SARA HENDERSHOT, an Olympic rower for the United States, competed in
the 2012 Olympics. She is currently training for Rio 2016. Her advice:
My philosophy is that when I have the energy and the focus to make decisions like what I want my next day to look like, that is when I have to make those decisions. I will basically plot out what I know a day needs to look like, and how I'm going to work through my to-do list and how much time I'm going to allow myself to spend on each one of these tasks so that when I actually am in that moment getting it done, there are far less decisions to be made. I use this Moleskine notebook that I'll just carry around with me. I make training notes in it. I make work notes in it. I have a whole bookshelf full of old ones at home, because I'll go back and refer to old things in it all the time. I don't actually use a calendar; it will be a page in my notebook that I will write…so when I get home at 7:30am, I need to use 7:30 to 8:00 to write this email. Then from 8:00 to 8:15 I need to update this document. That's the kind of plotting that I'll do. Part of being an Olympic athlete is just that there are a lot of things that I have to miss, and moments or events that I have to skip. I've almost just gotten to the point where I'm used to having to say "No" to things. It's just getting good at knowing your limits and not trying to overstretch those limits because when I do, that's the times that I get injured or I get sick. SHANNON MILLER, a member of the 1992 and 1996 United States Olympic
women’s gymnastics team, won a combined seven Olympic medals. She is the
most decorated gymnast in American history. Her advice:
During training, I balanced family time, chores, schoolwork, Olympic training, appearances, and other obligations by outlining a very specific schedule. I was forced to prioritize. There were certain things that had to be done at very specific times, like training 7-8am and 3:30-8:30pm. School was 8am-2:30pm. Those times did not waiver. Then I built in everything else around those times giving weight to the most critical to achieving my goal. Most importantly, WRITE IT DOWN. To this day, I
keep a schedule that is almost minute by minute. When you do this, you find that there are often pockets of time that you aren’t maximizing, for example doing homework on planes and buses. Grabbing a power nap to facilitate recovery instead of wasting an hour online. Focus on those things that bring you further to your goal each and every day. Every moment counts!