Things to do to ease stress and anxiety while stuck at home

"The nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens but just those that bring simple pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls slipping off a string." - L.M. Montgomery, Author

Hello, hello everyone! I hope all of you are doing well as you're reading this and remembering to find the little things in life to make you happy.
Amid this world wide pandemic, I've been thinking about how all of us right now are in this odd state of being mutually connected by being stressed out and anxious; not knowing when this is all going to end. Some of us may even be sinking into a depression because you may have lost your job, don't have a source of income, or maybe are just feeling lonely if you're living by yourself.
I wanted to create this blog post as a means of hope and to inspire you to stay motivated and to not give up. Maybe even take this as an opportunity, however unfortunate it is, and make something out of it, take this period of your lives to catch up on things you haven't had the time for. And remember the little things that we might take for granted every day.

Your children's laugh, your dog waking you up with wet kisses in the morning, putting a candle on after you clean your house, the sound of coffee brewing in your kitchen, the smell of apple pie baking in your oven, and listening to the rain patter on your window as you're reading your favorite book in the dim light.

Here are my list of things you can do stuck at home and remember; stay safe!

• Practice self care. If you feel like you never have time for yourself, now is the perfect time to take advantage of this! Put on some face masks, paint your nails, play around with that eye shadow palette you've never used, take a bath with some lit candles and your favorite book, and maybe just take some cute selfies at home. Order some face masks online. You could even sign up for a monthly package of skin care. Sephora has a great monthly beauty subscription box.

• Start eating healthier or just spend more time cooking and baking. I think a lot of people have trouble eating healthier just because they don't have time to make home made meals due to a busy schedule. Make a delicious stew or spend time slow-cooking a meal. Meal prepping is always a good idea. Find some delicious new recipes on Pinterest you've always wanted to try.

• Spring clean your home or re-decorate your bedroom.  There definitely has to be something in your home you have been putting off cleaning. Don't forget to dust! (Think of places you normally don't clean: ceiling fans, the top of your fridge, the inside of your microwave, ). Maybe even re-decorate your bedroom. Add some twinkly lights or add a plant in a spare corner, maybe even a salt lamp somewhere. Hang up a shelf and arrange your favorite books on it with cute bookends. If you don't want to spend money right now, maybe change the position of your furniture. You could move your bed to your window for a change.

• Create a list of things you want to add to your bedroom, living room, or your entire home to make it more cozy or to just to make it into your dream home! However long it takes, check them off as they get completed.

• Find a good show to binge watch. Spend some time out of your day looking through Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or whatever else you have and compile a list of shows that you've  been meaning to watch or that sound really good. Also don't forget good documentaries!

• Exercise at home. There are tons of free YouTube videos you can use online for at-home work outs from working out your abs and booty to practicing yoga. If you're looking for quick and efficient at-home exercises for your body my favorite youtuber currently is Chloe Ting. And for yoga, Yoga with Adriene is amazing. It'll make you not only feel better about yourself but if you're consistent with it, you'll see results!
• Click on their names and it'll take you to their youtube accounts!
• Chloe Ting
• Yoga with Adriene

• Take up a new hobby or revisit an old hobby.  If you used to love painting, drawing, or maybe reading, but you haven't in a while... now is your chance! 

• Learn another language. Okay, so this would obviously take a lot of time, but if you need something to do, I feel like learning another language is probably on everyone's bucket list. I know it's on mine. There are tons of apps and different ways you can begin learning a lanuge on your own. The app Duolingo is amazing and I have bought "Living Language" off of amazon that includes CDs, workbooks, and more to learn on your own. They have a great variety of languages.

• Spend a day just searching for new music. And find a new podcast!
• Because who doesn't love finding new music to listen to? I use spotify which is great to create playlists and search for new music that is similar to what you already listen to. Podcasts are a great way to break up just listening to music, especially if you're on a long commute to work or a road trip.
• Some of my favorite podcasts:
• What we said - lifestyle, mostly episodes where listeners can send in their stories like; most embarrassing moments, worst tinder dates, etc.
• The Morning Toas - fun and mostly about pop culture
• Crime Junkie - my favorite prime podcast
• Sword and Scale - another crime podcast
• Girls Gotta Eat - entertaining but mostly about dating/sex
• Pretty Basic - Life Style and pop culture
• Chatty Broads - mostly Bachelor recaps
• Yoga Girl Daily - super short but cute to listen to before a yoga workout
• Any guided meditation 

• Get creative! This can be literally anything. Spend some time doing arts and crafts, home DIY projects, drawing in a sketchbook, painting, baking, photography, tie-dying shirts, cooking new meals, journaling, playing music, or keeping a daily journal; whether it's a gratitude journal or maybe if you're religious, you can keep a devotion book.

• Plan goals, create to-do lists, and break up big tasks into smaller ones. Goal planning can always be done at any time, but what better time to do so than now? Where do you want to be in a year? Five years? Ten years? Creating to-lists helps me feel more organized and reduces stress. Also, if you have a huge daunting task you've been dreading, why not break it into smaller steps?

• Plan a dream trip to take once all of this is over. I think everyone is in need of a vacation once this pandemic is over. Where do you want to go? Spend your day planning and researching some of your bucket-list destinations and decide which one you would like to take next. Write down your budget and plan your days out in a journal. Of course if you just like to pick a spot and wing it, that's a different story, but I'm definitely a planner. This is for sure one of my favorite things to do. Check out trip advisor or even "travel vloggers" who have gone to your dream spot to score some ideas on where to go once you're there.

• Stay productive. Update your resume. Delete pictures on your phone to create more storage. De-clutter your email box. Organize your closets or any storage space.

That's all I have for now, thanks for reading guys! Have a wonderful weekend :) 

How to stay motivated and be a total girl boss

Hey guys! Today was one of my days off and I've realized, even on my days off, I'm always wanting to do something with my time. I know how to relax and I can certainly sit in front of my T.V. and binge watch a show, don't get me wrong, but only to a certain extent, and then I just feel like I need to get up and be productive. I basically just always feel like I need to be doing something. So, with that being said, I've thought of some important tips for anyone who is feeling stuck in a rut and wants to feel more motivated and productive. Of course, some of these are easier said than done, but for the most part, even the littlest of things can really help you change your mindset into a girl who knows how to get things done. Hopefully these tips can help you to channel into your inner girl boss!

• Get up early and make your bed. Okay, the 'making your bed' thing is really important to me. I just feel so "put together" when my bed is made. It really sets you up for the day, plus you can't crawl back into bed if it's been made. I try to wake up between 8am-9am because I feel like this is the ideal time (for me) to get enough beauty sleep while still having my whole day ahead of me. Mornings are just so happy to me, just that peaceful, quiet morning sun glow gets me in my feels. (Honestly sometimes I kinda feel like Snow White in the mornings bursting through my bedroom door and opening the french doors to my patio and breathing in that morning dewy air as if birds are going to fly in circles around me. Okay, that sounds dramatic, but it's kinda true haha).

• Make some coffee and eat a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is probably my favorite food of the day. I don't always eat it when I'm working in the early mornings though, but on my days off I always make breakfast for myself and Alex. Of course the coffee thing totally depends on if you even like coffee, but for me, coffee is an essential way to start my days productively. Some easy meals I make in the mornings are:
• Scrambled eggs mixed with spinach and shredded cheese.
• Vanilla greek yogurt with blueberries/strawberries, almond granola, and dark chocolate chips.
• Or just over-easy eggs, with sausage links, and raisin-cinnamon toast (with strawberry jam or just butter).

• Work-out, even if it's for 15 minutes. I am so bad with this one honestly, but you will just feel so much more motivated if you work-out, even for 15 minutes. You don't even have to go to the gym, just grab a yoga mat and follow some YouTube videos. You can look up anything, "morning work-out routines", "ab workouts", "easy at-home work outs". They have it all, and it's free and you don't have to drive anywhere.
• My current favorite Youtuber for at home workouts is Chloe Ting.

• Find a new hobby! If you're feeling uninspired and not motivated what-so-ever, maybe it's time to find a new hobby. This is kind of what I did with blogging. I've never wanted to start a blog before, but in the past year or two, watching vlogs and reading other people's blogs, something just clicked in my head and I was like, "ya know, I can do this, I might be really good at it, and I might really enjoy it". And I have loved it so far! About two months ago, now that I'm comfortable at my job and I've graduated college, I've kinda been itching to do something else with my time. I feel like I need to put something else out into the world. Like something was missing. If you're feeling that way, you should try taking up a new hobby too! It can be anything from playing a new instrument, trying trial yoga classes, buying and tending to some plants, baking, anything at all. I was actually just talking to my best friend on the phone today, who lives in another state, and she told me how she started a 2 week trial yoga class. I was thinking of doing that for a while but wasn't sure if I could get another friend on the same schedule, but my best friend told me she has just been going by herself. So don't feel bad if you're venturing out of your comfort zone to start a new hobby on your own. Just do it!

• Change your atmosphere. If you're just feeling stuck and can't seem to move forward with where you want to be, maybe think about changing your atmosphere and surroundings. This can be changing your home decor, living situation, taking a 10 minute walk with or without your earphones, or going down to a cute new coffee shop and reading a book. Maybe a new idea will spark up or you'll just find your inner boss girl and she'll be unleashed and you'll be so so motivated like never before. 

• Do some spring cleaning around your home. There isn't a better productive activity then vacuuming your home, wiping the counters, or mopping the floors, and then setting a candle. I mean, did you even clean if you don't set a candle afterwards? I don't know why this is a thing but it definitely is. It's important to prep your space, especially the space you live in. Because if you live in a messy environment, how are you ever going to get anything done?

• Plan a trip or fun activity for after important due dates. Always have something to look forward to! I feel like doing this helps motivate me because I'm like "Okay, I have this fun day planned or a trip in a few months, so in order for me to feel like I actual deserve this, I gotta get on my grind". I guess it's like having a reward set for you in advance, so if there's something important you have to get done, like an exam or that dreadful 20 page capstone paper, there's something at the end of that tunnel waiting for you as your reward for a good job done. If you don't have the funds for an actual trip, just plan a fun day out with something you've always wanted to try out or maybe something you love to do. But I really feel like it just makes you feel so much better if you have something to look forward to. Even if it's something planned months from now. The anticipation leading up to the trip or event always gives me something to feel good about (not to mention the planning and new clothes that you may buy ahead of time in preparation for the trip that just brings more excitement).

• Practice self-care. If you take care of your mind and your body,  you'll have a more positive mindset. And by just having a more positive mindset, it'll help you stay motivated and productive. Give yourself a manicure at home, put on a face mask, get into comfy clothes, whatever you gotta do, do it.

• Journaling and reading. Try to make a routine out of this. For journaling, you don't need to spend that much time on it, but maybe just take 10 minutes out of your day, before bed or as soon as you wake up. Write down things you want to get better at, or how to be a better friend, how to be more compassionate to others, favorite words, or just create a "to do" list of what you want to get done for the day. Reading is also very important. I mean, it's a big part of me, but I personally think everyone should take some time to read. It doesn't have to be every day, but I think it's good to always have a book available to you. Not that I need it, but I know for some people it's a good way to relax and fall asleep before bed. It could just be one chapter, it doesn't have to be much. Finding a good novel and getting that "I-can't-put-this-book-down" feeling, is the best.

• Plan your goals and write them down! You can know what your goals are and keep them in mind, but there's definitely something different when you take the time to write them down. When you see them mapped out and can even say "Okay I would love to have this done by this time period" and then it actually gets done, it's just so empowering. But at the same time, don't create too strict of time limits. Things happen and we're human, we can't expect to exceed all of our expectations. If you can't get something down in the time you want, don't feel bad about it. Instead of saying "I want this done on this specific date" instead, tell yourself  "It would be wonderful to get this done around this time period". Down below I linked a "Goal planning" worksheet I've actually used with clients in a past internship before I graduated. They loved it and I loved doing it with them. It's amazing how feeling motivated can really boost your self-esteem and it's even more amazing to realize how much you can actually get done when you set your mind to it. Just click on the picture and it'll take you to the website where you can download and print it for free!

• Watch vlogs, read blogs, or listen to podcasts of others who inspire you to channel you inner girl boss! I honestly haven't gone super deep into the YouTube world and I'm sure there are some great people out there I don't know about, but one of my favorite vloggers who motivate me is Kristin Johns. She is just the sweetest person I have never met in my life, to be honest. Also, I love Danielle Carolan. She's a total "girl boss" and such a young, independent, and motivational gal. I love her (not just because she's from Tampa either). She's also got a podcast called "Gals on the Go" you should check out. I also am in love with the podcast, "What We Said" (my personal favorite) Two girls who have been best friends since high school, Chelsea and Jaci, are hilarious, fun and super sarcastic together and their energy just flows perfectly. They have guest speakers on at times who may talk about health/nutrition, creating an audience, mental health, and sometimes they have funny podcasts about "embarrassing moments" or "family traditions".  They also both have Youtube channels that I like watching. I honestly think a lot of my "new-found motivation", if you'd like to call it, has come from listening to others who are independent, go-getters and seeing or hearing how they live. 
• Some other good podcasts are: The Morning Toast, Girls Gotta Eat, Okay Sis, RISE podcast, Recovering from Reality (this is an AMAZING podcast for people who have struggled with addiction/mental health), and Pretty Basic.

• Change your attitude and practice mindfulness! I think I'll end up doing another whole blog post on "mindfulness", so I won't go into it too much. But really just look into if you don't know too much about it. Even just type it into YouTube and you can listen to some really awesome people talk about the concept of mindfulness. It's just so important and I think having a positive mindset of "the glass if half full" is so so important. 
• Here's a great book to practice mindfulness! (Not that you even need books to do so, but it can definitely help motivate you.)
  
  
  

All of you are amazing and can do amazing things! I'm a firm believer in, if you want something enough, and work towards that something, and actually envision it, you can achieve whatever it is you want. The little things are more important than you think and you all have this one life to live, so live it to the fullest.

Oh yeah and here's a picture of how the end of my afternoon went. I was jotting down ideas for this blog post and decided a change in atmosphere was in order. Being outside sometimes makes me feel more productive.

Well, that's it for today's blog! Have an amazing day everyone,

- Lots of love, Sammi