The Power of 20 Focused Minutes

Crushing it in 20 minutes. 

Do you have a side hustle? A task you need to get done? Or Hell, do you want to take a nap? I have been trying something new that has improved my focus and energy. I call it 2O MIN JAM SESSIONS! 

How It Works

By breaking your task down into twenty-minute increments, you will get more done, stay focused, and time will fly by. 

• Put your phone on "Do Not Disturb"
• Set a timer for 20 min (only hit start when you start working)
• Have ONE focus for 20 mins. 
• Have a reward at the end of the 20 mins. For me, it is either checking my social media, eating a snack, drinking water, or sipping on some delicious energy drink. 
• Once finished, repeat task to get more done, or switch task. 

Seriously, this has helped me a lot. I can get a lot done with a client or project because I break it down into short tasks. 

Try it. Let me know what you think and if it worked for you! 

Cheers, 

Omar. 

How To Get Extra Time In a Day

How I learned to save time. 

A year ago I had a conversation with one of my most successful friends, Tyler W, about life and goals. When I told him my side hustle wasn't to where I'd like it to be, he asked me a question that I wasn't able to fully answer which was "How much time are you spending on that project?" 

I always thought that I was spending HOURS on my passion project, but once I started tracking my time, I learned that it was not the case.  Not only did I find out how much time I was wasting, but I realized where I was losing that time. I quickly learned where I could save time and be more efficient. By tracking how much time I spend on on a particular task daily I am now saving on average 6 hours a week. Think about that, SIX HOURS A WEEK, that I was wasting, that I can now use to get ahead. 

How did I track my day? Like this:

Use the timer on your phone as soon as you wake up. On the iPhone, there is a timer app and I use the "laps" section. When starting this project I would turn it on as soon as I woke up, and I would hit "lap" as I changed task. Here is what I tracked. 

• Wake up: Get ready and Walk out the door. 
• Walking to work. 
• Starbucks time. 
• Time at work. 
• Walk home from work.
• Prepping for the gym. 
• Gym Time. 
• After Gym time decompressing. 
• Walk to a coffee shop. 
• 2nd wind, Starbucks or Coffee shop until close. 
• Walk home from the coffee shop. 
• Home and prep for next day. 

After tracking all this every day for almost two weeks. I noticed trends and was able to get a clear picture of where my time was spent. 

Top Number is hours in a day. Red highlighted number is the project I worked on the longest. 

Results and Short Cuts

• 15-20 mins average waking up and getting ready.
• 20-25 min average walk to work and home. 
• 1 - 1.5 average hours working at Starbucks in the morning. 
• 20-25 min average time spent getting ready for the gym. 
• 20-30 min average decompressing from the gym and prepping to work again. 
• 10-12  min average walk to coffee shop that is open late. ( I don't have wifi in my apt)
• 1 - 3 hours on average working at a late night coffee shop. 
• 30 - 40 min unwinding, prepping for next day ext. 

Earning an EXTRA 6 HOURS a week

I noticed that it takes too long to walk home from work, prep for gym, change from gym, and start the late night work. Not only did it take long, but it was so tiring and it took more mental energy to keep going because I was super tiered. So I changed a few things and I am now saving so much more time, I'm feeling extra energetic, happier, and more accomplished.  Here's what I changed. 

• Wake up at 5am. Journal and do meditation for the day. 
• Gym at 6am vs later at night. THIS SAVES ME on average 6 hours a week. I don't have to go home, change, prep, go to gym, come home, change, etc. it's first thing in the morning, and it's done. 
• Shorter routes to work/home. Because there is less traffic in the morning, I am able to not only save time getting to the gym (downtown Seattle) but I found a shorter route that saves me a quarter mile each way. That's half a mile a day, 2.5 miles a week, and about 40 mins of time. 
• All clothing prepped for week. Like meal prep, I don't even think about what I'm wearing. It's all picked out, ready to go. That saves time and mental energy. Even though I pretty much wear black everyday. lol. 

APPLY THIS TO YOUR LIFE!

If you say "I HAVE NO TIME." I no longer believe that. Unless you show me facts that you honestly don't have time, I won't believe you. Yes I am single and am a workaholic, but DAMN. If I can find an extra 6 hours a week, I am sure you can find a few extra hours in your day to pursue your dream project, spend more time with family, ext. We will never get time back, so I say use the time to your advantage. 

If this helped you, please share this! It would mean the world to me. 

Much Love,

Omar. 

Starbucks Routine

One Hour A day adds up. 

The amount of work that I have been able to get done in the morning is unreal. I used to love working through the night, but I found over the past couple months, that an hour of extreme focus in the morning is more productive for me. Here are three reasons why it's helped me, and why I recommend for you do do the same. 

1: Limited time: If you have a side hustle like I do, time is super important. Therefore, on Sunday night I make a task list of what I will work on everyday so I don't have to think about it again. This makes the time I spend in a Starbucks extremely focused which allows me to get more done and faster. This actually helps me get into fast pace work mentality for the rest of the day. 

2: Habit: If you want to be a freelancer or work for yourself like I do then this teaches you discipline. The discipline of waking up early, of working efficient and fast, and making sure that you are working on the stuff that matters. For me, the comfort of my home makes it easy to sleep in, take breaks, or get distracted. But in a Starbucks, the distractions are gone. The faster I get done with what I need, the faster I can do more of my passion projects. 

3: Community: Similar to going to the gym. I see the same faces, I learn names, and having people stoked to see you is a great way to start your day. Who doesn't like to feel welcome and loved? 

This works for me and I hope it helps and works for you. If you're chasing a side hustle, and need the internet, a SB or coffee shop is one of the best things you can introduce to your life. 

High Five Friday - 003

Five Things that helped me be better. 

1. Quote: "Life is a verb, you have to take action" -Dan Carlin
2. Podcast: Joe Rogan "Create The Life You Want To Live!" - Joe Rogan and Dan Carlin. 
3. Music: "Speak of the Devil" By Hermatude
4. Personal Development: Early morning Starbucks jam sessions. Today is day 12 of working at a Starbucks early in the morning. (7am-9am) ish. This is something I highly recommend for a three reasons. 1: Routine. by trying to get more done in the morning, it's made it easier for me to get out of bed early and get going. 2: focused work: Because I know I only have limited every morning, I get a lot more done because I'm on a crunch time frame. 3: Community. By going to the same Starbucks every morning, the crew knows my name and my order. That actually motivates me to come in every morning as well because people are genuinely stoked to see me. And when you live in a new city and don't have many friends, it's a great feeling.
5. Personal Health: 2 mile daily run. I run a mile to the gym. it's my warm up because it's a mile away. This helps me get right into workout mode, and have the time at the gym be focused. Then the run home, is all uphill and not easy. This is were I feel I build the most character. It leaves me no option but to do one last hard thing before my workout ends. doing this 3 times a week adds up.  

I am constantly trying to improve little by little. I hope these things will inspire you to be a little better throughout your day/week. 

-Omar. 

High Five Friday - 002

Five Things that have made my week better. 

1. Quote: "Choices are at the root of every one of your results" -Darren Hardy
2. Podcast: "How I built this" - Miguel McKelvey (We Work)
3. Music: "Se16 ft. flohio" By God Colony
4. Personal Development: Daily Checks In's. I have a list of priorities and routines I try and do everyday. At night, right before I get into bed, the last I do is go over the list and check the box to see if I really made time for it. This is really helping me improve on building healthy routines and create better habbits. 
5. Personal Health: Go to bed by midnight. I am all about working through the night when I'm in the "groove". But I notice that it takes a toll on me and effects work the following day. Going to bed by midnight has improved my sleep and also work performance.  

I am constantly trying to improve little by little. I hope these things will inspire you to be a little better throughout your day/week. 

-Omar. 

Location scouting

What I look for when scouting areas to shoot. 

When scouting for locations for potential shots I try to keep a few things in mind. 

1. Is it easy to get to? (accessibility)
2. How many angles can I get here?
3. What time of day is best for this location?

1: Accessibility: Because not everyone enjoys climbing on the side of buildings or through fire escapes, It's great to keep in mind locations that people are comfortable getting to. It all depends on the client of product of course, but I think it's great to keep in mind, with lifestyle photography, to make your location easily accessible. 

2: Angles: When shooting product, apparel, lifestyle, etc, I want to take the most advantage of one location because of time and set up. At each spot, I try to have at least three angles that I can shoot to get the most out of the spot. Not to mention, you might find a better angle then you originally thought, and you also don't get stuck with one way of shooting. With parking garages, there are driveways, ledges, stairs, rooftops, etc. great variations. 

3: Time of day: Golden hour is obviously the primary choice. But if you're not able to shoot quite then, then it's good to know what other times certain spots look best. Middle of the day, overcast, semi rainy, etc. Know what kind of mood you are wanting to send, know what you want your product, or objective to be. Some locations might look better at night then in the daytime, that can also depend on the lighting of your actual location. I try to keep their night aesthetic in mind also. 

Here is a parking garage in downtown seattle near pioneer square that I just scouted. I had only been there at night, but the daytime (overcast) opened up my eyes to a much different view of it.

Enjoy! HMU if you want to know more, or if you want to collab and shoot. 

Omar.  

High Five Friday

Five Things that have made my week better. 

1. Quote: " When it comes to being true, it means true to me" - Kanye
2. Podcast: "How I built this" - Haim Saban (Power Rangers)
3. Music: "Water" By roto
4. Personal Development: I have been using the timer app to keep track of my day and see where I am spending my time. (Highly recommend)
5. Personal Health: I have been drinking 10oz of water first thing when I wake up, and right before I go to bed. It has made waking up easier, and going to bed feel healthier. 

I am constantly trying to improve little by little. I hope these things will inspire you to be a little better throughout your day/week. 

-Omar. 

Product Shots for Tobacco Motorwear

Tobacco Motorwear is a Los Angeles based company that specializes in kevlar apparel for the motorcyclist. I recently shot some product for their new "California Riding Shirt",  a kevlar lined long sleeve.

How I shoot outdoor product.

When I shoot product and lifestyle at the same time, I try to keep things as authentic as possible. I like to have two to three locations scouted beforehand and have a focus at each location. Keeping in mind angles, colors, and lighting. 

With the location, I try to keep the brand image and goal in mind. Here we shot all outdoors and street. 

Enjoy the Gallery. If you are in need of some product photography, please MESSAGE ME. 

Not your average newborn shoot!

Not your average newborn shoot! 

Baby Maxwell

Sawyer and Christen recently introduced little Maxwell into this amazing world and they wanted some baby photos done! 

Rather than going the alternative route of being in a studio, they hired me to photograph them in the comfort of their home for an authentic feel. Shouldn't family photography capture true emotion? I think so. Here is a sample of some of the photos we shot! 

If you're wanting to book me for a similar shoot, contact me HERE and let's get so work! 

Los Angeles, Tucson, Belden Town, and SLC.

In the past two weeks I have been to Los Angeles, Tucson AZ, Belden CA, and here in SLC working and collaborating with friends.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be working and collaborating with amazing companies like Even Stevens, Tobacco Motorwear Company, X&G, DAMN SON, and Klicker.

Each one makes me stretch and push myself to make shit happen. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not stoked on life or the project I'm working on. Here's a quick shakedown of the past couple weeks.

1: Tucson AZ with Even Stevens: They just opened their 13th location. what's the big deal about that? easy, 13 unique locations, 3 years, and over ONE MILLION sandwiches donated. Their team has expanded to over 400 employees. All of "witch" have insane devotion and love to the brand. Which makes the experience all the more unique. I will for sure elaborate on this trip a lot more in a future post because I was fortunate to follow the owner Michael to the opening of this location. But, for reals, if you're a business owner, take note as to how ES! is ran and functions. There's a reason they are number one.

2: LA: I went there for three things. Sourcing apparel for DamnSon! photoshoot with Tobacco, and to meet with K-Swiss. I did a photoshoot in the morning, drove to LA (10 hours) and went to work. The main thing I want to point out is, BE READY for a business pitch at all times and stay focused. I got distracted by the awe of Los Angeles that I feel my trip could have been executed much better. None the less I made shit happen and I'm stoked with what I learned on that 3 day trip. It was just me and my ambition.

3: X&G / DAMN SON! - Just wrapped up my first festival with the boys in Belen town CA. Emissions Festival 2017. This small festival was insane and packed with stories to say the least. Because of my ambition to start a record label years ago, I'm now traveling with the future of Bass Music. X&G played the main stage at 2am. Seeing fans grove to their music and making new friends is what the music culture is all about. The next generation of hungry producers. With DS! it's great to see the business side of things like fashion, lingo, and beats. I'm hungry, more than I've ever been.

I'll keep grinding. I'll keep missing these post because I can't keep up. But when I do keep up, I'll share what I can. If you read, thanks for reading.

Much love.

O. 

Omar Prestwich

New York with X&G

If you have never gone to New York, GO! it's such a rad place. It has so much life, movement, and culture that you can't help but feel motivated and inspired. 

Two things about NYC I was hella stoked for 1: Shooting photos of my friends X&G and 2: VAYNER MEDIA, the gods of social media. We stayed in Manhattan so we could be close to everything. The touristy places were chill for like 1 min, but the real gold was everywhere else. The buildings, endless traffic, and I all the fresh style that the people have. I felt like I needed to step up my shoe game after being there. If you're into streetwear fashion, music, and art, this is a MUST Check out. 

It was pretty insane just casually hanging with rock stars like Josh Pan, 88 Rising, and Sayer. All the dudes were hella nice and focused on music and creating the next big thing. I guess it makes sense why they are killing it right? I know I am leaving NYC motivated to push Damn Son! and myself to limits I didn't think were possible.  

Here are some pics of the show and the city! Checkout X&G, Josh Pan, and Sayer. 

Addicted To Distractions

If you're anything like I am, I get lost in the endless scroll of instagram, facebook, and now snapchat stories. It's like a weird hypnotic circle that goes from one social media platform to the next, then back to the start. 

Last week I was listening to Darren Hardy's (p.s. there is a lot of gold in this) keynote speech on focused work, he said that we are "addicted to distractions" and that the super achievers of our modern day have "radical focus". I've become addicted to personal development so I'm totally putting myself on the spot here because this is something I'm personally working on.

I know I get HELLA distracted, and fast. Seeing my phone light up with a text, tweet, email, or whatever notification and I'll immediately check and see what it is. Even if it's just a glance. But more often than not, that glance turns into a minute or two or 10. Or, I'll have a friend show me something funny I'll get distracted, show them something funny, and there goes the spiral of memes. Do that multiple times a day, and YUP, there goes the day, there goes the unfinished task, there goes your train of thought etc.  I'm not saying that social media is bad, HELL NO, I freakin' love this stuff. I know that for me, these little distractions take the one thing we can NEVER GET BACK, time. 

We want to see everything people are doing, wheather you admit it or not. 

My personal challenge for this week is to track my time/key objectives better. I'm going to do this via Vlog and planed out daily tasks. Feel free to join me, I'd love to see how you work on having radical focus. I'm doing this because I have goals I need to achieve, and I know there is NO WAY I'll be able to achieve those goals if I can't master the art of radical focus.  

Have a rad week, stay focused, and kick some ass. 

Omar. 

Family Mexico Cruise

When I tell people that my family is "Big", they don't believe me. Until I name off my 7 brothers and 1 sister.  Now double that number, because most of my brothers are married, and you've got my family of 20 crazies. 

We recently took a family cruise over Christmas break to Mexico. It was a very chill 5 day getaway. It was my first time Visiting Catalina and like my 3rd time visiting Ensenada. I'll be honest, I was SUPER worried that my family was going to clash a lot and that there would be hella drama. But, to my surprise, everyone got along, and made for some incredible memories. 

I learned a lot about my family by observing them behind a lens. All my brothers (and sister), have become outstanding men, leaders, entreprenuers, and exceptional spouses. Yet, I still see them as my little punk ass brothers. We still tease eachother, boss eachother around, wrestle, and act like we are the 8 brothers from Spanish Fork Utah. What really made my trip special was observing my Father and Mother as a 30 year old man. I loved watching them smile as they interacted with their grown kids and grandchildren. Sometimes they would just watch and smile. It was super special to me. 

If you've read this far, I challenge you to reach out to family once a week and spend focused time with them. I've been doing this for the past few months now, and it's honestly brought me closer to them and made me appreciate them more.

Cheers.  Enjoy the gallery below. 

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Munich, Germany.

Munich: 

This place was so rad I don't even know where to start. I arrived to Munich via train from Frankfurt Sept 26th, 2016. The train station was so dope and had an airport feel to it. People from all over the world were traveling here for Oktoberfest. I couldn't stop smiling as I knew I was a stranger in another part of the world. I was the foreigner. I didn't know the language, I couldn't understand it, and I felt so happy. 

Underneath the city are shopping plazas as well as train stops leading to other parts of the Munich. Everything felt so fast paced and energetic. Their train system rocks btw!  Very easy to understand and get around. When I felt lost, I would just ask someone for help and without hesitation I was always assisted. The people in this city are very beautiful, professional, and well dressed. Riding pedal bikes as a form of transportation is super common amongst the people in this area. 

The Englischer Garten, "English Garden", is a huge park located in the center of Munich (Similar to New York's Central park). It's a nice place to relax, walk, or jog away from the city. Very beautiful and peaceful. 

There is so much history within a few blocks that it makes sightseeing fun and easy. 

Oktoberfest: 

To experience the world's largest beer festival is something I wish everyone could experience at least once in their lifetime.  I wasn't sure what to expect so I was incredibly surprised at what I saw. Massive taverns filled with hundreds and even thousands of people just laughing, drinking, and singing. Celebrating culture. If you don't have a table reserved, good luck getting a beer. You can't help but get into the spirit and dress up in their attire. There is also a giant fair going on so there's more than just drinking. Food, rides, and sightseeing as the festival is in the middle of some historical sites. 

Dachau Concentration Camp:

Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp that was opened in Germany. The gate at the entrance has contains the slogan "Arbiet macht frei" which means, "work will make you free".  

This was a wild thing to experience. Seeing and standing in a massive camp where people were sent to die for being Jewish is very humbling. This part of my journey was held with much respect as I stood in a place where there was so much death and sadness. I walked through the process and saw where the prisoners got gassed, dumped, and burnt. You could honestly feel the death in that camp. It was definitely a place of reverence and sadness. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Munich. I spent almost a week there and only got to see a small portion of the city. I can't wait to go back and explore more of the city and sites. 

Consistency

July was an interesting month with unexpected trials.  My camera was stolen, I lost a client at work, I was sick and unmotivated for a week, and poor planning on my part cost me some financial loss.  When weird obstacles like this happen, I put my headphones on, lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement. 

I was totally surprised at how my July running stats ended up. Most of the time I felt like I wasn't pushing myself hard enough. But instead of making excuses as to why NOT to run, I just made sure to do it everyday as a form of therapy. 

Take Away:

Never let things keep you down, keep moving forward, one step at a time. You'll be surprised what the end result brings.  Normally when running I think of beating previous goals. This month I only focused on being consistent, even if that was only doing one mile a day. By being consistent and always running a little extra, I ended up CRUSHING 4 personal records. I ran my fastest mile (6:19) , fastest 10k (43:27), and had my best one hour distance run (8.6mi). 

With all the chaos in my mind, ONE track that I felt described my emotions and motivated me a lot was by Levitate called "Gun Shots" 

2015 Highlights

2015 left me with a lot of experiences that I did not expect, but I am very thankful for having. I figure this is a great time to share with you three experiences and accomplishments I had that helped me grow. I'd also like to hear about your 2015 experience, so feel free to leave a comment below. 

K-Swiss "The Board":  This was the most unexpected thing that happened this year. K-Swiss held an open call for young entreprenuers to help launch a rebrand of their shoes. Qualified professionals from all over the globe submitted applications and only 100 were chosen, I was super fortunate to have been one of these hundred. I was able to come up with shoe concepts, slogans, create a give back program, and shoot pictures. I grew in so many ways as I was given different tasks to work on. I can't express my gratitude for this opportunity. 

San Francisco Marathon: Running has become a normal part of my life over the past few years. Training for a 26.2 mile run however was something completely different. At first it's easy, then it become a mental battle and straight commitment. The race has changed my life. Battling myself mentally throughout the race, never stopping (not even for a bathroom break), and pushing through the aching of knees, legs, and feet, just to cross the finish line taught me that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. No matter how hard it is at the moment, once that finish line is crossed, (or task accomplished) the pain seems like it was never there, and only the reward remains. It's something I highly recommend to anyone.  

"Best Branded Label" Award: I run a small record label I started in 2012. It's been so awesome to see this small project grow and be recognized on a national level. this year I focused really hard on one thing, MUSIC. I wanted to have the outside world look at DAMN SON! and see a music infused brand. I was super surprised and humbled when Symphonic Distribution, awarded us "Best Branded Label" for 2015. 

My main takeaway from 2015 is "PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE".  I had to get out of my comfort zone so many times, if I had not done so I don't believe I would have had these experiences. You never know who's observing, or what opportunities can come if you just put yourself out there and try. So much more happened and a lot of growth came with it. I'm thankful for all that came my way, and I can't wait for the challenges of 2016. 

DAMN SON! in PDX

One of the best things about being involved with music is the freedom to travel and meet awesome people. This past week we (Fransis Derelle and I) were able to visit the awesome city of Portland and play with the FAK Wednesday crew. The vibes were awesome and the music was on point.

What I really loved the most was how friendly every person I met was. The people in the streets all said a friendly "Hello". I was able to link up with a good friend and amazing photographer Oreeeo to shoot some pictures. Loved every day I spent there. If you haven't been, I'd plan a week long trip there and explore the city both day and night time, as well as the surrounding nature. It's worth it.