Category: April Goals

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Do Not Take a Work Phone | 30 Day Vacation Prep

Note:  I take a vacation phone and buy an unlimited SIM for the phone.  Even with this strategy, I run out of data and sometimes have to buy additional data.   In the United States, the SIM I purchased from Europe was unlimited data which cost around 60 dollars.   Use an old unlocked phone and leave your other phones at home.

Spend today working on what you need to have from work desk and work phone on your vacation phone and make a note in your binder that you do not have your work phone with you on vacation.

The Ultimate Travel Hack: Offline Maps

The single best way to save data is to download your destination maps over Wi-Fi before you leave your hotel room. Open Google Maps, tap your profile picture, and select Offline maps. Tap Select Your Own Map and move the square over the city or region you’re visiting. Your phone will use the saved map on your storage instead of downloading it over the air. You still get turn-by-turn driving directions and can search for addresses without using a single kilobyte of data.

You won’t get live traffic updates or alternate “faster” routes unless you turn your data back on.

Do Not Use the Satellite View

If you like seeing the actual rooftops and trees while you drive, you are using roughly 10x more data than the standard “Map” view. To fix this,  tap the “layers” icon in the diamond stack on the map and ensure it is set to Default rather than Satellite. Standard navigation uses about 5MB per hour; Satellite can easily jump to 50MB+ per hour.

Activate WIFI Mode – Purchase WIFI Pass

Google Maps has a specific setting that forces the app to only use your downloaded offline maps, even if your cellular data is turned on for other apps. Tap your profile picture > Settings > Toggle on Wi-Fi only. This prevents the app from “checking in” with servers constantly for minor updates.  Xfinity has a US network pass that costs under 15 dollars a month.

4. Watch the Data Drain

Often, it isn’t just Google Maps eating your 50GB—it’s the apps running in the background while you navigate. 

Background App Refresh: Disable this in your phone settings for social media and video apps. They often “pre-load” videos while you’re driving so they’re ready for you to watch later.

Photo Syncing: Ensure Google Photos or iCloud is set to not back up photos/videos over cellular. If you take 4K videos of your vacation, they could eat through several gigabytes in minutes.

Leaving the Personal Hotspot OFF – Be Careful. I left on my personal hotspot and my computer decided to use my phone data instead of my Xfinity plan. Now, I have 20 days of slow speed phone but a fast internet from Wifi. If you want to only buy one SIM, you can take your regular phone and keep the personal hotspot on and let the other phone use blue tooth to access social media and other fun apps not on the SIM phone.

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Create a Desk Philosophy | 30 Days to Vacation | Detox

 

Away from your Desk Binder, Create a Desk Philosophy. An example is below:

The Mandate – Why Does Your Job Exist – Your Job Description

Our mission is not merely to maintain uptime, but to ensure the continuity of the institution. We view our technical stack as a modern monument—built with the precision of an architect and the foresight of a historian.

The Core Pillars of Your Job

1. Integrity of My Desk

Example: “We do not build for the next quarter; we build for the next decade. Every project must reflect my personal Standards: clean, documented, and resilient. My desk represents functional Systems not Quick Fixes.

2. Digital Stewardship

My desk is the guardians of certain data and digital legacy. My desk treats security not as a feature, but as a matter of protection of corporate intellectual property and processes. If the data proprietary, my desk is a vault.

3. The Protocol of Innovation

Innovation must be purposeful. My desk does not chase trends for the sake of novelty or a Kudos or a raise. My desk adopts new technology when it strengthens my projects, my desk, my department or enhances the efficiency of maintaining proprietary information and corporate culture.

Code of Conduct Around my Desk

  • Precision over Speed: A mistake is a crack in the foundation of my Vault. My desk measures twice before implementing.
  • Invisible Excellence: The highest form of work from my desk is that which the department notices because it functions flawlessly and is missed when I’m away.
  • Ownership: My desk resolves problems. Every person interacting with my desk is treated as a client and their work is respected as theirs and my work is mine. Our work together is ours.

Archiving and Auditing of Data

  • The Archive: Every major project once completed is entered into the Permanent Digital Record of the corporation to avoid brain drain.
  • Auditing : My desk does not blame others for my mistakes. My desk treats failures as historical lessons to be documented and avoided. Major mistakes are shared with the Public Relations and legal departments for auditing and documentation.

-End of Desk Philosophy –

Edit this for your desk, print it and put it in your I’m away from my desk binder.

Are you Detoxing your body for Vacation? Here is a menu to follow.


Breakfast: One cup of rice or a regular sized bowl of rice with an egg and margarine with olive oil.   A cup of coffee with milk. The combination of milk and rice gives you the amino acids you need to rebuild and repair your body.  The margarine helps remove toxins from your bloodstream and fat layer.  The coffee helps burn fat.  You will get used to not having a sweet breakfast but  your brain needs glucose/sugar and that can be added to your coffee. 


Lunch: Repeat or have something else. During Detoxing, your body hates getting rid of chemicals, it is safer for the body to keep them stored in your fat.  If you feel sick, it may be those chemicals being released from medicines and other digested toxins.  If you were a heavy drug user, please contact your doctor.  Side effects from those drugs may appear when detoxing and you may want to have your doctor monitor your blood as you detox.    

Dinner: Cup of Rice and vegetables

For medical advice, please contact a doctor. The health coaching information provided in this post is educational only. I am not your personal health coach but work with your doctor to keep you healthy. Health Storey Coaches request all clients to have a baseline exam with their doctor to make sure they are healthy enough to detox. If you are sick with any serious illness, detoxing must be with a physician monitoring. If you are healthy, make sure your doctor agrees.