Go Ahead, Mess Around for 15 Minutes
Go Ahead, Mess Around for 15 Minutes
Online or Offline... take some time to get a little nutty, with absolutely no agenda.
Good Morning,
By the time you get this newsletter, I’ll have been up for at least half an hour. Since I typically program these emails for 5:00 a.m. CST, simple math tells you I get up @ 4:30.
By choice.
Some of you get it, others thing I’m nuts. I respect that.
4:30 begins my morning routine. (Doesn’t that sound fancy?) I love how morning routine has become a thing to basically describe getting out of bed and starting your day.
Yet for some reason, I find other people’s morning routines fascinating. In case you dig that too, I’m including mine. (And, know that you would seriously make my day if you left your routine in the comments. Or emailed me.)
4:30 a.m. - Alarm goes off. My husband almost always says, “Can you please turn that off?” I then proceed to either press snooze or get right out of bed. (My college roommate can confirm my affinity for the snooze button.) Usually, though, I get out of bed when I hear this.
4:35 Get coffee going - I try to set up coffee the night before so all I have to do is press a button. It’s something my mom always did, so it feels like a special ritual.
4:37 (You should know I’m making up these times.) I head to my supplement drawer - because yes, I have a drawer, dedicated to supplements. I’ve got a bit of a regime going on, so it takes me a while to get that party started.
4:40/45 With my coffee brewing and supplements in order, smoothie preparations begin. Normally a joyful process, it’s been a bit of a bummer lately because my Vitamix is on the fritz, takes 10x longer than it should, and sounds like a garbage disposal grinding a tricycle. It’s great for morning cortisol. But the real reason breakfast has been less gleeful is that I’m on a sugar detox, so my beloved bananas and raspberries have been replaced by frozen spinach or cauliflower, mixed with ice, unflavored almond milk, Ancient Nutrition Vanilla Collagen, protein powder, and topped with almond butter. (It’s actually a 7 on a scale of 1-10.)
5:00 a.m. As you can imagine the whole process takes a bit of time… so it’s not until now that I’m at my computer with my breakfast and to-do list.
In the past, I would try to get down to business the minute I got to my desk. Here’s how that went - inevitably, every day I’d tell myself I was just going to check 1-3 emails. But those emails, like all emails when you’ve got work to do, were actually wormholes of distraction.
One morning in the midst of a wormhole that took me from Wisconsin to Italy in the blink of an eye (I was on the TravMedia site), I made a decision.
I wasn’t going to worry about “getting to it” while eating my breakfast. I decided I could do whatever I wanted. No more pretending to work. No more beating myself up when I didn’t get right to work.
Scrollin’ my way into a new day - take me to all the wormholes.
As it turns out, this going rogue business gave me an idea, which, color me purple wouldn’t you know happens to be What I’d Rather Be Talking About this week…
Let’s face it.
We (meaning all of us) tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves…
To stay busy.
Be productive.
And when we’re not doing either, then they tell us we should try meditating.
Or simply do nothing.
Is it just me, or does the notion of all of these suggestions stress you out a bit?
Well.
In the midst of my morning routine, it dawned on me that it was indeed mine, and I could actually choose to:
not worry about outside expectations, my to-do list, or internal “shoulds”
(simply) click my heart out and see where it took me
The result? I now get my clicking out of my system and am ready to roll by the time my coffee is done.
BAM.
So, whether we’re talking about your morning scroll or your afternoon stroll (unavoidable lame rhyme), I invite you to go a little rogue yourself…
wherever and whenever it feels right.
Maybe make that a part of your daily routine. See what happens.
In the meantime, I’ve put together some links that might help your cause.
Let’s get to them!
SOME STUFF I’D RATHER BE TALKING ABOUT
Starting with an important one. Are you a caregiver, or do you know one? Caregiving can be very rewarding but also exhausting and sometimes lonely. (Sidenote: if you have a friend who’s a caregiver, give them a little extra love; they could use it.) When you’ve got a loved one that requires daily attention, it affects every aspect of your life, and you might not be able to take part in activities you once did. One of those is travel. But I’ve got news, travel doesn’t have to be out of the question thanks to The Caregiver’s Travel Guide. It’s full of helpful information as is The Ageless Traveler - maybe there’s a trip in your future.
Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to visit Alabama a couple of times and golf the Robert Trent Jones Trail. (Watch in upcoming newsletters for a link to the story I wrote. It’ll be published in August.) These trips have made me Alabama’s #1 cheerleader, which is why I was so excited to find travel writer Sarah Gilliland’s new book, Perfect Day Alabama.
Here’s a fun question. What’s something in your past that was regrettably worth it? This question was posed on this week’s episode of the A Thing or Two Podcast. Listen to the hilarious responses and think about your own “regrettably worth it” moment. Mine? Teaching middle school Spanish…regrettably worth it. It was a tortuous experience (7th graders are ruthless) but it was a step leading me to where I am now, and introduced me to some great people at work.
Switching gears, how about some drinks that can help your memory? Yes, please. Web MD to the rescue with this list, and to go along with those bevies, here are some brain-boosting recipes. While we’re talking about healthy food, check out these salads.
The idea of matcha made me think of green drinks, and Reese Witherspoon’s go-to morning smoothie. It’s got to be good for you, it includes two heads of lettuce! Dang.
In honor of the Olympics starting Friday in Paris, here are some French style secrets.
Going with the French theme, a special what I eat in a day video from a French YouTuber: “What My French Mom Eats in a Day.”
And, with all these links on France, I’ll add one more for the Emily in Paris fans. Good news - Season 4 comes out August 15! Check out the trailer.
That’s all I’ve got this week!
Stay tuned for more next Thursday, and you never know when a pop up is going to… well, pop up… in your email.
And…
If you haven’t signed up to be on my newsletter list, I’d love it if you would.
You can choose the free plan, or be a peach and select one of the paid subscriber options. Since this newsletter isn’t sponsored, it really helps me keep the 💡on. Regardless of how you read this, I appreciate that you’re here! 🩷
Have a great week,
Abbey
P.S. If you have a friend who might like to hear What I’d Rather Be Talking About… pass it along to them. Thanks!
Besides agreeing with you whole-heartedly with "messing around" before diving in to your work day...I laughed out loud when you mentioned Eric telling you to turn your alarm off because I was thinking, "Some things never change!" and then there it was - - a reference to me... your college roommate! :)