Productivity

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I’ve been really focusing on what’s making me productive and how I’m getting everything done.  I watch tons of other moms on YouTube doing their thing, I surround myself with positive people and have a few tips that I believe can help you if you feel overwhelmed.  I am doing the #last90dayschallenge and so a few of these are inspired by Rachel Hollis, but I started implementing them before 10/1 so I can speak from experience that they are helping in more ways than one!

1.) Cut distractions. 

This could be negative family or friends, social media in general, mindless snacking, or your phone.  I know babies, kids and dogs can be a bit demanding, but get into a schedule and figure out a good routine.  I know if I put the dog outside on her doggie run, I have a good amount of time to get some stuff done without worrying about her puppy-ness wanting to chew on toys that haven’t been cleaned up etc.  My kids are getting older so I can set some timers and let them watch a show, play a video game or independently play without having to watch them like a hawk.  If you have a baby or a toddler, then give yourself grace.  You’re number one focus is keeping that human alive!  Otherwise, turn off the phone, ignore messages (for now) and set a time later in the day to accomplish those things.  Having a list helps me.

2.) Finish things.

There’s not much worse than that feeling like you have a million things left not done.  Maybe you’ve started most of them, but if you’re like me, you can easily get distracted (kids, dogs, life!) and then I don’t finish something and it hangs there.  Just do it.  It probably only takes half the time we think anyway.  Set a timer and get-er-done!  The satisfaction of crossing it off the to do list and actually seeing an end result will catapult you onto the next activity that needs to happen.

3.) Drink your water & Cut or limit sugars, processed foods, and alcohol. 

Tired? Drink your water.  Hungry?  Drink your water.  Bored? Drink your water.  Feeling run down? Drink your water.  Want a soda or coffee?  Drink some water.  I’ve been making myself drink half of my body weight in water, and before I allow myself to eat or drink something else (even tea) I chug a bunch of water to see if it’s something I still want.  Water is SO important for all of our organs and to keep us running full steam! Here me out, I get it.  The latté, cookie, chips, pop, whatever seems so helpful but it I find that the quick fix does not fix the overwhelm.  I know I’m just coming off a cleanse, where I did omit these items, but seriously, I have no brain fog, lots of energy (at 6am) I’m sleeping great and if I had not gotten mindful about what was going into my body, I don’t think I would have realized how great I could feel.  Am I never going to have wine or a Green Tea Latté again?  Heck no, BUT I will have them in moderation.  I think we all tend to get a little lenient in the summer and before we know it, we feel like crap, and the spiral continues.  Plus half of the problem is that we don’t even realize how much we’re consuming until we step away from it for a bit…

4.) Wake up an hour early.  

It’s not easy.  I love sleep.  I love the cozy bed and the feel of the soft sheets.  BUT, when you start making a habit of getting up before the rest of the house, something changes inside.  I look forward to starting my day.  I get to do a few of my favorite things, writing, reading, sipping tea and just be alone with my thoughts.  You could workout, pray, meditate, whatever you feel like doing, but do it before you have to go take care of everyone else.  Creating before you start consuming will change your life people!  I’ll write more on my morning routine later, but just try it for a few weeks.  If you normally get up at 7, set that alarm for 6 and just set things up the night before.  I literally cannot stress the importance of this one!  YOU matter and putting yourself first to be with God, or a good book, or sweat sesh will give you that push the rest of the day.  An hour sound like too much?  Start with 15-20 minutes and work your way up.  I was up at 5:45 no alarm today, just because.

5.) Have fun!

The less we look at things at “chores” or things that we have to do, the better we feel.  If I have a dirty floor, clothes piled everywhere, messy rooms, food to prepare and overflowing dishes in the sink, the first thing I do is breathe.  Push play on a good audiobook or even a fun song, watch a TV show or YouTube video while you get to work.  {I recently just rented an old favorite movie, You’ve Got Mail, so that I could watch it while I folded and put away the endless loads of laundry}.  Once I realize I can habit stack, I know it won’t be so bad. Then I throw some laundry in, (to feel like I started taking action on SOMETHING!) get going on the dishes, prepare the food, clean up and before I realize it, everything is back in place and I can sigh in relief that my kitchen is no longer a disaster area!

Getting a Spray Tan

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I figured I would start out the week with a really fluffy post!  I’ll attribute it to my husband and I watching the Jersey Shore Family Vacation last night…what a train wreck! It really opened my eyes as to what on earth was I thinking watching that all of the time?!  We barely turn on the tv and last night, as Joe built a fire (yes, we are still having Winter here in Upstate NY) we just decided we needed to turn our brains off.

Anyway, back to the spray tan–which I would recommend 1000x over and over! Whether you have an event you want to have an extra glow for or you enjoy looking sun-kissed, it’s totally worth the money!

I have only done two.  One was in October before we went to Toronto for Joe’s birthday and the other was right before the Ugly Disco.  Since then I have been applying Jergen’s fake tanner a few times to just keep the glow going a little longer.

I haven’t seen or felt the sun since September I bet.  Sure, it pokes its head out, but there is something about getting a little healthy color from that big old ball of fire.  Since that is not an option and tanning beds have a bad rap, the spray tan is the way to go!

I chose an Organic spray both times.  I am sure you could totally get a decent tan at any place offering them, but I do have a special spot for small businesses in my heart.  The most recent place I went to was Glow Tanning.  The girl was a riot and she chose my color for me: “The Champagne of Spray Tans.” Girl spoke my love language!  I knew enough to “prep” ahead of time and ran all my errands that day ready to be sprayed!

First Day with the tan–I don’t even wear makeup.  I feel like it looks super dark!!

Once you find a place you’d like to try, ask them for any specific prep they need you to do. Most likely they’ll tell you the following, but I’m not an expert.  You could always consult Google too!

The Prep

Any waxing should be done 24 hours prior.

Otherwise, this is what to expect of a spray tan!

  1. Shower in the am and wash your hair! I forgot to do my hair so my first shower after spray tan, the second time, I felt like was too long as it takes FOREVER to do my hair. I highly recommend being able to do a quick rinse/shower the day of your event.
  2. Exfoliate I prefer a sugar based scrub, but anything with a little grit will work! You really want to sloth off those dead skin cells to get to the newest layer of skin.
  3. Shave You want to make sure you’re primed and ready to get the solution on your skin.
  4. NO LOTION This was super hard for me!! I am a lotion girl and I hate the ‘dry feeling’ of no lotion. However, if you wear lotion prior to getting the spray tan, it may mix and cause blotches or it simple won’t allow the spray tan to stick.
  5. Wear black/loose clothing You most likely will get spray tan on you, even if you try to air dry/fan dry a bit before getting dressed.  Wear something baggy if possible and definitely black. I was even told to forgo the bra. Ok!
  6. Bring a makeup wipe I tried not to wear a ton of makeup the day of my spray tan, but I did have a little tinted moisturizer on so I made sure to bring wipes to get it off.
  7. You can wear bottoms or not.  They usually tell you to do whatever you’re most comfortable doing.
  8. Go the day before your event. I personally find the best color to be the very next day. The first day I looked pretty dark! I didn’t feel the need to wear makeup and I just looked like I hopped a plane from the islands. The tan will last about a week, if you drink a lot of water and slather that lotion on continuously after the tan!
  9. Be prepared to spend a little money. I paid $40 and tipped the girl, but again this was an organic solution, it lasted a week and I didn’t get messy trying to prep myself for days with bottled lotions/sprays at home.
  10. It all has a ‘scent.’  Again, I found the organic solution to be tolerable, but it still had that ‘fake tan smell’ if you’ve ever dabbled in fake tan before.

A few pics from our weekend in Toronto–I loved this glow!

I did add a little extra bronzer lotion to my legs too, which had glitter. Needed extra for the disco!!

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Have you spray tanned before?  Do you have a favorite place?  I’ll share some of my at home fake tan products in another post, since I don’t see Mr. Sun coming out any time soon!