Podcast Tips and Recommendations

I have mentioned my love of podcasts in the past. This summer, I am listening to even more than usual. I am able to do this for a couple of reasons. First of all, I have more free time. I like to have something going on the background. A podcast works well for this purpose. The second reason is my first podcast tip.

Podcast Tip 1

While I enjoy listening to many podcasts, I sometimes get frustrated by how slowly some people speak. I tend to move quickly and need my podcasts to reflect this. When listening to a podcast, you can adjust the speed. I thought that doing this may make the people sound like Alvin (from the Chipmunks), but that is so not the case! Now, some podcasts are listened to at regular speed 1.0. Some, though, I have had to increase all the way up to a speed of 1.6. I adjust each group of podcasts to their own sound speed. I love this because I have some podcasts that are an hour long. While I like them, they move too slowly. Now I can listen to that hour long podcast in 40 minutes.

Podcast Tip 2

Subscribe to your favorite podcast. This way everytime a new episode is released, it will download for you. I love seeing the new ones that download each day!

Recommendations

I recommended different podcasts in the past. Click HERE to see that post. Here are a few more:

Organize 365 - This one is all about getting organized! Each episode focuses on a different area in the house as well as giving productivity and time management tips. I always love to find better ways of organizing myself!

Affirmations Pod - This podast has some affirmations that can be used in mediation, said by themselves, as well as tips for mental well-being. 

What podcasts would you recommend?

Adulting Wins and a Fail

It's been a little while since I wrote about my Wins or Fails. I decided to combine the two today since I definitely have both!

1. I went to Navy Pier and saw Macbeth. It was incredible! I definitely realized Penn's influence (from Penn and Teller fame) when some of the actors did disappearing tricks! 

2. I also made a return trip to the zoo, my second this summer. This one was a field trip for my summer school class. It was nice but a super quick trip.

3. I finally used my Cricut! This was for a gift for my Grandma on her 95th birthday. I made flowers that were put in a flower pot and decorated with gift cards of her favorite places. It turned out really well. Too bad I forgot to take a pic.

I must admit to some a fail as well. (While there are more, I will only focus on one.) This one goes back to my 18 for 2018. My goal was to plan out my week each Sunday. I was doing really well with this for months! Then I got overwhelmed with work and stopped. Now that I am back to a much easier schedule, I haven't gotten back in the swing of things. I need to do this! At least tomorrow is Sunday...

What are your Wins and Fails?

Designing Your Summer

I have heard a lot about the importance of Designing Your Summer. This is the idea of planning your summer before it actually begins (or at least planning at the beginning of summer). The reasoning behind this is that summer flies by! It's easy to have great intentions of everything you want to get done, but you blink and summer has ended.

Here's How I Am Designing My Summer:

1. First, I am thinking about my overall categories for summer - work, travel, errands, day trip activities, and projects. These categories contain the main areas which I would like to focus my attention on this summer.

2. Next, in each category I listed a variety of items I wanted to accomplish (without going to crazy - I can't do EVERYTHING this summer). For example, day trip activities (for me) include a visit to Navy Pier to see Macbeth, at least 2 zoo visits, going to the Little Red Schoolhouse, go to at least 2 different farmer's markets, and going to see one or more movies.

3. Finally, I filled my planner with actual dates for each of these events. Actually scheduling them forces me not to put off an event too long. If by some chance something does come up, I can always make changes as needed.

Action Steps For You:

1. Think about the large areas you would like to focus on this summer.

2. Under each category think of specific items that you would like to accomplish.

3. Place these items onto your calendar. Making an actual plan on them makes you more likely to accomplish them.

How are you designing your summer?

Cleaning Tip - Oven Grates

Let me start off by saying that I HATE cleaning! I do almost anything to avoid it. When I do clean, I always look for shortcuts. I want it done fast, so I can move on to anything else. 

One of my all time favorite tips has to do with cleaning the grates on the oven. Since I enjoy cooking, they tend to fill with gunk and other residue. No matter how much I tried to clean it off, it never felt truly clean. Then I came I across the ammonia trick. 

How to Clean Oven Grates:

1. Place the grates into a Ziploc bag (find the size that will fit your grates). 

2. Add in 1-2 tablespoons of ammonia to the bag and seal. 

3. Let the bag sit overnight.

4. Rinse the grates.

That's it! The first time I did this, I called my mom and let her know how will this worked! It was like the built on gunk dissolved away! I wanted her to try it right away with her oven! This has become my go to trick when I went to clean with zero effort.

What is your favorite cleaning tip?

Exercise and Workout Tips - Getting Started

I have always been one unmotivated by exercise. Throughout the years, this would change, usually in January, when I would be ultra-motivated, at least for a couple of weeks. My problem was that I had grandiose plans that could not be maintained. I should say, they could not be maintained by someone so out of shape like me.

All this changed a few years ago. I got an elliptical like I always wanted. Anytime I joined a gym, this was my go to piece of equipment. The problem was I rarely went to the gym. I didn't want my elliptical to become the cliched piece of workout equipment that became a glorified closet. I also was out of the habit of using it. There was no way I could work out for a 30 minute period like I thought was the ideal amount of time. After a few minutes, I would need a break!

This lack of physical endurance made me rethink my workout routine. There were two things I knew for sure: 

1. If I didn't use the elliptical on a regular basis, I would always look for an excuse as to why I couldn't use it.

2. It would be awhile before I could manage 30 minutes without stopping!

This caused me to make a commitment to myself. I would use the elliptical everyday, no matter what happened! This way tough! There were some days I wouldn't get home until late at night and would have to get on the elliptical. I knew that if I used the excuse of being too tired, I would soon give up exercising altogether because I would always be too tired!

The other thing I did was starting small. I started with 5 minutes each day. Each week I increased the amount of time by 1 minute until I reached my 30 minute goal. Even when I was really sick I got on the elliptical - only this time, I gave myself permission to stay on for only 1 minute. I didn't want to get out of the daily routine of getting my exercise. After recovering from an illness, I would start back at the 5 minutes and work my way up to 30 minutes again.

Starting off at a lower level definitely let me start at a reasonable pace. I know it's important to vary your exercise routines. I also know my own body and the excuses I would use not to workout. I vary other forms of exercise but keep my time on the elliptical consistent. Now, I wake up early enough in the morning to get my 30 minutes in before starting my days. There are no excuses.

How do you get and keep yourself motivated to exercise?