Make the Most of the Morning

The mornings are a beautiful and powerful thing. Especially when you wake up to them running along side the Pacific and watching the sun rise over the Bay Bridge.

While not all of us can be as fortunate to live in San Francisco, there are things we can do to get the most out of the morning.

I have found I am the most alert and engaged in the mornings- even before coffee.  The tough part is making sure I go to bed with enough time to sleep for at least 7.5 hour (I’m kind of a baby that way) and then wake up and go for a run AND start stimulating my mind. Oh, and most importantly, making sure I don’t awake with a head aching from the outing the night before. Hangovers =  immediate productivity kill.

With this new epitome of the awesomeness that is the morning, I have stared a list of things, for my own sake, of what to do and what NOT to do in order to make the most of my mornings. I know many who could also benefit from this so thought I’d share!

Things to avoid:

• Checking your email. Arianna Huffington recently said in her Inbound 2013 keynote address that 90% of emails are pointless.  I believe she’s correct.  Therefore checking your email can sometimes be a mindless exercise that doesn’t bring you any benefit. Wait until you get to work, or even after you get the most important stuff at work done.
• Checking Facebook.  There’s no doubt about it, many of us, myself included, will subconsciously get on Facebook and waste several minutes perusing a newsfeed with updates from other people’s lives.  Save this for when you need a 5 minute break at work. I mean, don’t get on Facebook at work. Ever. 😉 This rule can apply to other social networks as well, especially say Instagram.
• Cleaning.  Sometimes I will wake up in the morning and start cleaning my room.  Again- something that needs to be done, but can also be fairly mindless and shouldn’t take up fresh morning time.
• Getting on the phone.  Sometimes this cannot be avoided.  As I live on the other side of the country far from my dear friends and family, this is often the only time people can catch me. But I try to avoid jumping on the phone, especially with family and friends, whenever possible. May be harsh- but in reality these are the people I care most about having a sincere conversation with and when that’s the case, that task can overtake the entire morning.
• Chatting on g-chat.  Your email shouldn’t be opened so this should be an easy one to avoid.
• Watching TV. Some nights when I’m extremely exhausted, I fall asleep when the latest episode of Sons of Anarchy is on a commercial. I miss the last 10 minutes. It’s the worst.  But I find that if I try and watch those last 10 minutes in the morning, I instantly set the tone for the day and end up not being as productive as I’d hoped.

Things to try out:

• Reading.  I usually come across at least several blog posts and articles a day that I want to read, but don’t always have the time to.  By setting them aside and choosing at least one to read every morning I find that stimulates my brain enough to start being creative.
• Running.  It’s a great way to further clear your conscious and maybe hash out some of the stuff that’s really been bothering you. After a full night’s rest I always approach problems with a better perspective (usually something along the lines of ‘it’s not the end of the world.’)
• Stretching. Not a runner? I understand. Kind of.  Why not try stretching or doing some yoga?! It’ll loosen you up and who doesn’t love stretching?!
• Writing. I wish I could wake up and write for 2 hours straight every morning.  I probably could if I could wake up earlier. Shoulda, coudla, woulda. No but seriously, if you write for anything- try doing it in the morning.  For me, it’s when I’m the least distracted and the most clear-headed so I find writing becomes a much more seamless process and less daunting task.
• Create a list.  When I create a list of things I want to get done in the morning it helps me stay on task and avoid the things like checking Facebook.
• Make your lunch the night before.  Anyway you can save time by preparing for the next day the night before will give you more time in the morning.  By having your lunch all packed, your boots tied tight (‘Billy Madison’ reference), no but seriously, having your lunched packed, automatically setting up your coffee to brew, etc. are steps that will give you more time for what you want to do in the morning.

The best part about this whole process is that by the time I get to work, I feel quite accomplished, which only inspires me to get more done at work.  Not only is it inspiring, it has me ready to focus on work instead of thinking about the things I would rather be doing in the morning!

Satisfying Work

My apologies for no photo last Friday! As you can probably tell, I have started to post less frequently.  This blog has always been an outlet for me and something I have thoroughly enjoyed and loved, when it’s not and it becomes a chore, I don’t want to contribute.

That being said this photo holds some serious significance and I felt it was well worth sharing for a “favorite photo” post.

Last week I was back in New England for a marketing conference.  It was great.  Except what I didn’t account for was that conferences are intense.  Especially this one, Inbound 13. I didn’t account for the fact that I was already going to be overloaded with new information, so I assumed I could manage a whole boatload of other work and catching up with some very dearly loved and missed friends. Wrong.

Needless to say the ten days flew by with very little sleep involved and I was left rushing from moment to moment taking notes, physically and mentally, as I went. It was amazing but incredibly intense and difficult attempting not to let any of the moments be fleeting.

This photo started my trip.  The night after I arrived back in Maine we went out on the boat and had a party at my parents house.  All the chairs and tables for the party and the coolers had to be washed and the tomato plants had to be watered and fed.  While my father quickly avoided my mother’s plea and snuck down to the boat and my sister jumped in the shower to avoid my mother’s nagging, I gladly turned up my music and grabbed the hose.

In a world where I am constantly behind a computer and caught up in the hustle and bustle of a city, to be outdoors, in my bare feet and feel the sunshine on my back and do something so simple was probably the most satisfying work I have done in months.

I cannot convey how big the smile was on my face as I fed and watered the tomato plants listening to my dad’s rock ‘n’ roll. It was something so good, something so different from what I do every other day of my life. Unfortunately, it seemed to have a lot more meaning than everything I do in my day-to-day life as well.

I can assure you, up until I arrived back in San Francisco, this was one of the last peaceful moments I had on my trip. But it stuck with me as I attempted to truly live in all of the moments of last week.  As life has now slowed down to a manageable roll with decent hours of sleep, I find practicing living in a moment last week has become a much easier reality to do this week.

Life is beautiful. Don’t let it pass you by.

Make Time for Joy

Recently I’ve been continuously occupied. Whether it be with having fun with friends, working for the agency, working for my other client, reading/learning or contemplating some potential big life changes, I’m finding after a few days I have to stop, recharge and focus on me.  Because ultimately, I’ve found that when I do that, all the other things, be it work or play, seem to improve and become that much richer experiences.

The other day I was reading The Simply Luxurious Life, one of my faves, when I came across the “11 Ways to Improve Your Life” post.  It was inspiring.

Here was number 6:

6. Get to Know What you Truly Enjoy

Take a moment today to make a list of 10-15 things you enjoy doing on any given day. My list might include sipping hot tea at the end of the day, bringing home an arrangement of fresh flowers or cooking a favorite meal while sipping a glass of wine at the end of the week. Now, try to incorporate at least one of these enjoyable activities in every day of your life. Simply having something to look forward to each and every day can improve the quality of your life.

I started mentally making a list the other day.  Here’s what I came up with…

On any given day I enjoy:

1. Music: pretty much any genre from new indie to classical piano to Louis Armstrong.
2. Dancing (I’ve recently started having mini, solo 5 minute dance parties. They generally involve lip-synching into a hairbrush. INCREDIBLE mood enhancer.)
3. Red wine (ESPECIALLY when accompanied by cheese)
4. Drinking coffee and reading the New York Times in the morning
5. Taking 5 minutes to read “#WhatShouldWeCallMe” when work gets too stressful
6. Writing in my journal
7. Reading a good book
8. Watching a hopelessly romantic movie
9. Calling my dad and making him laugh
10. Pasta
11. Stretching
12. Running by the ocean
13. Taking photographs
14. Telling someone I love them, and truly, deeply, genuinely, meaning it.
15. Lying in the sunshine.

Well, that’s my list! I’m now making a point to mix up this list and take the time to do AT LEAST one of these things every day. Actively setting out to make time for it makes it that much more enjoyable when it arrives. 🙂

What’s on your list?

Bacteria & Education

I just read a great article about education from a surprising source. Perry Marshall, the ad words guy.  I say surprising because usually his e-blasts contain information and/or sources for marketing tools.

I read his book, “The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising,” a while ago and signed up for his e-mail list. It more or less taught me everything I know about Facebook ads.  Ironically, I just started reading his Google ad words book for work.  His books and marketing insights are widely regarded as incredibly intelligent and helpful resources.

Anyway, his email today was an insightful and personal touch to the importance of continuing education.

“Melissa,

My 8 year old, Z-Man, got a science kit for Christmas. It’s got petri dishes, so yesterday we started growing bacteria.

We put sugar and gelatin in the dishes. The instructions said to take a cotton swab and get some bacteria from wherever you want. So we rubbed our cotton swab in…

-Dirt

-Dishrag

-Lint from between Z-Man’s toes

-Boogers

We smeared them onto the gelatin. In a few days, we’ll witness thriving colonies of bacteria multiplying in the corner of his bedroom.

I said “Hey Z-Man, come here, let me show you something.” I drew him a picture of how bacteria divide and multiply.

“These babies double every 20 minutes. Here’s a calculator. Let’s start with 1 and then start multiplying by 2.”

As he punched numbers, I wrote them down on this piece of paper:

By the time we got to hour #2, he started giggling. “WOW! This is going to go to a million!”

“Yeah, and that’s only gonna take about six hours.” I asked him: “THEN what happens?”

“I don’t know!”

We kept going. One million, two million, four million. He doesn’t even know how to read the numbers anymore. He’s rolling around on the sofa, giggling.

“Z-Man, you can hardly even see a million bacteria cuz they’re so small. They’re just a speck. By tomorrow, you’ll see a little bit. Then what’s going to happen? Are they going to grow and grow until they eat our house?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

He didn’t know. He crinkled his face: “Yes. Maybe?”

He definitely knows that by next week those furry critters are gonna be swimming all over the place. Which colony will be bigger? The one from the dirt, or the one from the boogers?

There’s nothing like exponential growth to fire your imagination. Z-Man GETS it. Them suckers are growing. You can already see tiny colonies form and it’s only been one day.

You know what this is just like?

It’s like your own knowledge, education and wisdom.

It SEEMS like those things are linear. But they’re not. They’re exponential.

Why?

Because every NEW thing you learn connects to everything you already know.

If you know 4 things, there are 6 connections between them. But if you know 6 things, there are 15 connections:

Add a 7th and connections expand to 21. Everything’s connected. Your knowledge grows one step at a time, but your ability to apply it grows exponentially. It multiplies like Z-Man’s bacteria boogers.

You should get all fired up by this, because the difference between a tiny speck of bacteria and a frothing colony that’s shoving the lid off that petri dish is only a few days.

This is why a 70 year old man or woman who feels creaky every morning can still be brimming with wisdom and be a force of nature. It’s why the late Peter Drucker was one of the most sought-after business consultants, even at the ripe old age of 90.

Glenn Livingston says, “Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in 1 year and underestimate what they can accomplish in 5.” Amen brother.

Right now you have problems that have taken you years to solve, that 2 years from now you will be able to solve in FIVE MINUTES.

That’s why you must never give up on your vision, your commitment to education, your passion for excellence, or your dreams. Your power as an active agent in the world is exponential. Never, ever forget that.

Perry Marshall

P.S.: Which bacteria do you think will grow the fastest? The ones from the dirt, the dishrag, the lint from between Z-Man’s toes, or boogers? Cast your vote on my blog.”

2012 Worlds Drug Report visual

This morning while perusing the news, I found this very interesting statistical data about the Worlds drug use.

I came across this article on the Guardian that depicts Andy Cotgreave’s visual created from the 2012 Worlds Drug Report.

Some surprising stats gathered by the Guardian:

• 230 million people around the world – 1 in 20 of us – took illicit drugs in the last year
• The report also says that problem drug users, mainly heroin – and cocaine-dependent people number about 27 million, roughly 0.6% of the world adult population. That’s 1 in every 200 people.

What I found most interesting was that while the USA does not hold the highest rank of any drug use, in fact we aren’t even in the top three highest drug use rates for any one type of drug, the USA still has the second highest amount of drug related deaths.

Now perhaps you can say that it is impossible to accurately report this data. Perhaps, the US is more accurate in determining cause of death.

Or perhaps it is just that in the United States we tend to have such a problem with excess.  We want it all and we want it fast.

I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes by the Gaslight Anthem: “American girls, they want the whole world, they want every last little light in New York City.”

While the line wasn’t meant to apply to drugs what so ever, I think it taps into a very accurate mentality that many of us Americans- boys and girls- have.

This mentality that we can have it all.  We HAVE to have it all.  We have to have the BEST most INTENSE experience.  Everything has to be above and beyond. The concept of moderation is often lost.

With this mentality I  draw two conclusions form the statistics about death caused by drugs in the United States. Perhaps, either we as Americans need to get higher and higher and can never be high enough and eventually exceed or limit AND/OR perhaps our drug dealers are greedy and cut “pure” drugs with higher amounts of toxins that can more easily kill you then just the drug itself causing deaths from ingestion.

These are just ideas that the image stimulates in my brain.  They are by no means supported by any facts. They are just observations of this statistical data and my experience with American culture and the observation of drug use in our country.

What are your thoughts???

peanut butter, bacon & Mt. Katahdin

 

This weekend I hiked Mt. Katahdin, Maine’s highest point at just over 5,200 feet and the end of the Appalachian Trail.  I had never hiked it before and it was something I felt I needed to do before leaving the state of Maine.

I also ate a peanut butter and bacon sandwich for the first time, something I never felt the need to do until after hiking Abol trail for several hours.  It was VERY delicious and another first.

Abol trail is the most direct route to Baxter Peak making it a pretty intense hand-over-foot hike for part of the way.  The trail started at our campground at about 1,200 feet.  We managed to hike to the peak and back down in 5 hours.

It was pretty hot on Sunday when we hiked, which only added to the challenge and the post delusion and exhaustion felt upon finishing. Despite the low energy levels, we were feeling pretty accomplished for the day.  My legs, still unable to run today, are still feeling it.

Why I want a 9-to-5 job reason #5: reading.

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”  ~Charles W. Eliot

“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”  ~Mark Twain

“Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own.”  ~William Hazlitt

“In reading, a lonely quiet concert is given to our minds; all our mental faculties will be present in this symphonic exaltation.”  ~Stéphane Mallarmé

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”  ~Richard Steele, Tatler, 1710

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read.  One does not love breathing.”  ~Harper Lee

Reading, like grocery shopping, is a past time, a hobby even, that I think many people do without even realizing how special it is.

I love to read.  Given my current hours, I’m trying to make more time to read before work.  But due to all the other work I’ve taken on, I spend most of my morning, as I’ve discussed, running around like a crazy person multi-tasking my behind off, not always so successfully.

As I get out of work much later at night, reading instantly puts me to sleep if I try and read before bed.

I am trying to take 30 minutes before I have to leave for work to sit down and read, but it doesn’t always work out that way.  Usually I’m using those 30 minutes to make one of my infamous make-shift lunches or tie up emails, etc. that I did not get to during the day.

Reading is, no doubt, a relaxing activity.  It’s hard for me to spend 30 minutes of my go, go, go-style day relaxing, but I am trying!

However, due to the growing stack of books in my room, the activity now even seems daunting at times!  How am I ever going to read that many books?!

How it is that I can turn a relaxing, enjoyable activity into a seemingly impossible task says something about my mental state these days and my inability to CHILL OUT.

Hence the above, said implemented 30 minute reading program, greatly encouraged by those concerned with my stress levels these days.

I keep reminding myself that I’m working towards something and that soon a sense of normalcy and some more free time will return.

The idea of coming home, cooking dinner, then snuggling up on the couch to read a book is so, so attractive to me.

The two week grocery shopping plan.

Recently I wrote a post expressing one of the reasons that I want a 9-to-5 job is so that I can go grocery shopping more and cook dinner more frequently and with more variety. But, as I don’t have a 9-t0-5 job, grocery shopping is traditionally a little different for me.

I have mastered the grocery shopping trip experience for someone who doesn’t have a whole lotta money or time.

In and out. Two weeks supply.  Sixty minutes or less.

It’s a true talent that has come with time and lots of practice.

First and foremost, a list is key.  I must have a list to keep me focused otherwise I get easily distracted instantaneously by the unique and exotic fruits, vegetables and flowers when walking into Whole Foods.

Due to my schedule, I don’t very often eat dinner so that’s an important factor to keep in mind as well. If you aren’t in the restaurant industry, I strongly discourage you from following this plan.

I like to keep it down to the basics, which means pretty repetitive forms of breakfast and lunch, however you will note areas where variety can come into play.  Here’s a pretty basic breakdown of  my eating habits and the necessary ingredients.

Upon waking up I have some coffee, half and half and then make a protein shake.  This involves vanilla whey protein powder, 4 bags of frozen fruit (you can mix it up and try all kinds of combos!- a new favorite is pineapple and berries), almond milk and occasionally I mix it up and throw some almonds into the mix.

After doing some running and writing I usually have a mid morning snack, an english muffin with either peanut butter, jelly or butter and maybe another mid morning snack of an apple or whatever other snack like food is around.

For lunch, this is where the most variety comes in, I generally pick one or two of the following combos…

I usually buy some produce for the first week.  This is usually limited to tomatoes, cukes and maybe a few avocados dependent on what lunch combos I have planned for the next two weeks.

A vast selection of condiments is necessary to the two week program. It takes time to build.

• Veggie burgers, pickles, a condiment (there are plenty of other condiments in the fridge to keep rotating, so one is enough.) buns, sliced cheese and the above mentioned veggies.

The “pasta and condiments” lunch.

• whole wheat pasta, parmesan cheese, condiments (This is a go-to classic that has been a staple at many points in my post high school life)
• Sandwich thins, turkey, sliced cheese, pickles
• 
  
• Beans, rice, shredded cheese, hot sauce, and, I recently introduced whole wheat wraps to this category. unfortunately my “wrapping” skills aren’t exactly up to par, so it’s usually just beans and rice on top of a wrap eaten with a fork and knife.
• cans of soup, rice can easily be added to this to make a pretty hearty lunch

• Rice, vegetables, salad dressing, feta cheese

(I try to cook in bulk as often as possible to save some time)

Keep in mind that I don’t buy all of these items every time.  I usually only buy one to two kind of lunch options, usually that combine ingredient usage.  Further, I usually buy coffee, half and half and protein powder every other week.

Therefore my list usually costs around $100. True story.

The next key factor to keep in mind would be the utilization of free snacks, food and meals.  However it is important not to OVER utlizie.  No one likes a mooch, and of course, the incident that sparked the Michael Kors project was not pretty.

However, I find my grandparents are always willing to prepare me a lunch and my mom, who recently lost a lot of weight and doesn’t eat that much any more, is always looking to give away food.

Why my mom packs leftovers EVER is beyond me.  She never eats them.  Sometimes I’ve come home with 3 to 4 Tupperware containers of my parents dinners.  Enter free lunch and potentially extending the grocery shopping trip another few days.

Canadian bacon snack.

Also, my parents always buy in bulk, packs of Canadian bacon, boxes of pasta, things of that nature.  So I usually can score a few snack/base lunch items.  Recently, my mom bought a bunch of steaks from a door-to-door meat salesman (yup, in midcoast Maine this actually exists).  My dad, a true carnivore, refuses to eat the steaks that he deems not up to par.  So now I get a few frozen steaks every time I go home.  Unfortunately, they are almost all gone.  There’s also the gift basket items, such as different jams and packs of english muffins that are of no use to her.

I think this post may give you some more insight as to why I crave a 9-to-5 job and normal eating habits so badly.

The ‘quarter-life crisis’ is the new ‘mid-life crisis.’

I just finished my last interview for my surf story and am about to set out to work on writing it.  But first, a snack: a cup of coffee and several spoonfuls of raw cookie dough.  I haven’t gone grocery shopping in weeks as part of the save-for-California financial program I’m on.  Sweatpants, slippers and big comfy sweater on I can’t help but laugh at myself and prey, ‘please let this story get published.’

These days I like to think I’m beautifully enduring a ‘quarter-life crisis.’  I am almost 25.  I just resigned from a management position to become a full-time bar tender so that I could spend more time doing what I love.  To pursue my passion for writing and my desire to break into the public relations industry.  And the thing is, I’m actually happier!  I am thrilled to be eating cookie dough and furiously writing before traveling to LA with my friends on Thursday.  That actually encompasses a lot of things that I love: sugar, writing, traveling and spending time with my friends, helllooooo!

I look around, and while I’m only 24, the idea that there are people who are my age and just absolutely killing it and doing what they love makes me envious and gives me a heightened sense of anxiety, but is also inspirational!  Why can’t I do that to?  I can.  I do not have to sign a contract and take a salary and live a “stable” lifestyle. That “stable” lifestyle idea actually makes me feel very mentally UNstable.

For generations before it was, without a question in your mind, you went to college, you majored in a profession, you got the job that correlated with that major and planned on doing it for the next 40-years.  You married your college sweetheart started saving for a house and retirement.  Then after doing the same thing day in and day out you woke up realizing there is very little that you love about the life around you, enter mid-life crisis. I’m not saying this happened/happens to everyone! But it did/does happen.

However, I think that way of life is nearing an end.  Now a days, and I guess, in a way, we can thank the down economy for this, my generation is coming to the realization of how important it is to be surrounded by what you love at a much earlier age.

If it’s so hard to get ANY kind of job, why not get the one you want?

Companies get bought and sold, technology is advancing so fast, younger, smarter people are being pumped out of universities in mass quantities every year.  Nothing is guaranteed. The world is changing rapidly at every second. It leaves us constantly questioning EVERYTHING. Our values, what we love, what we want, etc.

It’s not a ‘crisis’ so to say.  It’s actively living. It’s being in touch with our true needs, wants and desires, and it’s a beautiful thing.

While I can’t necessarily do what I love for work right away, writing or pr, I can enjoy the struggle of getting there.  Every moment becomes more significant.  Every day off, every new adventure, every new bar customer, every human interaction becomes that much more meaningful.

The difference between the ‘quarter-life crisis’ and the ‘mid-life crisis’ is that in the current ‘crisis,’ I can still laugh and enjoy the unknown.  My biggest responsibility is myself and my happiness. I don’t have responsibilities like mortgage payments, a husband and/or children. I’m enjoying the journey of getting these. Of getting to a point where I can healthily have these things, which, in turn, will theoretically make it so I appreciate them that much more when I do have them.

I love my ‘quarter life crisis,’ because it is my adventure, my journey into finding myself.

Lady Gaga launches the Born This Way Foundation

Recently, both my aunt and my grandfather shared articles with me about Lady Gaga’s anti-bullying and youth-empowerment campaign, the Born This Way Foundation (BTWF).

While I’m not really a huge fan of Gaga’s music, I greatly respect her as an individual.  She is smart, driven and completely and totally herself, no matter who doesn’t like it or understand it. I think too often we hide our individuality in attempts to “fit in” – not Gaga, and it has made all the difference, clearly!

My grandfather shared this article with me from the Harvard Gazette, that discusses the launch of Lady Gaga’s campaign at Harvard on Wednesday.

I love that the article touches on Gaga’s attempt to create a “cultural shift” in the fight against bullying.  Bullying and self-empowerment are two adjectives that are very inherent with certain qualities of human nature.  People want to be a part of something, they want to “fit-in” and too often we get confused as to how to go about doing that.

“An important part of that change, she said, includes the three pillars of the new initiative: skills, safety and opportunity. “I want everyone to feel safe in their community, school, home, whatever city you live in,” and to develop the skills needed to be a “loving, accepting, and tolerant” human being, Gaga told Winfrey.

“Once you feel safe in your environment and you acquire the skills to be a loving and accepting person, the opportunities for you are endless to become a great, functioning part of society.”

Oprah Winfrey, who interviewed the Grammy award-winning pop star on Wednesday, went on to summarize this idea.

“I believe that every human being on the planet comes with the inherent divine right to be himself and herself,” Winfrey said. “That’s what we’re here to do: to fulfill the highest expression of ourselves as human beings.”

Check out the video of the launch below:

I love when celebrities take on such important societal endeavors.  Given the amount of attention given to Lady Gaga in a single day, she really has an opportunity to help create a “cultural shift.”  Her campaign is an example in itself of self-empowerment.  She truly believes in herself; that she has the potential to make such a monumental change.  That’s a serious level of self-confidence and self-empowerment being put to good use.  She is the change she wants to see in the world, and that, being no little feat, totally rocks!