sitting on my bed with my window open, breathing in the fresh crisp BC air.

I enjoyed the comfort of my room… but I hated not having anywhere to be. This is my struggle with being jobless… I actually thrive on schedules, timelines and due-dates! So when everything is on my terms – I tend to slack. I’ve been job searching and trying to find ways to get that opportunity, but so far no luck. I know I have to set myself apart from the crowd – so once I find that job, I have got to really wrap my head around my next plan… stay tuned!

Once I get to the point of frustration I know it’s workout time. I need to workout in order to calm myself and re-focus – and it works SO well for me. Today I tackled Insanity 2.22 (I’m counting my days off in order to keep the numbers straight FYI!) – Pure Cardio and Cardio Abs! It hurt so good :)

I’ve actually been following the new Insanity: Ayslum reviews because it was JUST released… and I cannot wait to get my hands on it as soon as I finish this round of Insanity! Ahhh excited!

I officially felt cabin fever setting in so I had to venture out – and BAM here I find myself sitting at Arbutus Coffee writing this blog post, trying to organize my potential job interests and applications.

I just have to mention that I LOVE Kits and feel so fortunate that I found a place here to live. It kind of makes everything else seem less important when you live somewhere you love.

Time to enjoy my coffee and reply to some emails :)

Working Out = Productivity

I love morning workouts!

I’ve noticed that when I work out in the morning I feel so much better and have higher productivity! I’m writing this as both advice for you and to keep myself accountable… I feel 10,000 times better when I workout in the morning and have the rest of my day to do what I want! Whenever I’m feeling extremely lazy or very unmotivated I get my head in gear to work up a good sweat and I’ve noticed a HUGE difference in all aspects of my life.

Things I’ve noticed about me when I work out in the AM:

• I have a more productive day! I actually get more done and can focus on the tasks at hand when I work out first thing in the morning.
• I’m less moody and more positive! Unless I work out in the morning, the fact that I haven’t worked out yet is always on my mind. I can’t get the fact that I have to make it home in time to workout.
• I eat better! If I work out right away in the morning I tend to eat way better the entire day because I don’t want to ruin what I worked on achieving in the morning!
• I stick to my fitness plan with ease! When I get my workout done in the morning I have less stress with scheduling it into my busy day.
• It jump-starts your metabolism! This results in burning more calories throughout the day!

What time of the day do you get the best workout?

On that note – I’ve officially completed week 2 of my second round of Insanity! I feel great and considering I’ve got a next to nothing budget for fitness at the moment (know anyone who needs a social media/communications employee??) – Insanity actually gives me a better workout than what I’d get going to the gym! After my workout I made myself a protein + spinach + blueberry + plain non-fat yogurt + almond milk recovery shake and headed to the coffee shop!

I know this might sound cliché – but I honestly meet the nicest and coolest people at coffee shops! Upon sitting down and grabbing a wonderful large medium roast:

I started chatting with the person next to me and it turns out she’s a project manager (Hi Galya!) for a new social media community site called GetFriended. According to their about page:

GetFriended connects you with new people in your city by exchanging and bartering hobbies and services.

By creating a profile on GetFriended you become apart of the only social network that brings individuals together based on mutual interests, hobbies and exchange of services. Right now it’s based in the Vancouver area – but I don’t see what people in other areas can’t exchange online services as well! Take a look, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook! Who knows, this could be the next big thing people! 

Happy GetFriend-ing!

Dinner this evening consisted of: Spinach + carrots + cucumber + avocado topped with a quinoa & sweet potato burger grilled + left over tomato sauce!

Our lovely housemate Jenya made a delicious apple + strawberry cake (it’s 75% fruit so I didn’t feel that bad!) and it looked so delicious it would have been rude to not try a tiny slice.

After dinner we decided to do some work and watch some movies in the background. I’ve been trying to work on my blog + social media feeds while doing this blog post and looking up examples of functional resumes. surprisingly it’s been quite successful – thank you multi-tasking skills!

I found this really interested article called:Fourteen of the most important social media skills needed right now. I found the article on the blog of a strategic social media and PR agency called Comet. As I am looking to get as much experience in social media, I was researching exactly what kind of skills companies and agencies are looking for potential hires to have.

I learned A LOT – so if this kind of work applies to you I highly suggest this read – enjoy!

Time to get back to resume fixing and this movie! Night all!