Post 7: Sleepless in Indiana

Why is it that when you have to go to work the next day you just can't fall asleep?  Now I'm about ready to head to bed, but with my mind racing about what to wear, what time I have to get up, and what I'm going to fix for lunch I find it too hard to actually rest.

Talk to anyone though and they will have the remedy that will cure your sleeplessness.  My doctor told me that when my mind begins to race to have a pen and a piece of paper laying next to my bed to jot my thoughts down on.  Well that's great and all, but when it's happening all night that's a lot to write!  I've heard that you need to avoid naps during the day or just have a "power" nap of 15-20 minutes.  Usually that isn't a problem, but when you haven't slept the night before and it's all you can do to keep your eyes open during dinner, a little nap can't hurt...can it?  Of course I've tried different medications (prescripting and OTC), but I either fall asleep for a few hours or wake up groggy only to find that I would have been better off taking nothing.

Well, here are some "new" ideas that I have found that look to be worth a try:

1.  Pay attention to what you're eating. Some foods are known to aid sleep – eat carbohydrates, bananas, peanuts, and figs, and have milk-based drinks. These contain tryptophans, a precursor for creating melatonin.  Some snacks to consider include: cookies and milk, sliced banana with chopped dates, and wholegrain bread with lettuce.

• Avoid foods high in protein prior to bedtime. These can keep you awake because they contain elevated levels of tyrosine. Also avoid hot curries and other very spicy foods prior to bed time.
• Do not go to bed hungry – this will make it harder to fall asleep.
• Avoid having a large meal close to bedtime.  This can result in indigestion, reflux, or heartburn.
• Reduce your intake of alcohol, nicotine, sugar, and caffeine.

2.  Don't exercise in the three hours leading up to bedtime. Exercise awakens you, with the impact lasting for up to three hours after you've completed the exercise, as well as decreasing the secretion of melatonin (needed to help you sleep) Instead, exercise during the day or late afternoon. Exercise is ideal first thing in the morning, as it helps you to wake up and stay metabolized throughout the day.

3.  Have a warm bath before bedtime. This can help to relax you, helping you to unwind.

4.  Use aromatherapy and scent solutions. There are a number of aromatherapy suggestions that might help you to fall asleep. For example, lemon balm oil, chamomile oil, lavender oil, and marjoram can be used singly or in combination for the bath, a massage, or as an air or pillow spray.

• A sleep-promoting bath can be made from 6 drops chamomile oil, 2 drops lovage oil, and 2 drops lime flower oil, added to a warm or hot bath
  .
• A massage blend can be made from 4 drops lavender oil, 4 drops mandarin oil, 3 drops nutmeg oil, 2 drops lemon oil, 2 drops dill oil, 1 tablespoon (15 ml) carrier oil such as almond oil. Mix together and massage into your upper chest, back of the neck, shoulders and down your back. Do not use this blend if you're about to drive!

5.  Set the ideal temperature for your room. An ideal room temperature for sleeping is 60.8ºF - 64.4ºF/16ºC - 18ºC.  Temperatures that are higher or lower can impact your ability to fall asleep. Use natural fibers where possible, as these wick away sweat, as well as retaining warmth or keeping you cooler, as needed. 

• When it is too hot, remove bed covers until you feel comfortable. Set a fan at the end of the bed. Place your pillow in the refrigerator or freezer for a half hour before sleeping. The chilled pillow can help cool you down enough to induce sleep.
• When it is too cold, add more bed covers. This is often better than over-dressing yourself. Hot water bottles can also help

6.  Muscle loosening: Lie on your back. Starting from the very tips of your toes, gradually loosen all of your muscles one by one. Move to your ankles, then calves, knees, and upward. If your mind wanders, return to the last part of the body loosened and keep working up until you reach your head. (Another way of approaching this is to see it as "erasing" your body. Start with your toes and work your way up; the torso and head are the hardest to "erase"!) Staying on your back, aim to sink loosely into the mattress until you feel it is time to roll into your desired position.

7.  It may sound crazy, but if nothing else has worked for you, try this. If you find it hard to sleep, you'll notice that you try to tell your body to fall asleep. You try and try, but it doesn't work. Try this is a simple trick. When you close your eyes and attempt to fall asleep, stop. Do this instead. Close your eyes and try your hardest to stay awake with your eyes closed. It may take a few minutes, but before you know it, you'll be waking up to a new morning.

This Sleepless in Indiana is open to trying anything!  Hopefully I'm in for a restful, relaxing sleep!  Good night!

Post 6: Productive or Not Productive...That is the Question!

Productivity!  At the end of the day can you honestly say, "I have been so productive today!"  Most would answer "no" due to so many excuses:  too tired, too busy, too little time, too distracted, too overwhelmed, etc.  Often I look back upon the day and I'm discouraged at my own lack of productivity! 

Well, I don't know about you, but when I'm lying in bed at night I get energized thinking about tomorrow's day!   I think to myself that I am going to get up early, exercise, get dinner started, get the grocery shopping done in the morning before it gets too busy, fix a healthy lunch, clean up the house, make a few phone calls, and still have time to read in my big comfy chair.  Then I wake up...it's a bit disheartening. 

Here are tips that I found that I think may help get us heading in the right direction:

1.  Daily goals. Without a clear focus, it’s too easy to succumb to distractions. Set targets for each day in advance. Decide what you’ll do; then do it.
2.  Worst first. To defeat procrastination learn to tackle your most unpleasant task first thing in the morning instead of delaying it until later in the day. This small victory will set the tone for a very productive day.
3.  Timeboxing. Give yourself a fixed time period, like 30 minutes, to make a dent in a task. Don’t worry about how far you get. Just put in the time. 
4.  Batching. Batch similar tasks like phone calls or errands into a single chunk, and knock them off in a single session.
5.  Early bird. Get up early in the morning, like at 5am, and go straight to work on your most important task. You can often get more done before 8am than most people do in a day.
6.  Relaxify. Reduce stress by cultivating a relaxing, clutter-free workspace.
7.  Promise. Tell others of your commitments, since they’ll help hold you accountable.

Today actually was a very productive day for me and it felt great! Get up early tomorrow and get your day started! No going back to bed or napping! Set your goals, accomplish them, and bask in the glory of your productive day!

Post 5: Joy Amidst the Defeat

Defeat...it comes in so many forms.  Defeat against getting the job, defeat against death, defeat against the odds of marriage, defeat against a 30 day challenge perhaps (we'll talk about this one later).  Whatever your defeat is today you can overcome it!  Isn't that what motivational speakers do...try to encourage you to "snap out of it"?   I have encountered an endless amount interviews in the last year that have ended in one defeat after another.  People say, "Learn from your experiences" or "This just wasn't the job for you" or  "You'll get the next one" (that's my favorite).  Well, I believe that defeat has reared it's ugly head yet again today!

Now I know that I can choose to find joy in this situation, but today I'm not sure that I feel like it.  I want to wallow for a bit.  But my "counseled" side says differently.  Let's talk about joy for a moment.  Joy is not based on circumstances, but rather a state of mind.  The quote below is from Pam Gordon of Soulful Living and I found it rather interesting.

"Thinking is critical to our happiness because in a single day 50,000 thoughts pass through the human mind and studies prove that about 80% of them are negative. WOW!  If you question this, track your thoughts for a few minutes and see how many of them are negative. I did just that and was astonished to find out that most of them were negative judgments about me!  That really doesn't surprise me.  What does amaze me is that she was able to actually track her thoughts.  Try doing it...seriously, and let me know how that works out.

The problem is our thoughts come so fast that we don’t even recognize them as thoughts, we see them as "that’s the way life is" and react accordingly. Hmmmm...We don’t have an experience of actively choosing anything. To increase our happiness we must be aware of our thoughts and choose which ones to focus on or even create new ones that are in line with our goals. We need to consciously determine where we want to put our attention because "what you focus on you will follow after." Without realizing it, many people have developed wrong thinking, or the "unhappiness habit.""  And this is where my gratitude journal has come into play, but the negative is drowning my positive.

Today, I'm in a dirty room of twenty-two third grade children that is loud and disorganized!  Joy...where are you?
 

• Well, I just realized that today is an early release day!  There's 1! 
• The last two positions that I interviewed for I did not get, but was told by both prinicipals that I was their 2nd choice...positive?  I'll take that as 2! 
• I didn't have recess duty today - 3! 
• Dinner is in the crock pot, well part of it anyway - 4!
• It's sunny outside - 5

I can't say that I feel better, but maybe my attention is at least heading in the right direction.

Post 4: Dusty Memories

I consider myself to be organized, on top of things, put together...but unfortunately when it comes to recording family memories I just plain stink!  Back in the day, I created a Creative Memories book of Nathan's birth and early years.  It was a lot of work, but I loved it!!  My creative side was released...but only until his 2nd birthday, then I just quit.  Life took over and the years passed on and on and now he will be turning 18 in March!!!  That's a lot of scrapbooking to catch up on!  So, I decided I would start small and began with my wedding pictures (yes, those were also left to collect dust).  I believe it took me all of 3 days to complete the scrapbook using Shutterfly, but I basically did nothing else for 3 straight days!  I would encourage you to do an hour a night rather than cramming it all in a short period of time.  It will help in the area of sanity! 

My Wedding Shutterfly Book This link will take you to my most current "work of art" to preview.  After clicking the link click the preview button on the top left to see the complete book.  I really enjoy using Shutterfly due to the variety of backgrounds, clip art, fonts, and layouts.  It can be a bit confusing, but just play around with it or choose one of their "simple formats".  You can work up to the fancy stuff later.

So, my plan is to pull all of Nathan's "stuff" from the upstairs closet and begin sorting...toddler years, school years, school crafts, school assignments, vacations, etc.  I figure that will take me quite some time to complete.  With the amount of memorabilia I have I would imagine that I will have to create multiple books.  THEN, I will begin the scanning process.  See, when Nathan was born we didn't have those fancy digital camera things, just good 'ol picture film!  I plan to only focus on one book at a time and we'll see how that goes.  I'll post them along the way for you to view. 

So, get those boxes down from the closet or from under the bed and see what you can accomplish in 30 days!  Hey, there's another challenge for you!

Post 3: Mind and Body

Before I had even heard of the 30 day challenge I have been challenging myself in two different areas.  First, I am keeping a "Gratitude Journal".  This has been part of my counseling to learn to focus on the positive things each day rather than the negative.  Gee, what a concept!  Here's the idea:

1.  Find a small enough journal that you can have with you at all times.
2.  Write at least 5 things each day that:
   a.  Made you smile
   b.  You appreciated
   c.  Were positive events for you
   d.  Were direct blessings
3.  These don't have to be long, just a short note or word is fine.  ie.  "Someone was kind enough to open the door for me."

I started mine on November 24, 2011 and I'm still going strong!  You will find yourself looking for positive things.  Don't believe me...TRY IT!!  You'll be amazed! 

Secondly, I have been using an app that I have fallen in love with.  It's call My Fitness Pal.  It is a calorie counter for your Smartphone.  Now I know that there are many many apps for this particular area, but this one has been helpful in the sense that it has just about every food out there in it!  Also, it has a barcode scanner, so you are able to just scan the food in your pantry rather than looking it up!  It also calculates your exercise by providing additional calories that you have burned.  Today is day 30 that I have been using it and I can honestly say it's working.  I have lost 16.5 lbs. since November 7!!!  It keeps me focused and motivated.  This year I am NOT waiting until April to panic about wearing a bathing suit!  By May I will be more than ready!

Post 2: 30 Day Challenge

Matt Cutts

About a week or so ago my close friend, Heather, shared this link with me and I was immediately on board.  So many times our days, our months, our years just run together because we have nothing to remember them by.  Now, having a baby...that's a day you remember...or getting your first job or graduating from college, but what about the first snow of the season or your first apple pie made from scratch?  "Normal" days get left behind and forgotten as does the rest of the month.  So, I am beginning my 30 day challenge today (well actually I started it yesterday)!  For the next 30 days I am challenging myself to walk a mile a day.  Don't even say it!  I know it sounds weak, but when you don't exersise at all this will be quite the challenge.  Now I'm talking about 30 days straight...not missing ANY days in between.  Ahhhh, so maybe now you can see the challenge involved. 

I have many more 30 Day Challenge ideas such as:

• Take a picture a day for 30 days(as Matt mentioned in the video)
• Pray or meditate for 30 days
• Send a card to...anyone everyday for 30 days (someone different each day)
• Scan all of those forgetten pics and put them in albums in 30 days
• 30 days of decluttering (I have a great website for this one that I'll share later!)

I know the list could go on and on, and I know your mind is racing with all sorts of ideas!  Please share and let's not let another day or month go by without creating a lasting memory.

Post 1: On My Way

I have been spending the last year searching for answers to the many questions of my existence.  Through journaling, counseling, many tears, and long, long conversations with my mom and close friends I have found that I am here to encourage, listen, share, and provide positive advice to not only those around me, but to myself as well.  I have learned that I can not identify myself through my occupation or my roles here at home, but as an individual who is striving to exist with grace in such an unbalanced world.  Through my blogging I long to provide encouragement and hope to those who read..  I welcome you to join me on this journey.