the little things
Dress: Theory; Shoes: Steve Madden; Jacket: vintage; Sunglasses: Dolce & Gabbana; Necklace: from a boutique in Seville, Spain
This is my first post of 2017. Yep 26 days in. [And I’m fine with that.] Truthfully, it’s been pleasant taking time away from screens. [Are bloggers even allowed to say that?] When we last spoke, 2017 was right around the corner. And now it's here. We’re talking basically-a-month-deep-here. So what have I been up to? A whole lot...and a whole little all at the same time. I’m going to focus on the “whole little”- the little things- if that’s okay with you.
The last few weeks I’ve been experimenting. No, not experimenting like with test tubes and beakers, rather making little changes here and there to see if I can ultimately increase my productivity level, happiness, and really just general well-being. In no way do I proclaim that any of these are revolutionary. In fact, many of these habits I should have been doing in the first place. And no, they aren’t New Year’s resolutions, even though I did start them in the new year. They are just a few of the little things I’ve changed:
Emails can wait: It’s awful [I repeat awful], but the first thing I would do every morning, after my alarm went off, was read emails. Literally the first thing every. single. morning. Thinking back on that, it just seems so ridiculous. So I’ve put myself on probation. No emails until I’ve left my house, and I’m on the shuttle to work for [almost always] a skim.
Podcasts are your friends: I’m late to the podcast game, I know [I’ve seemingly missed the boat on both Serial and This American Life], but better late than never, right? Instead of listening to music on my walk to or from my shuttle stop, I’ve started listening to podcasts. My favorite at the moment- College Fashionista’s Office Hours where they sit down with bad-ass women across the fashion industry and talk about...life. [Any podcast recommendations, drop a comment below or shoot me a note.]
Read on: On my shuttle ride to YouTube HQ, a sweet 25-35 minute ride, I read. I read like a kid in a candy store. I find myself looking forward to my shuttle ride so that I can read. I’ve recently finished Little Bee, a great read, and now I’m onto On Beauty. Truthfully, it surprised me how quickly I can finish a book if I read a little everyday.
Catch some real z’s: In college, sleep was almost a luxury. With board meetings after class and group study sessions through midnight, getting to bed at a decent hour was next to impossible for me. But now I have no excuse. No board meetings. No group study sessions. So I make sure I’m in bed by midnight the latest which guarantees me at least 7 ½ hours of sleep. Bonus points if I read a little before bed too.
Rolanda Time: Yup. Just time for me and only me. Last Sunday, for example, I worked out, I read [On Beauty, of course], I cooked [for the first time in months], and I watched tv [well on YouTube, of course-throwback to Degrassi: The Next Generation Season 5.] It was the. best. day. ever. [This coming from an ENFJ, I know]
I could go on and on about other changes like trying to finish at least 3 bottles of water at work everyday or keeping my phone in ‘do not disturb’ mode. But I’ll stop here. Have you been making any changes? Would love to hear what worked and didn’t work.
