On the first day of my trip to NYC with Extended Stay America I had the pleasure of meeting, and learning from, Marcey Rader. Marcey worked in the corporate environment for thirteen years in multiple operations roles and as a Corporate Training Lead for the third largest clinical research organization in the world. When she had gone as high as she wanted to go, she left the company to start her own business. There wasn’t anyone coaching people on how health affects productivity and how productivity affects health while giving them actionable steps with their inbox, nutrition, and opportunities to move.
As a road warrior for a decade, she made all the mistakes. Then she got it together to get more fit and healthy as she learned how to organize her time. However, she’s no Superwoman – she triggered an autoimmune disease with her high-intensity, high-stress, high-travel lifestyle.
Marcey, the Savve Traveler for Extended Stay America, specializes in helping business travelers climb the professional ladder without sacrificing health and productivity. Utilizing her certifications in health, wellness and productivity, Marcey coaches individuals and businesses so that they can Work Well and Play More® by focusing on:
- finding movement opportunities throughout the day, even at work
- eating for energy and avoiding pound-packing when traveling
- managing your email inbox and calendar to maximize work productivity
During our time with Marcey we learned so much! Tons of tips and tricks to help keep your life in balance at home and on the road. One of my favorite things was starting our day with a simple workout that you can do anywhere – at home or in a hotel room. Have you heard of RubberBanditz? They are resistance bands that you can take anywhere to use for workouts. We got to try out (and keep) their Mobile Gym Kits. The kit includes everything you need for a great workout AND weighs less than two pounds. Its something you can throw in your suitcase or carry-on to make sure you can get in a workout anytime on your trip. We took our RubberBanditz outside, into the cold, to get our day started off right. Marcey showed us some easy exercises to lengthen and strengthen that anyone could do!
After a healthy, protein filled breakfast we sat down to learn a bit more from Marcey. I can’t really fill you in on all the things Marcey went over during our 2 hour session, but I can definitely share one that stuck with me the most was regarding email. She said – Don’t be a slave to your email! The first hour of your workday should be spent on your most important tasks. Limit the number of times per day to check email.There are only five things you can do when processing: Delete, Delegate, Reply, Archive, Task. She said to O.H.I.O. your email by “Only Handling It Once!” If you can’t delete, delegate, reply, archive, or task the email then you shouldn’t even open it. It makes total sense. Why spend the timing checking and reading you email if you are just going to have to go back at a later time to actually deal with it? I’ve been trying very hard when I get to work in the morning to focus more on those important tasks first thing in the morning and THEN check email. Have someone who’s emails you can’t ignore? Try changing your settings so that those email show up in a different color. Then you can jump right to those emails, handle them, and then get back to your tasks.
We ended our time with Marcey by visiting a local restaurant called BareBurger. It was an amazing organic burger joint that had some amazing options. Marcey was teaching us how to be “better eaters” and this definitely was a good test. Did you know that if you are the first person in your group to order that you will order a more healthy option? Did you know that checking out the menu online before going to a restaurant helps you to find a more healthy option and then actually stick to it when you arrive? I usually check out the menu online of a new place I’m going to just so I can see what they have, but I also do it so I can (hopefully) make better food choices.
Of course, the best thing to do is cook your own meals when you are traveling because it saves money and it helps you to make better choices. One of the main reasons that Marcey chose to partner with ESA was because of the full sized kitchens that they have in their rooms. A full-sized fridge, microwave, toaster, and stove top definitely make eating in a lot easier.
I’m so glad I had the opportunity to spend some time with Marcey and learn from her. We received a copy of her book, Beyond Travel: A Road Warrior’s Survival Guide, and I can’t wait to read it before my travel schedule gets crazy again in the fall. Thank you Marcey and ESA for this amazing learning experience!
*Disclosure: I was given complimentary travel and hotel stay by ESA. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
It was such a pleasure having you, Meghan. I’m happy you were able to get so much out of the experience. Keep Movin’!