Helping what? EVERYTHING. Just kidding. But lately I’ve been tryin out some things and thought maybe I’d share a couple cause maybe they could maybe help you too. Soo, here we go. 

NUMBER ONE: “Touch it once” I heard this a month or two ago in regards to dealing with your email. The idea is that if you open, click on, or read an email. Deal with it. Don’t read it and leave it for later. Do what you have to do to get it taken care of and out of your inbox WHEN you read it. If you’re reading this thinking that you don’t sit in front of a computer for 7.25 hours a day so it doesn’t apply to you, pump the brakes because it can. 

I liked this idea when I heard it and started applying it to the way I handle my emails at work, but I also began to think “How can this translate to other parts of my life where I could be more productive, where I could use some bettering?” 

Answer 1: Other work things. Occasionally I have so many different tasks or shows to flip back and forth between that I get scatterbrained. I start something and then see something else that I need to do and then immediately start working on that and then realize I didn’t finish the other thing still chillin in the background and go back to that for a few minutes before the next thing I need to do pops into my head and before I know it I have like five things I’m trying to juggle instead of just stopping…Focusing on one thing, and getting it done. If you realized that was a hectic run on sentence, it’s fine I realized too. Don’t worry about it.

Answer 2: Dishes. When I make dinner, “touch it once.” Cook, eat and enjoy my yummy food and then get the dishes done. Even if it’s the last thing I wanna do, it’ll be worth it when I don’t have to come back to em later and take up more time that I could be using to do something else. 

Answer 3: Laundry. “Touch it once.” When the dryer is done doin it’s thang, fold the damn laundry and put it away instead of it sitting in a basket in the corner of my tiny room and letting it slowly crush my soul and build into a bigger pile. 

I DO NOT have this concept down. It’s a work in progress. Do I still get distracted at work? Absolutely. Do I leave dishes in the sink longer than I would like to? Yes. Do I let my laundry sit in my room unfolded for days at a time? Yep! The point is to work on it until the better habit of “touch it once” kicks in.

NEXT up: Reducing my screen time. A couple weeks ago I felt soooo busy at work, and I just kept thinking I don’t know how I’m going to to get this done. I don’t know how I’m going to get this done. And then I started catching myself scrolling mindlessly on my phone. Which thennnn caused me to think about how much time I might be eliminating from what I could be accomplishing. 

Everyday since then I’ve been zipping it in my purse and leaving it there for as long as possible, and only pulling it out to check/ reply to text messages if I need to. 

You guys…I’m not kidding, The first couple days I got so much done I almost ran out of work to do. Now it’s like a game to me to see the lowest I can get it down to, and I check it when I get off work to see my score.

Not gonna lie, it’s a challenge. Some days I’m better at this than others, and sometimes if it’s not in my purse and even just sitting on my desk within reach it’s like second nature to grab it. But it’s something that’s becoming a little more natural day by day. 

And you know what else? I feel happier. It’s amazing what limiting my time on Instagram and no longer comparing the baby I don’t have yet to the cute one in wildly stylish clothes with a mom who has flawless hair has done for my brain.

Ok LAST one: Clinique Acne Solutions. But first please just let me back up for like two seconds and tell you a little story. 

I have zits on my chin and only ever on my chin..ever, demonstrated in this breathtaking photo

It’s a thing and I was ready for it not to be a thing so I made an appointment at the dermatologist at the beginning of August to see what might be able to help. 

The Dr. prescribed me a lotion so I went to Safeway to pick it up and found out my insurance didn’t cover it.

“Ok, can you tell me the price of it?”

“It’s $600”

Um….excuse me….did I just hear her correctly? $600 for a lotion?…I’m just gonna be honest. If I’m going to pay for a lotion that costs $600, my face better glow like an effing sunrise. If I’m going to pay for a lotion that costs $600, I expect to wake up after the first application looking like Superman’s baby daughter. If I’m going to pay for a lotion that costs $600, I should probably be awarded a medal for best skin of the entire earth.

“Ok I think I’m going to pass on that one, but thank you.”

I was sulky that night, butttt I was determined to find something so I did some research, learned that Clinique has a good acne skin care line and went for it. To be totally clear, this wasn’t cheap either, but it was also not $600, and it’s working! Or…it’s helping! 

Yes, it’s true, I 100% have the worlds largest, two white head pimple chillin on my chin literally at this very moment. But you know what I don’t have? A ton of tiny little bumps just under the surface of my skin needing to be squeezed every night. Is this gross? Sorry I’ll stop but just know, I’m excited. 

Sooo anyway, these are some of the things that have been helpful to me over the past month or two. And uh….that’s all the end.

Love, 

Superman’s baby daughter sunrise medal face