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Put the Pep Back in Your Step!

Lately I find it hard to keep my eyes open while studying, and difficult to stop from yawning in the middle of work. How can a girl concentrate on anything while wishing she was snuggled up in bed falling fast asleep? She can’t! It has become clear that I need more energy, so I decided to do a little research to see what I can do to give myself a boost. Here are some of the best tips I came up with – I guarantee you’ve heard some of these before, but some of them, or the ways some of them are meant to be done, were certainly new to me.

1. Get Enough Sleep
   We’ve all heard this one. The “you need your rest” mantra we hated as kids, but now miss oh so much. Seriously though, get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. You’d be surprised how much it helps.
2. Eat Breakfast
   Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Don’t skip it. Even if it’s just grabbing a granola bar as you race out the door, or grabbing an apple or banana from the break room at work. It’ll make a difference to how you get your day going.
3. Drink Enough Water
   8 glasses a day ladies! 6 of those glasses are supposedly best to drink before 3pm because that’s when your body does most of it’s flushing out of your systems, so re-hydrating will help that process, as well as keep you ready for action AND (this is always a plus) help keep your skin looking great.
4. Rub/Tug On Your Earlobes
   According to Chinese medicine, stimulating your earlobes also sends stimulation to the rest of your body. It also helps draw blood to your head and gets it flowing. So give your ears a little massage and a few gentle tugs when you’re feeling drowsy.
5. Stretch
   Sitting around all day is enough to make anyone drowsy. Get up and stretch, let your body get some movement. You’ll notice that you perk up a bit.
6. Work Out
   Working out releases endorphins, which in turn, release energy into your body. That pumped up feeling you get after working out? That would be those endorphins.
7. Try Deep Breathing & Meditation
   Deep breathing allows more oxygen to get into your system, giving your body more to work with. Let your stomach inflate as you inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, and deflate as you exhale slowly through your mouth, pushing out the air until you can’t anymore. Meditation and visualization can help bring you to a place where you feel fresher and are ready to tackle anything at hand. Meditation however, does take practice. But don’t give up! I promise you that once you master it, it is well worth it.
8. Take Power Naps
   No, not hour-long ones. Believe it or not, the perfect power nap lasts only 15-20 minutes. This way, your body only has time to go into the first stage of sleep, rather than going deeper and not having enough time to come out of it properly. Anything over 20 minutes can lead to waking up more exhausted than before. So set that alarm!
9. Eat Healthy, Balanced Meals
   Making sure to eat healthy and regularly is an important life skill. It helps to nourish your body and get the right nutrients into your system as the day goes on. Choose healthy snacks as well, to ensure that you are getting your energy from the correct places, and also to help you keep up your energy longer.
10. Play
    Remember how you could run around for hours as a kid? Well that’s because you loved it! Get out daily and play – literally. Do something fun with your kids, your pet, or a friend. Do something you enjoy. Make time for you to have some fun.
11. Re-evaluate Your Relationships
    Relationships can easily drain you of your energy. If you constantly have to argue with someone, work hard at keeping up a relationship, or give and not get anything back, you need to take a long hard look at those relationships. There’s a fine line between putting in the effort, and being taken advantage of or being worn down. Be careful.
12. Take Your Vitamins 
    Taking a vitamin supplement can help boost your energy (whether you have a vitamin deficiency or not) and make you healthier overall.

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27 Ways to Get More Sh!t Done

1. Create routines. Make a habit of, well, sticking to habits. Choose actions like writing emails at a certain time or hitting the gym after work, and try to do them daily. Soon that routine will happen on autopilot.

2. Get enough sleep. Whoever coined the phrase “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” didn’t have all the facts straight. Not getting enough Zzz’s could hinder productivity at work, so try to get those recommendedseven to nine hours of snooze time ^[1]!

3. Wake up earlier. If still able to squeeze in enough sleep, try extending the day by getting up an hour earlier — when it’s still quiet and there are fewer distractions.

4. Step away from the inbox. Incoming emails can be a nuisance. Make a habit to only check the inbox at certain times of the day to avoid getting sidetracked with requests and responses.

5. Make a daily to-do list. Stay away from huge to-do lists. Instead, create a daily list of realistic jobs to tackle, like folding laundry, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, or paying the cable bill. Break up big goals into micro-tasks, like going to a yoga class over getting six-pack abs, or writing a page over completing a thesis. Soon, the small things will add up to big accomplishments.

6. Make a to-don’t list: Bad habits are just as significant as good ones. So make a list of things not to do because they make you unproductive. (We’re staring at you, Netflix.)

7. Don’t multitask. Our brains aren’t wired to juggle too much at once, and we can work nearly twice as fast if we do one thing at a time ^[2]. (And nope, we’re not talking LOST time-travel.) ^[3]. So remember those childhood manners and finish tasks one at a time.

8. Silence the phone. When it comes to getting stuff done, sometimes silence is key. Turn off the cell phone ringer — that’s what voicemail is for!

9. Take a midday workout break. Can’t fathom cleaning the bathroom? Or having writers’ block? Working out during the day could actually boost productivity, so the time spent exercising could actually help us get more done later ^[4].

10. Stay healthy. Just like… don’t get sick. (It may be easier said than done.) But health and productivity go hand in hand, so be sure to maintain good health habits, like washing up after hitting the gym ^[5]!

11. Do those MITs. Nope, this isn’t college talk. MIT stands for most important tasks, and it’s a way to highlight the items that matter most on that to-do list. At the start of each day, write down a few things that must get done.

12. Hit inbox zero. Sort every email once that inbox is open. Respond, file, draft, or delete. Keeping the inbox clean is key to staying organized and on point.

13. Brainstorm. Take some time to sit and get those creative juices flowing. Without distractions, brainstorming may be the way to come up with killer ideas in record time.

14. Keep a pen and pad on hand. Make like Richard Branson and carry something to catch any useful thought that may come to mind. Get really creative and go DIY style.

15. Shut off social media. Sayonara, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Social media can be a huge time-suck. Studies have found that it can take up a significant chunk of time at the office, and may even predict lower grades in school. Let’s unpin that.

16. “Eat the frogs.” We swear it’s a real term. Do the task you’re least looking forward to first to get it out of the way. (No guarantees Prince Charming will emerge.)

17. Slow down. Read. This. Slowly. Getting stuff done isn’t always a matter of making it to the finish line first. Take time to reflect, brainstorm, and recharge.

18. Track time. Take a day to record how much time is spent writing emails, reading blogs, texting, etc. We may be surprised at how much time certain activities (ahem, browsing Pinterest) take up every day.

19. Don’t bounce around. Box off a specific amount of time for every task. Assign a chunk of the day for one project, and once that time is up, move on to the next mission.

20. Look back. Schedule some time every week to see what was accomplished and if that schedule needs tweaking for the following week.

21. Tune out. Those headphones will help tune out any distractions. Plus, others may be less likely to interrupt if they see we’re plugged in.

22. Set triggers. Leave reminders around to help remember what needs to get done. Place bills that need to be paid or books to be read out in the open. Stick reminders on the fridge!

23. Eat well. What we scarf down for lunch may do more than satisfy hunger. Certain foods, likesalmon, almonds, and carrots, can give us a much-needed boost of energy. So forgo the take-out and be picky at the cafeteria!

24. De-clutter. Get rid of anything in the way that may cause distractions. Put away the dishes, fold clothes, and get rid of excess papers on the desk.

25. Say no. Don’t stretch yourself too thin — learning to say no keeps us focused and may even ward off sickness.

26. Take a break. Carve out some quality “you” time to keep a balance between the busy world and the rest of the day. 

27. Download help. Still need to get sh!t done? Luckily, there’s an app for that.

Source: http://www.greatist.com/

 

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12 Days of Christmas Kindness

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How to Keep a Healthy Level of Insanity

I found this on a site I browse, and thought it was absolutely delightful. We all need a little bit more fun in our lives, so start with this. Send it to everyone you know, pick things on this list and do them, laugh, smile, enjoy life.

Love, love, love you all. 

1. Page yourself over the intercom. (Don’t disguise your voice.)
2. Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Always wear them one day after your boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is a different gender than you are.)
3. Make up nicknames for all your coworkers and refer to them only by these names. “That’s a good point, Sparky”. “No I’m sorry I’m going to have to disagree with you there, Sport.”
4. Send email to the rest of the company telling them what you’re doing. For example “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the bathroom.”
5. “Hi-lite” your shoes. Tell people that you haven’t lost your shoes since you did this.
6. While sitting at your desk, soak your fingers in “Palmolive.”
7. Put mosquito netting around your cubicle. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.
8. Put a chair facing a printer, sit there all day and tell people you’re waiting for your document.
9. Arrive at a meeting late, say you’re sorry, but you didn’t have time for lunch, and you’re going to be nibbling during the meeting. During the meeting eat 5 entire raw potatoes.
10. Insist that your e-mail address be: zena_goddess_of_fire@companyname.com or Elvis_the_King@companyname.com
11. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask him or her if they want fries with that.
12. Send email to yourself engaging yourself in an intelligent debate about the direction of one of your company’s products. Forward the mail to a co-worker and ask her to settle the disagreement.
13. Encourage your colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair dancing.
14. Put your garbage can on your desk. Label it “IN.”
15. Determine how many cups of coffee are “too many.”
16. Develop an unnatural fear of staplers.
17. Decorate your office with pictures of Cindy Brady and Danny Partridge. Try to pass them off as your children.
18. For a relaxing break, get away from it all with a mask and snorkel in the fish tank. If no one notices, take out your snorkel and see how many you can catch in your mouth.
19. Send e-mail messages saying free pizza, free donuts etc… in the lunchroom, when people complain that there was none… Just lean back, pat your stomach, and say, “Oh you’ve got to be faster than that.”
20. Adjust the tint on your monitor so that the brightness level lights up the entire work area. Insist to others that you like it that way.
21. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over his or her caffeine addiction, switch to espresso.
22. Send e-mail to the rest of the company to tell them what you’re doing. For example, “If anyone needs me, I’ll be in the bathroom, in Stall # 3.”
23. Reply to everything someone says with, “That’s what you think.”
24. Finish all your sentences with “in accordance with the prophecy.”
25. Adjust the tint on your monitor so that the brightness level lights up the entire working area. Insist to others that you like it that way.
26. In the memo field of all your checks, write ‘for sexual favors’.
27. Dont use any punctuation
28. Use, too…much; punctuation!
29. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
30. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
31. Specify that your drive-through order is ‘to go’.
32. Sing along at the opera.
33. Call the psychic hotline and don’t say anything.
34. At lunch time, sit in your parked car w/sunglasses on and point a hairdryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
35. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don’t rhyme.
36. Call 911 and ask if 911 is for emergencies. (warning: you can get arrested for this, but that can be instructive too)
37. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can’t attend their party because you’re not in the mood.
38. Have your coworkers address you by your wrestling name, “Rock Hard.”
39. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream “I Won!”, “I Won!” “3rd time this week!!!”
40. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling “Run for your lives, they’re loose!”
41. Tell your boss, “It’s not the voices in my head that bother me, its the voices in your head that do.”
42. Tell your children over dinner. “Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go.”
43. Send this e-mail to everyone in your address book, even if they sent it to you or have asked you not to send them stuff like that.

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Perfect Pick-Me-Up: Music Mayhem

This morning on my way to school I was exhausted, to say the least. I needed a boost, some energy, a revival of some sort. But what…? As I drove on I got to thinking and it hit me:

We all have those mornings where we can barely drag ourselves out of bed, or the afternoons where all we want to do is collapse when there is still a million things to be done. And I know that we all have those moments in our lives where we’re feeling down, or tired, or just plain worn out in general. Well I have the perfect pick-me-up for that!

Rules: This can be done alone or with any number of friends or family members – in a car, kitchen, park, room – just about anywhere safe – BUT the key is to ONLY do it in an environment in which YOU are COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE.

Step 1: Find your favorite song.

Step 2: Find a music player of some sort.

Step 3: Turn volume up high – preferably loud enough to where you can’t hear yourself sing, or you can only hear your voice in sync with the singer(s). (This may best be done once the music has started to avoid hurting your ears.

Step 4: Sing your heart out. And I mean it. Sing loud, sing from your stomach, sing with feeling and passion and give it all you’ve got.

Step 5: If you feel like it, dance.

Step 6: Continue to rock out until your mood has improved. :)

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Motivational Bundle

I was scrolling through my dashboard on Tumblr and I came across this: A Motivational Bundle. “How cute,” I thought, “How inspiring! How Perfect!” So I am sharing it with all of you. Make this for all your friends and I’m sure you’ll win the “cutest gift” award of the year.

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