My Current Favorite Things

Now that Broken Patterns is getting published, my life just got a shit ton more hectic. Not like it wasn’t bad enough, with holidays and getting two books self published by the end of the year. I’m going a little nuts, and cutting way back on some recreational activities I’ve been indulging in. In fairness, my recent recreational activities have been online shopping and watching makeup tutorials by twenty somethings that make me feel old and clumsy. So, no great loss there.

But my normal crazy scheduling and super productivity tips aren’t going to be enough. So, I’m evolving. Here’s a list of things that I’m trying to keep my sanity.

Bullet Proof Coffee

I know, I’m late to the game. But I was convinced that this was the dumbest thing I had ever heard of when it was first suggested to me that I drink coffee with butter and coconut oil in it.

*Then a blogger on Buzzfeed did it*, and was simply glowing about the results. So, I’m trying it. My recipe is the same as hers, with some alterations.

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Half and half that I don’t measure.
• A dash of vanilla, because I’m prissy.
• Two measurement cups (roughly) of Starbucks French Roast or Morning Joe coffee. But any coffee you like is fine. I’m just spoiled.

It’s been a week, and so far I can tell you that I feel pretty good. I feel like I’m getting a special treat every morning, so I’m a little more eager to get my ass out of bed. I don’t want to stop and get a shot in the dark at my local coffee shop, so I’m saving money. (Shot in the dark: a shot of espresso with a normal serving of coffee poured over it. Because I like my coffee infused with more coffee.) The best part? I’m full until lunch!

Batching

I participated in Melissa Cassera’s International Batch Day on September 29^th. I know I’ve toyed around with the thought of batching, but I’ve fallen off the wagon. This was a great reminder of what I can do when I dedicate myself for a whole day. I know, a lot of you don’t have that luxury, but even an hour of committed time to one project can help.

Honestly, I’ve gotten myself so accustomed to doing just a little on each project every day. This was a great chance to break that cycle. I’m back to scheduling weekly batch days. If I’ve got multiple projects that need my attention, I’ll break the day up, but I try to commit no less than an hour to each. That’s no email, no interruptions time. This is so much easier now that the kids are back in school.

I cut out half of the blogs that I read

I realized that it was getting to the point that I didn’t even want to open Feedly. I’d followed so many blogs that were just not delivering information that I wanted or needed. They weren’t entertaining, they were boring. And I was sifting through these to get to the posts that I wanted to read, often missing good content!

So I cut waaaay back. Here’s a list of the blogs I’m currently subscribed to.

• BoHo Berry
• Marketing Creatively
• Melissa Cassera
• ByRegina
• The Middle Finger Project
• Zen Pencils
• TipsyWriter

Do you see a theme? These are all dynamic, amazing ladies that kick ass and live to inspire others.

I’m watching two shows, and that’s a last priority

Really, I used to watch too much tv. I’m down to AHS and Ray Donovan at this point. This doesn’t count marathoning The Simpsons while we’re making dinner and tidying up the house, but that’s more background noise than anything.

I’m taking a yoga class

We finally got a membership to our local Y, and I am taking full advantage. It helps that I walk pas the Y to go home. So, we’ve been swimming once or twice a week, I’ve been stopping to use the gym at least once a week after work. Best of all, I started attending a weekly yoga class. I’ve got all the elasticity of a hammer, and I’m about as balanced as a bowling ball on the head of a pin, but I’m learning!

I bought a toner, and a BB cream

I realized that, as much as I love my makeup, it was eating up a lot of my morning. Applying primer, foundation, concealer and setting powder will do that. So I bought a BB cream for mornings when I need to get shit done. Which is pretty much every morning.

I also started using a toner, which saves me through the day. It closes my pores, so the makeup I put on doesn’t get a change to set into them, requiring me to add more concealer through the day. It’s the little things, sometimes.

I made a makeup crash kit.

Also makeup related, I decided that I needed a crash kit. This is the no brainer makeup. The things that require no skill, but do make me look like I tried. Now, I’m not a beauty blogger, but I will share what I’m using. Keep in mind that this is what I like for my face. You might need something totally different in your crash kit. You might also have better things to spend your money on than a $23 dollar mascara.

• Too Faced Better than Sex mascara
• BB Cream. Right now I’m using one by Rimmel, but it’s too dark for my skin when it’s not tan.
• Rimmel Brow This Way.
• Nyx Super Skinny Eye Marker
• Nyx soft Matte lip cream, in Stockholm or Cannes
• Urban Decay De-Slick setting spray

Everything on that list, except the lipstick, lasts all day. So I can put this on, and know I look put together no matter what’s going on. It’s superficial, but it makes me feel better.

I’m getting up at the same time every day, which is 6:00

Yes, even on days I don’t have to go to the day job. It blows, but it means I have a whole day to write on my days off. It also means that I don’t dread going back to work as much. I like my day job, so the only thing I really dreaded was getting up at my appointed time. This neutralizes it.

I don’t know how much of this is going to stick, but it’s what I’m doing right now. I’ll keep you posted.

Are you trying anything new? Let us know in the comments below.