Bud Hennekes, Author at Pavlok

4 Helpful Habits for Working From Home

Over the last few months, many of us have had to transform our daily routine almost completely. While some parts of the world are slowly going back to normal, the reality is many are going to continue to have to work from home, at least in some capacity.

Working from home, even without additional responsibilities, can be incredibly challenging. Still, for those who extra work responsibilities or watching over children or family members, it can be even more difficult.

If you find yourself working from home for the foreseeable future, here are 3 helpful habits that you might find useful. Remember, take what you can from this article and apply it to your specific situation.

Don’t forget to stretch

If you work in an office, you may be stuck at the computer or your desk most of the day, but you also likely get up to chat with coworkers or go get coffee. At home, that might not be the case. You may find yourself sitting on the computer for longer for normal, or even doing work from your bed for hours on end.

Incorporating more stretches into your day can make a massive difference. While being able to work from home is certainly something to be grateful for make sure you’re taking care of your body as well.

For example, if you spend most of your day responding to email or typing, don’t forget doing a good wrist stretch. Taking some time to stretch your back is essential too.

Set a timer, or even put some time on your calendar to physically step away from your computer and do some light stretching. You don’t have to fit a two-hour workout into your daily routine, but just a few minutes of stretching goes a long way in keeping your fresh.

Improve your diet

Okay. We’re facing a truly historic pandemic, and many of us are facing incredible amounts of stress. If your diet isn’t 100% on point, you certainly don’t have to beat yourself up, but working to make small healthy changes in your diet can also be incredibly helpful.

What you eat plays a role in your energy levels and mood. If you’re eating crappy, it’s going to make you feel worse and even more stressed.

While ordering in may be an option (and you’d be supporting local businesses), the reality is that it’s not always the healthiest of options.

Keep things simple.

Invest in a healthy cookbook or recipes to help you find a few healthy meals you can eat regularly. UltimateMealPlans.com has a whole bunch of affordable meal plans that are easy to follow. From keto to paleo, to even low carb, you can specify your needs and just follow along.

There are also a ton of great resources such as FitmenCook and Workweek Lunch that focuses on meal prepping, so you have to spend less time in the kitchen.

Again, the point isn’t to be perfect. Make a few small changes in how you eat, and it will pay off in the end. At the very least, aim to eat at least one healthy meal each day to build momentum.

For extra fun, encourage your partner, family, or kids to join in on eating healthy.

Disconnect from work

While going into the office often gets a bad rap, having a physical end to your day is certainly a benefit. After you pack up your bag and head home, you can enjoy the rest of the evening guilt free.

Yet, with working from home, that isn’t always the case. With email, slack, and text, it can be all but impossible to ‘turn off’ even when you deserve a well needed break.

Setting proper expectations with your family and coworkers is important to disconnect from work at the end of the day. No one, especially your employer, benefits from you burning out or not taking time to recharge.

At the end of the day, literally, turn off your computer. Put the phone in the other room. Make a rule of no work after 7 PM. Whatever works for you. It may not be easy at first, but once you build the habit, you’ll be able to get more done and not be as stressed.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it may be because you’re taking too much on. Disconnecting from work isn’t just a nice to have; it’s a necessity.

Explore a side hustle

For some, the current COVID-19 situation might actually be pushing you to your limits. Doing what you need to take care of yourself and your loved ones is always priority #1. That said, you may have some extra time to pursue projects and side hustles you otherwise wouldn’t.

If you do have some extra time on your hands, now is the perfect time to explore those options. Maybe you’ve wanted to start a blog. Or maybe you’ve wanted to start a Youtube channel or level up your skills.

If you have the extra time, don’t let it go to waste. With literally thousands of courses and tutorials online, there’s no excuse as to why you can’t come out of COVID-19. Maybe you’re a marketer who wants to learn design. Or maybe you’re an investment banker who wants to finally learn how to garden.

Use this time to get ahead or tackle those things you’ve been putting off. Heck you can write a book by writing just an hour a day. Don’t feel like you have to do anything extra, but don’t think you shouldn’t use this time to your advantage either.

Putting in the work now can pay off massively down the road.

While these above tips may seem simple on the surface, we promise if you give them a try, they will make a massive difference.

5 Habits You Can Do In 5 Minutes or Less

When it comes to building new habits, it can be tempting to commit to huge changes in your behaviors and routine.

After all… when you’re looking to build better habits, you’re often filled to the brim with motivation and inspiration.

If you’re trying to exercise more, for example, you might try and go to the gym 5 times a day for an hour each time. While that might sound good in theory, often life gets in the way.

After a week of going to the gym, you slip up and end up back at square one.

Whether your job allows for remote work or you have a traditional 9-5 job with a long commute, it can be a challenge to find time for your job, family, friends, and other commitments.

So how do you go about building better habits? You start small and work from there.

Here are 5 incredibly beneficial habits you can do in under 5 minutes.

There’s literally no excuse.

Meditate

Even just a few minutes of focusing on your breathing can help you center your emotions and improve your focus and your mood.

Everyone, yes that includes you has a few minutes to spare throughout the day to do some meditation.

While it may be challenging to sit still and sit with your thoughts when first starting, keep practicing, and you’ll quickly find your meditation practice will be one of your favorite parts of your day.

Drink More Water

If you’re like most people, you often go hours of the day without drinking water. Dehydration can lead to moodiness, headaches, and even lack of focus.

Purchase a high-quality water bottle you can take with you to work, and build the habit of drinking a large glass of water when you wake up.

To ensure the habit sticks, commit to drinking a glass of water right after you brush your teeth, or take a sip of water every two hours.

Don’t let the simplicity of this habit fool you; it can genuinely make all the difference.

Practice Gratitude

There’s a reason why some of the most successful people in the world have built a habit of gratitude. Being grateful for what you have instead of focused on what you lack can significantly improve the quality of your life.

Spend a few minutes each morning or each evening reflecting on 3 things you’re grateful for. After a long day, it might be hard to find three things, but we assure you there’s plenty to be thankful for.

Over time, your gratitude habit will literally change your brain to begin looking for the good in your everyday life.

For an additional challenge, make sure the three things are different each day.

25 Situps + Pushups

Replace setups or pushups with any exercise that gets your heart pumping. If you have an extra two minutes to spare, the 7-minute workout app is a great way to build the exercise habit.

You don’t have to spend an hour at the gym to reap the benefits of exercise. Any little movement helps.

One of the Shock Clock 2’s most popular features is the jumping jack alarm which forces you to do jumping jacks, or you’ll receive a shock.

Again, even the most business people in the world can make time to work up a quick sweat. Your heart, body, and mind will thank you.

Journal

Journaling is an incredibly valuable practice that can help you reflect on patterns and observations in your daily life. No one needs to read the journal but you.

Use the time to write out your worries, plan out your goals, and note anything else that is going on in your head.

If you’ve never journaled before, you might be surprised at how ‘light’ you feel after a heavy journal session. Just type or write without thinking; it’s as simple as that.

If you’re looking to add a new habit or two, give one of these habits a try!

-Team Pavlok

5 Must Read Books To Help You Reach Your Goals

Hey Shockers!

Happy Wednesday! We hope you’re having a great week.

Last week announced our very first Pavlok meme contest, and the entire team has loved seeing the Pavlok community put their creative skills to the test.

We’ll be reviewing the memes over the next few days and be announcing our favorite pick in our weekly link Friday.

The winner will receive their very own Pavlok 2 on us stay tuned!

Now let’s get in today’s email…

One of the most common questions we get at Pavlok is asking for recommendations for the best books to help take your habits and self improvement to the next level.

While there are a TON of self help books that should never have seen the light of day, there are dozens of great books that really help you make huge strides into becoming the person you want to be.

Here are 5 must read books to reach your habit goals.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business by Charles Duhigg

An all time classic for those looking to improve their habits, the Power of Habit took the world by storm when it was published in 2012 and currently has over 4,000 positive reviews on Amazon.

What we like about the Power of Habit is how it breaks down the habit forming process in a way that is relatable and Duhigg does a great job of communicating the science behind habits in a way that’s incredibly easy to understand.

Charles Duhigg’s research has had an enormous influence on Pavlok as a company and is a must read for those looking to take their life to the next level.

The Willpower Instinct – by Kelly McGonigal

Based on professor Kelly McGonigal’s Stanford course, “The Science of Willpower,” The Willpower Instinct breaks down everything you need to know about how willpower actually works.

Many of us are raised to believe that any shortcomings in life are directly related to lack of willpower and discipline, but the truth is, the science of willpower tells a wildly different story.

Given that we each have a finite amount of willpower, this book does a great job of showing you how to improve your willpower and set yourself up to succeed at reaching your goals.

The One Thing – Gary W Keller and Jay Papasan

Another classic in the entrepreneurial and personal development circles the premise of The One Thing is quite simple – focusing strategically on one goal can drastically improve your chances of success.

For those who find themselves bogged down with dozens of projects and pursuits, The One Thing provides an incredibly actionable framework to help you determine what your “one thing” is.

Once you’ve determined your one thing, the book shares how to take massive action towards accomplishing what will likely have the most significant impact on your life both personally and professionally.

Unhooked: How To Quit Anything – Susan Shaprio and Frederick Woolverton

While building good habits is one of the most important things you can do to make a positive change in your life, understanding how to quit those bad habits such as smoking, procrastinating, and overeating is just as essential.

If you find yourself struggling to quit some harmful vices, this book offers a scientifically backed method for overcoming those bad habits. If addiction is causing you or a loved one harm, this is an essential read for understanding how bad habits are formed and how to right the ship.

Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker

When it comes to the quality of your life, high quality and restful sleep is arguably the most important factor of your overall health.

Yet, many of us don’t hesitate to sacrifice sleep in hopes of “getting ahead.”

Written by professor Matthew Walker, Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, this book dives deep into the history and science of sleep and why it plays such an essential role in our mood, energy, and even productivity.

Written in an easy to understand way, Why We Sleep is one of the best books you’ll read all year.

Bonus: I Will Teach You To Be Rich – Second Edition

We maybe biased for obvious reasons, but Maneesh’s brother Ramit Sethi recently released an update to one of the most popular personal finance books of all time – I Will Teach You To Be Rich.

If you’re looking to take control of your finances and build a rich life (however you define it) this book lays out an 6 week program to help you get out of debt, invest intelligently, and maximize your finances.

If you’ve read the original, the 10th anniversary edition features over 80 new pages, including:

New tools
New insights on money and psychology
Amazing stories of how previous readers used the book to create their rich lives

If you decide to dig into one of these books, let us know what you think!

-Team Pavlok

How To Build A Morning Routine In Just 30 Days

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Hey Shockers!

When working to build better habits (or even break bad ones) at Pavlok we’re a big believer in choosing the one or two habits that will have the most impact.

Frequently referred to as ‘keystone habits’ these select habits can quickly improve other seemingly unrelated areas of your life as well.

For example, if you start going to the gym, you may find yourself wanting to eat healthier naturally.

Once you’ve established a keystone habit, it makes adding more positive habits down the line even easier.

One of the best keystone habits to consider implementing in your life is starting your day with a morning routine.

Even just 10 minutes with structure in the morning can go a long way in how the rest of your day plays out.

Instead of hitting snooze and rushing out the door, you can spend the first couple of minutes doing some light exercise, and then a few minutes meditating.

Though simple on the surface, a morning routine is one of the most effective ways to make large strides in other areas of your life.

Morning routines are so powerful, that our founder and CEO Maneesh Sethi recently committed to doing his morning routine using the Pavlok app for 30 days straight.

If he missed a day, the app would automatically deduct Pavlok’s in-app reward “Volts.”

Not wanting to lose his hard earned Volts, Maneesh didn’t miss a day. Using negative reinforcement to keep you on track is one of the quickest ways to make any keystone habit you want stick.

If you’re wanting to drink more water, for example, tell your spouse or coworker you want to drink 12 glasses of water a day and will pay them 10 dollars per glass that you don’t drink.

Commit to incurring a slightly painful consequence if you don’t follow through. While this method of habit building won’t work for everyone, for many people, the thought of having to pay their family or friends (or a terrible organization) money is more than enough motivation to get them to take action.

Here’s a simple 4 step process for using a negative reinforcer to help you build a keystone habit of your choice.

1) Make a clear commitment to what you’re gonna do

For example in the Pavlok Morning Routine App (IOS and Android), you clarify exactly what steps you will take in the morning, and what time you’ll finish it by (10am)

Define what you will accomplish and the exact consequence if you don’t.

I will go to the gym 3x a week if not I will have to buy my friend lunch.

I will wake up at 6:15 AM every weekday morning if not I will donate money to a political organization I hate.

2) Set a negative reinforcer to make sure the habit gets started If using the Pavlok app decide how many Volts you want to wager.

Most people think postive reinforcement is the only way to change a habit. But the truth is, negative reinforcement is very important when starting your habit.

Think of the time you had to do an essay by a deadline and got it done. Having a consequence for not doing your habit motivates you to take action and follow through.

We recommend you choose a monetary penalty or using social shaming to motivate you.

If you use the Pavlok app, you will lose the Volt’s you’ve earned if you don’t do your habit.

3) Make a positive reinforcer to make the habit stick for example, winning Volts in the Pavlok app.

While negative reinforcers help get habits started, including a postive reinforcer will help you continue building the habit for the long term.

Here are a few other examples.

If you want to go to the gym

Tell your friend that every time you don’t checkin on your phone at the gym M,W,F you will pay them $50 dollars.

After you go to the gym you can have your favorite juice smoothy that both tastes good and is relatively healthy.

If you want to be get up at a certain time every morning

Schedule an embarrassing tweet or Facebook status for just a few minutes after you wake up. If you don’t wake up, the post will automatically be shared.

After a few weeks of waking up on time, give yourself permission to sleep in on Saturday.

BONUS

4) The fourth and final step to making your habits stick is having a someone hold you accountable.

Even if following steps 1-3, you won’t always be perfect. Some days you’ll mess up. Some days you just won’t want to go to the gym.

Having a coach to hold you accountable is one of the most effective ways to stay on track especially on those days you would rather throw in the towel.

We believe coaches are so powerful in helping transform your habits, that we’ve worked tirelessly on our Pavlok habit coaching program, designed specifically to help ensure you reach your habit goals.

If you’re interested in changing your habits and having someone in your corner every step of the way, check out our Pavlok Group Coaching page and book a complimentary call with our habit coach.

Do whatever you need to build those one or two keystone habits. Once implemented they could make all the difference in other areas of your life as well.

-Team Pavlok

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5 Things You Should Do If You’re Having An Off Day

Hey there Shockers!

In the off chance, today is turning out to be a day you want to forget, today’s blog post is a quick and actionable guide on what to do when you’re having a bad day.

While building good habits will help reduce the amount of “bad days” you have, the truth is we all have them.

Here are a few things you should do if you’re having an off day.

Deep breathe and meditate

There’s no getting around it. Some days are just tough.

Maybe you forget you had an upcoming deadline at work. Or maybe traffic was extra bad today, so you’re running late.

Or maybe one of a thousand things that could go wrong does.

You get in a fight with your partner. Your friend bails on grabbing drinks.

One of the quickest ways to regain control of your day is taking 5-10 minutes just to breathe.

Open up your favorite mediation app like Calm or Headspace, or take a few minutes to reflect on what you’re grateful for using the gratitude module in the Pavlok app (IOS & Android.)

Just focus on your breath. It’s amazing how much better you feel after a few minutes of focused breathing.

Get moving

If you’re struggling to get through the day, another effective way to get back on track is moving your body.

If you’re at work, take 10-15 minutes to go for a walk outside. If you can’t leave the office, knock out a few pushups or jumping jacks.

It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you get your body moving.

While the goal shouldn’t be to get in a full workout, getting your heart rate up will promote the release of endorphins which helps improve your mood and focus.

Do something small

On days where you lack motivation, staring at your seemingly endless todo list can be incredibly overwhelming.

Instead of thinking about all the things you need to do, commit to taking one small action to build momentum.

Instead of dreading that massive blog post you have to write, commit to writing just 100 words.

Instead of thinking about doing all your taxes, take a few minutes to get your accounts in order.

The amazing benefit of doing one small thing is after you get started you often find it’s easy to continue with whatever you’re working on.

On “off days” getting started is often the thing you need to turn your day around.

Avoid spiraling out of control

If you’re having a rough day, you may find yourself wanting to have a cigarette or turning to one of your favorite comfort foods.

It happens. We’re not perfect. If you do end up breaking one of your good habits or indulging in your go to unhealthy behavior, it’s crucial you stop yourself from going overboard.

Eating one cookie won’t drastically change your weight loss progress, but eating an entire box will set you back.

Don’t beat yourself up for a mini failure every now and again. Instead, work to ensure you don’t take a bad day and make it ten times worse.

Take a social media break

One of our last tips for the day is to take a break from social media.

If you’re feeling down the last thing you need is to scroll through an endless feed of your friends and family at their ‘best.’

While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying Reddit, Twitter, or Facebook, social media is known to promote anxiety and feelings of loneliness, especially on your off days.

If possible take a day to disconnect completely. It’s amazing how quickly your mood can improve when you’re not stuck in the social media rabbit hole.

While some days are certainly going to be worse than others, giving these suggestions a try can help you navigate your off days and get back to crushing your goals.

-Team Pavlok

P.S. If you’re looking to start your day right, the Shock Clock 2 can help you establish powerful morning routines, and even reduce negative thinking.

24 hours left — Preorder the Shock Clock 2, Sleep and Wake Up Right

Order Your Shock Clock 2 Today (Ships In December) and Save 25% Off Your Order! This Amazing Deal Ends Friday.

Happy Friday Shockers we hope you had a fantastic week! The entire Pavlok team is working around the clock to put together the absolute best deal we’ve ever offered for Black Friday and Cyber Monday at Pavlok we can’t wait to share more with you soon…

But today…. we wanted to share a sneak peak at our upcoming morning and evening routine modules for our Pavlok app that comes included when you order the Shock Clock 2. It’s the best way to start your morning and end your day right.

We announced Shock Clock 2 with an IndieGogo campaign a few months back. We are beginning to ship the first of those units next week!

The morning and evening routine features have been without a doubt one of the most popular requests from the community, and we’re excited to share that we’ll be releasing it into the world in December.

We’ve said time and time again, one of the best ways to implement new habits and behaviors is by having “skin in the game” which is why our new morning and evening routine features will use Volts to help hold you accountable. Simply set the morning and evening routine you would like to perform and wager volts to ensure you stick with your plan!

It’s truly amazing what you can accomplish when you are fully invested in reaching your goals. With hundreds of other Shockers holding you accountable every step of the way, building better morning and evening routines has never been easier!

Shock Clock 2’s currently will ship straight to your door in December and you’ll have instant access to the morning and evening routine features.
Today and tomorrow are the LAST days to pick up your very own Shock Clock 2 for just 149.99 so don’t delay!

– Team Pavlok

P.S. We have some INCREDIBLE deals coming up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but the 25% discount on the Shock Clock 2 which ships in December ends tomorrow. Order yours now!