How to Keep Breakfast Interesting

Photo by Celeste Lidell

Breakfast is a big deal for us. We get up early and are active from the first minute, so we need solid fuel to keep the engine running. But having the same ol' cereal for breakfast can get boring pretty quickly, not to mention unhealthy. That's why I included breakfast in our meal planning schedule, and it's a different breakfast each day of the week.

When you plan what, doesn't really matter. But to keep it simple and save time, you can stick to the same plan for each week. That way you can also alternate between high protein and high fiber breakfast meals.

Our schedule is as follows:

Monday: pancakes
Tuesday: oatmeal
Wednesday: toast & eggs
Thursday: crepes
Friday: cold cereal/muesli
Saturday: French toast
Sunday: yogurt & fruit

When you make crepes & pancakes often, it become a routine and goes much faster than the first time around. I usually put at least half whole wheat flour for each of those.  By the way, making crepes is simpler than making pancakes.

Keep your breakfasts diverse by adding small little extra's to your regular meals. Pancakes become an extra nice treat if you add a fruit, or chocolate chips. I'll have more tips on how to spice up your oatmeal in a future post!

If you're short on time and need some quick options for breakfast: check out my post on 5-minute breakfast options.

Do you eat breakfast? Or skip on it altogether? What's your favorite breakfast food?

5 Easy Steps to (Re)generate Energy

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Today my mom said something that struck home for me. She said that she felt that it just wasn't her day. She lacked the want or the energy to do pretty much anything. She wouldn't be my mom if that meant she'd actually not done anything. Of course she still went on to cook lunch, take care of laundry, go shopping for a parasol with my dad and went out to eat in the evening. Still, it bothered her and she was thinking of ways to fix that problem. Since I often encounter the same issue, I thought we might not be the only ones and that there must be some things we can do to remedy this kind of situation.

1. Prevention.
   The best way to not have to fix a situation is to prevent it. I find that it can help to plan your day early in the morning or the night before. Make a rough sketch of how you'd like it to go and let that be your guide throughout the day. You can read my previous post on how to visualize your day.
   
2. Stay hydrated.We often forget to drink enough water, and it shows. Water makes up a huge percentage of who we are and what we can do, and lack of energy is one of the major signs of dehydration. Try to keep a bottle of water with you at all times to remind yourself.
   
3. Move often.Feel like you've run out of energy? Get up and move around. It'll get your blood flowing and thus bring more oxygen to your brain and muscles. Can't get motivated to move? Think of an appealing reward such as more couch time but without the guilt once you get some work done.
   
4. Crank up the music. When you are energized, your heartbeat increases. When your heartbeat increases, you get more energy. So how do you raise your pulse? Put on some music that has a good beat. It'll also pump you up mentally. If it gets you dancing you've scored double!
   
5. Breathe deeply.Close your eyes for a couple of seconds and focus on taking deep breaths. The deepest ones you can take. Imagine the air revitalizing you from the inside out, reaching every part of your body. Remember to push your belly forward when you inhale, so the air fills your lungs completely. This is another great way to pump oxygen through your system. More on breathing in this post from a while ago.

These are just a couple of ways I like to regain my energy when I'm in a slump, but there's tons more. What do you do when you feel like every bit of energy has leeched from your body and you need a boost?

I love to hear tips from others in case I run out of stuff that works at a given moment.

Set a Priority - Break the Rut

Photo by Stephen McKay

Ever find yourself just going through the motions of life without any particular goal in mind? You go to work, cook dinner, watch TV, go to the occasional family gathering and party, and each year blends into the next without anything changing much.

Coming back to the US after being gone for over 4 years we were surprised to find how little some things have changed, notably the people around us. Our last 4 years were full of exciting goals we pursued and consequently arrived at, so it's sometimes unsettling to see how others get stuck in a rut and don't even seem to notice the time going by. It's mostly unsettling because from past experience I know how easy it is to get into a rut like that, and how difficult it is to escape once you do.

I'll make today's 5 minute task a simple one to get started on creating a life that is meaningful and fulfilling. All you have to do is set a priority. Choose an area in your life: family, health, work, relationships, etc; that you will view as your priority for a certain amount of time. It can be a priority for a day, for a week, a month, a year. 

Then think of what you would like to achieve in this area. Do you want to spend more time with your family? Are you hoping to lose some pounds? Do you want to start exercising more regularly? 
Having this priority set will already make you feel more goal oriented and inspired, and help you set the stage for true action.

I'm someone who'd much rather actively create my life and my circumstances than undergo them passively. It does take energy and effort however, and it is never easy to become pro-active once you're used to the comfort of letting life wash over you. Just keep in mind that you can and should be pro-active about doing nothing sometimes too! Watching TV on purpose because you happen to enjoy a certain show or because you really just want to vege out for a day is totally different from plopping down on the couch cause that's just what you usually do.

What are your thoughts? Are you stuck in a rut? Did you ever break out of one? Share below!

Final Five Review

Photo by Michael Coghlan

Wow, it's been a while, right? My last post dates from around Christmas, but I don't want you thinking I've been sitting on my bum doing nothing for the last two months. In that time we rounded up our lives in China and flew across the Pacific. Now we're living in Los Angeles, setting up for our lives with a new baby, only to fly to Belgium next week to actually have that baby.

Being focused, driven and productive in a time like that is not easy, but all the more important. There are so many things to get done and the lack of structure means that without concentration some tasks keep falling through the cracks.

So what we did was take the last minutes of each day and go over what we had accomplished and what was still left to do.

The best time to do this is right before going to bed. I suggest taking pen and paper to write down anything you might need to remember. Go over the day by yourself, or with your significant other, and congratulate yourself and each other on what you have accomplished. Even if it was a lazy day and all you did was go out to lunch with the in-laws, acknowledge that this is an important part of life too!

Then go over the tasks that you still have left to do and think of a time to do them. It could be as simple as planning to do them the next day or later. Just keeping them in mind is what helps. 

Doing this and reminding ourselves of our responsibilities ensured that we got a lot done but were still very flexible. More on the importance of flexibility later!

Wherever You Lay Your Hat ... Makes a Difference!

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I don't like clutter. Luckily I have a husband who agrees with me, so we both try to limit the amount of stuff lying around in an unorganized fashion. One of the areas where we made some improvements is when we come into the door.
Especially in Winter, the amount of stuff you take off or put down when you enter the house is quite a lot. In addition to the usual keys and spare change, there's now a scarf, hat, gloves and thick coat. Where you put it all can affect your living space and how you function within it more than you realize.

I recommend to everyone that they keep a designated spot for the items they use every day, especially things that are easily lost and difficult to replace (keys, phone, certain papers).  
But it is of course just as important that you use those designated spots. 
When you enter the house, pay attention to putting everything exactly where it should go. I often put my coat on a chair first to then put it on the coat hanger two minutes later. What a stupid move. Doing that every day is such an inefficient way to go about it. 

So when you put down those gloves, hang up the scarf, put away the keys; try to get it right, right away. Make it a habit that you will keep for the rest of your life, so you'll never have to look for those keys, or tidy up your self-inflicted clutter.

I now understand my mother better than ever. She used to nag us every day about where we dropped our coats and left our shoes when we entered the house. She was right! She always is.

For all the Belgians and Dutch people out there: Vrolijke Sinterklaas!

6 Reasons to Hang-Dry Your Laundry

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There's not a lot of situations where I actually prefer to go for the slightly longer less convenient path than the most efficient and easiest one, but when it comes to laundry, I change my ways. I hang-dry my laundry instead of using the drier.
Okay, so one of the reasons is that we don't actually have a drier (we have a very bad one, hardly counts), but even when it was available to me in the past, I would still hang-dry my laundry whenever possible. All you need is a bit of dry space and a line or rack to hang up the clothes.
How long does it take? I'd say about 5-10 minutes. No more than that. You get more efficient too as time goes by.

So why would you opt for hanging up the laundry instead of just popping it in the drier? Here are my main reasons:

1. Environment.
   Using the drier takes up a lot of electricity. You're wasting electricity where you could just use the air around you to accomplish the same job. Even if it takes a little longer, after you hang up the laundry, you don't have to look at it until you take it down.
2. Price.
   Running a drier costs money. You have to pay for the machine and for the electricity. Wind/air is free! You'll even notice the effect more directly if you usually go to a laundromat that charges for the drying.
3. Absorption.
   Laundry that has been machine-dried just doesn't absorbed water quite as well as laundry that you dry on  line. That's also the reason I don't use fabric softener (actually, the previous two reasons are also good for not using softener: they're expensive and entirely unnecessary chemicals. Yuk!)
4. Shrinking.
   When you hang-dry the laundry, it dries at room temperature. That means you don't risk shrinking it because of the heat in the drier.
5. Lint.
   The lint from one sweater isn't swirled around and automatically transported onto every single other item in the drier. I made the mistake of putting one of my sweaters in with some sheets once and was never able to get them quite lint-free again.
6. Static.
   I can't stand static. My hair goes in crazy directions and you end up with handkerchiefs stuck to your jeans while you're running out the door. Static may be harmful to your body as well as uncomfortable.

My mother brought us up to hang-dry the laundry. I'm sure she was mainly being frugal, just like her parents before her, but in these days of economic turmoil, that may just be the best reason there is.

What about you? Do you use a drier? Ever considered using a clothes-line instead? Is there something that prevents you from doing so (bad weather, small apartment)? Perhaps we could figure out a solution together!

Tape Your TV-Shows

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I hate commercials! I absolutely detest them. Okay, there are some which are mildly amusing, but only for the first 10 times you see them. After that they just get annoying.
I also really don't like how they take up so much of your time. Ever tried to time how much of a show/movie's time slot is taken up by advertising? Of course, without ads there wouldn't be any television, but let others spend their time watching it and save yours!

To be honest, we don't watch ads at all anymore. We watch TV shows on the Internet, where you can watch lots of them for free on websites like Hulu. Or we rent them on DVD. I don't miss it one bit.

So what's my advice for today? Instead of watching a show the very day it's on television, tape it and watch it the day after (or whenever you feel like it). That way YOU are the one who decides when you spend your time on it, and you can fast-forward through the commercials.
It's also quite likely that you'll watch less TV if you record the shows, because you'll be thinking about what is actually worth watching instead of just popping on the couch and flipping through the channels. Watching TV used to take up quite a big part of my life, and I couldn't believe the change after getting rid of it. 

Want to read more? I wrote previously on turning your TV off and on donating your TV to charity.
Do you watch a lot of TV? Do you stay home to watch your favorite shows or prefer to tape them?

Busy Days Require Treats

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How do you keep from getting totally stressed out on your busiest days? If you're not in a 9-5 job (or even if you are) some days are bound to be busier than others. For me, as a private tutor, Friday and Saturday are my busy days, and I need something to treat myself during those days. So I've made it a habit to treat myself after my last class on Saturday, to make sure I make it through those rough days.

During our busy days, it's a great motivator and comforter to be able to look forward to a treat. It can be anything you enjoy: a nice hot bath, a pizza, a movie night with a friend, a nice glass of port. Important is that, just as much as those busy days, it becomes a regular part of your week. 

My treat? On my way back from the school I stop by the bakery to pick up a chocolate muffin. We don't really have cookies in the house, so something sweet really is a treat (unless I bake it myself). Knowing that after my class on Saturday I get those 5 minutes of pure chocolate-y happiness actually has me enjoy the busy hours. 

Rewards don't only work for children or pets, and they don't have to be given by others either. Treating yourself is the only way to make sure that the effort is worth the treat at the end. You're the best judge of your own effort and the reward that fits best.

Do you give yourself a weekly/daily treat? What effect does it have on you?

I love to read comments below! It really helps me get an idea of the post you readers enjoy. For those of you who would like to receive updates of these episodes, you can sign up for the RSS or e-mail feed at the top right of this website!

Jumping Back on the Wagon

Picture by Odense Bys Museer

Since last summer, I've been slacking off a bit when it came to productive and life-improving habits. Sure, we were still eating healthy and I'm still finishing all of my class preparations, but that's about it. I haven't really been focusing on the long-term goals and the house-hold and my blogs have suffered too.

This has been bothering me, and maybe some of you too.

My hubby and I have been waiting for paperwork to get out of China and finally see our US family again. This being in-between where we were and where we want to be has left us feeling like we don't really care so much about the present anymore.
But just sitting around waiting is a waste of time. Especially if it just goes on for months without any idea of when it might get better.

Well, I'm done with it. And for those of you who have started hibernating and letting go of some of the great habits you've built up: this is for you too.

Over the months from September 2010 to August 2011, I started some great habits. I built them up slowly, but by June 2011 we were getting up early, getting daily exercise, eating well, blogging daily, and feeling great about all of it. I loved that time, but when I got first trimester morning sickness, it became impossible to keep up with. 

Now I want it back, but it seems like so much to do at once.

So what do you do? Start with one thing. Build up the habits the way you did before. Today I started with one of the first habits that I picked up before, and the easiest one for me: making a daily plan. I take out my diary (which has been gathering dust on the messy desk in the never-used office) and wrote down a rough outline of what I plan to do each hour. I left some space open to fill in later, but that'll slowly get filled up too. 

It worked pretty well. My day was much more productive than they have been this week, and I felt a lot more energetic. 

When we give up on a habit, we often think that's it. We tried it and clearly it didn't work. But it doesn't have to be that way. An ex-smoker who falls off the wagon doesn't have to settle for smoking for the rest of their life. A busy mom who's gained weight doesn't have to forget about exercising forever.
We each have our times when it's difficult to do the things we know are good for us, and make us happy.

When the time is right, however, you will feel the urge to get back into gear and you can feel confident knowing you've already succeeded once before!  

Radio: The Forgotten Companion

Picture by Rafael Kage

How long has it been since you've turned on the radio when you were at home? Just to listen to it while you're doing something else, like household chores? It undoubtedly depends on your age, but I would venture a guess that it's been a while. The exception may be your daily commute, or your morning alarm.
What a shame. Radio is one of the things I miss most from home. The national channels have some great shows on in Belgium, and I loved listening to the British BBC channels as well. Thankfully, on many websites you can now listen to some of your old favorites, or listen to shows you may have missed because of your busy schedule.

Why would you listen to radio instead of keeping the TV on? For one, most radios are much more portable, but more importantly, you can listen while you're doing pretty much anything that doesn't require you to talk or write. 
What's more relaxing than peeling potatoes while listening to the radio, singing along or getting informed and entertained at the same time? Time to dust off that old piece that's been sitting in your closet for years! 
If you don't have a radio, you could use your computer or buy a small one. They're dirt cheap now! A better way may be to ask around if anyone you know (who doesn't read this blog) has a radio they're not currently using. Old radios work just as well as new ones.

You can find radio programming on the station's website. You'll probably figure out which shows you like quickly, and they may even become a part of your daily routine.

Let me know if you find any great shows that I might be able to listen to here in China! I'd love to get to know new stuff.

Tip for the Flemish readers: on the Radio 1 Webplayer you can listen to old episodes of, among others, 'Bromberen', which is such a favorite of mine I've listened to many of the episodes multiple times!

3 Easy Tricks to Eat More Fruit

Picture by Michael Geipel

Vegetables are quite easy to incorporate into our diet since they're a part of our main meals, but unless you eat fruit as a desert or with breakfast, it can be difficult to give it a place in your diet. Fruit makes an ideal snack, however, as long as it's readily available when you feel like snacking.
Healthy eating is always a concern of mine, and with another life growing inside, it is now more so than ever. So I try to consume at least 3 pieces of fruit a day. Here's how I do it:

1. Pick fruit that's easy to eat on the go. It's tangerine and banana season here, but apples, grapes or berries are great too. Put a piece of fruit (or a bag of grapes) in your purse/briefcase so you have it with you when you're out of the house. You'll find yourself reaching for it when you're in the mood for something sweet because it's so close at hand.
   
2. Make a smoothie or shake to go with breakfast or as an in between snack. You can pack smoothies with quite a bit of different fruits, and you can add milk or yogurt for extra calcium, or orange juice for extra  vitamin C. Adding ice-cream is delicious, but kind of defeats the purpose. We've been loving our banana-yogurt-cocoa shakes lately!
   
3. Wash fruits right when you bring them into the house, and then display them wherever you spend the most time in the house. Having it already washed means you can just reach and take a bite. It also means you can let your fruit soak in salt water which is a great way to remove pesticides.
   Remember to wash your fruit even if it is organic because there are bugs and parasites in dirt too!

For me, fruit is a great way to satisfy that craving for something sweet without having to feel guilty about it. It also gives you fast sugars if you're feeling low on energy, so it's a great pick-me-up.
Fruits are full of wonderful nutrients, so every piece is a treat not only for your taste buds, but for your body too! Enjoy!

5 Chores that Take Less Time than You Think

Picture by Cielo de la Paz

How often have you made the excuse that you 'just don't have time' to do this or that. We leave the dishes piling up in the sink because we figure that it takes too much time to do them right away, and we'd rather do something else. There's dirty laundry in every corner of the bedroom because we just can't find the time to sort through it and put it in the machine.

But these are only two of the many tasks that we often over-estimate. Somehow we fool ourselves into thinking that these tasks take more time. Maybe it's because of the different steps they contain, or the fact that we dislike them so much. But knowing how fast you can complete some of these chores can give you incentive to just finish them as quickly as possible and stop letting them nestle in the back of your mind.

1. Breakfast dishes really only take about 5 minutes to finish if everyone helps. Bowls and plates are easy to wash and dry. There are usually no pots to scrub, so it's a matter of minutes altogether.
   
2.  Cleaning the sink is just a matter of getting some product and wiping everything down. Unless you've recently cleaned out paint brushes in there or spilled something nasty, it doesn't take nearly as long as you might think.
   
3. Clearing up can be done in an incredibly short time. Set a timer for 5 minutes and see how much clutter you can clear away. Don't linger over stuff, just put it where it needs to go (or toss it out if it's useless.)
   
4. Making a proper breakfast is just a quick and easy task that there's no excuse for eating cereal every morning. We usually make some toast, scrambled eggs, and get some fruit on the table in about 3 minutes. It'll take me 5 if I have to do it myself. But even if you're one to roll out of bed and rush out the door, you can still enjoy a nourishing bite beforehand.
   
5. Making the bed doesn't take minutes, it takes only a couple of seconds. Don't know why you'd make your bed in the first place? I explain some of the reasons in this post.

Any other tasks that you can think of which seem to take much longer than they really do? Feel free to share in the comments below! I love to hear your opinions and ideas.

Plan a Cat-Nap

Picture by Michael Himbeault

Naps are not just a luxury. For many of us, they could make the difference between an afternoon of sluggish dragging your feet or an afternoon full of energy and productivity.
Many cultures incorporate naps as a regular part of the day. In China, also, many people use the 2 hour lunch break for the reason it was intended: to rest for a while after a busy morning.

If you don't plan to take a nap, it's one of those things that gets put off to make room for endless Internet surfing or catalog browsing. Somehow the prospect of going to bed or lying down on the couch is not the most exciting. 

So instead, plan your cat-nap as vigorously and faithfully as your first priority tasks. When you do lay down and get some rest, allow yourself a feeling of accomplishment. Sleeping enough is just as important as eating healthy, so if you can feel good about eating a salad instead of eating a burger, you can feel good about getting some rest instead of shopping on eBay. 

Cat-naps don't have to be long (of course) and often as little as 15 minutes can already make a big difference!

Of course, for pregnant ladies like me naps are not so much optional as do-it-now-or-you'll-never-make-it-to-the-end-of-the-day. But I made napping a habit even before getting pregnant, and can fully attest to the benefits.

Give it a try and see what the effect is. Maybe it's not for you, or maybe you'll find your productivity, satisfaction, happiness and energy shooting up.

Any nappers already present on the readers' list? Now's the time to show your true colors and convince others! 

Double-Check Your Dates

Picture by Joe Lanman

Just a short message of advice for you today, one that I was reminded of on my trip lately.

We arrived in our hotel, only for the receptionist to tell me that I had booked the wrong date. This being China, I checked the confirmation e-mail I had received, and sure, she was right. I had booked a room for 10 days later.

I still have no idea what happened, but it did teach me a lesson (for the zillionth time) that I'd like to remind you of as well.

We wasted 3 hours calling around and waiting for people to check out at our hostel, before we finally got a room. That's three hours of sightseeing that we missed. And all because I forget to check the dates when I received the confirmation. 

So take your time in checking dates. When traveling, or making plans, keep a calendar with you and make sure that you check both the DAY and the DATE. That way you can also spot if someone else made an error in thinking the 20th was a Saturday instead of a Sunday, for example.

This is literally the work of seconds, and yet is forgotten more often than not. It may not be necessary in most cases, but the one time you're off, it can cost you a lot of time!

Are you someone who usually checks twice? Have you ever booked a hotel for the wrong date? Or worse, a plane ticket?

Worth Every Minute!

I've read so many great blog posts lately, that I find it difficult to choose one to share. But there was one that I just knew I had to share.
Perseverance hasn't always been the easiest for me, and I still need to be reminded of how important it is to just keep going at it from time to time. Chances are that if you try long enough, you'll eventually get the result you're looking for. You're increasing the odds with every attempt.

Today's article talks about just that. It gives you the reasons you need to keep working at your goals. For those of you who are working toward a goal that seems to be impossible to reach, this could be a great help!

So without further ado:

How to Succeed: Keep At It Until You Get Lucky by Donald Latumahina on Lifeoptimizer.com

Let me know if you enjoyed it as much as I did!

For more worthwhile reads, check out the other posts of Worth Every Minute.

No Computer Before Breakfast!

Picture by Erik Hersman

'No computer before breakfast' is one of the rules I like to live by.

Our mornings used to start with turning on the computer and checking emails or stats on the blog. My hubby would play a game or two on-line. Then we'd nag each other a bit about when to have breakfast, and take at least 15 minutes 'finishing' our computer work before getting into the kitchen. Breakfast was an interruption instead of the wonderful start to the day that it is supposed to be.

Now the habit has changed, breakfast is a very nice and relaxing time for us. It's a moment to talk, and to discuss the day ahead.

For many, the first thing we do each morning is turn on electronics. The phone (if you've taken the trouble to turn it off before going to bed), computer or TV become the automatic 'on' button for the beginning of the day. We 'plug in' for the next 16 hours.

But consider a different morning altogether for a change. You wake up (brush your teeth/get dressed/etc.) and then prepare a lovely breakfast. If you want some ideas on how to do this quickly, you can read this post. You sit around the table with your partner/family/roommate (or just take a magazine if you live alone), and enjoy the food and the company.

This is a great time to connect to the people around you before everyone goes on their way and becomes a solitary busy bee. It's also a healthy start of the day since you're eating mindfully and can listen to your body's cues about when to stop. 

So next time you get out of bed and are reaching for that 'on' button, take a moment to think about how you could start the day differently and mindfully. Look at the sky outside, taste your food, talk to those around you. Connect to the day instead of the Internet!

Do you have morning habits to help you start the day in a good way? How long does it take you to get on the computer? Feel free to share your story in the comments! I love hearing from my readers and knowing they are still out there somewhere.

3 Reasons to Make Your Bed in the Morning

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Growing up, we spent a lot of weekends at my grandparents' house. In their house, it was the rule that you made the bed every morning. Not an easy feat, since all the beds were double beds and they still used sheets and blankets instead of a comforter.

But seeing the nicely made-up bed after we finished always made it worth it. And being able to snuggle underneath the blankets pulled tight, helped out quite a bit in the cold winters (they also didn't have heating in the bedrooms, brrrr).

Here are my main reasons for making our bed every morning. Perhaps they can convince you to try the same and see if it has an effect on you too.

1. Neatness. Starting out the day in a neat way may help you carry on this habit through the rest of the day. It doesn't take much to make the bed, but knowing your bedroom is neat and tidy can help you keep your house the same way too.
2. Inviting. A neatly made bed is inviting in the evening and makes going to bed so much more pleasant. There's not late-night irritation at the mess you left before.
3. Unexpected guests. Alright, I know what you're thinking! (And you're right, in those cases it IS good to have an inviting bed). But there could be times when you have visitors and you want to show them around your house. Or if you live in an apartment (like we do) and the bedroom is clearly visible from the living room, it's much less embarrassing if you have to fetch something and don't need to hurriedly close the door behind you. 

 These days, with comforters and quilts, making a bed is a matter of seconds! Really! Just straighten the blanket and put the pillows in the right place. Voila!
It's the first step toward a day of paying attention to the little things that make your environment more enjoyable to live in.

Shiny Shoes Make All the Difference

Picture by Jay Springett

I have a friend who once told me that whenever she meets someone for the first time, she always looks at their shoes first. This is not some weird kind of shoe obsession. She says that she can tell whether the person is neat, organized and productive, from looking at how well they attend to their shoes.

Since then, I try to throw a quick glance at my feet before I leave the house, and keep some wipes nearby in case I need to clean them real quick. But really looking after your shoes doesn't have to take that long either. Especially with leather, frequency is more important than how careful you are about polishing your shoes.

Cleaning your shoes is a matter of minutes. First of all, brush them off with a dry brush. Then, if need be, wash with a damp cloth (only lightly, don't get them wet!). After that you can use some polish and rub it into the leather of the shoe. Let it sit for about three minutes to dry, then use a clean brush to get a nice shine.

About once a month should do the trick. Be sure to protect your clothes, furniture, pets, children, etc. Shoe polish is sticky stuff!

In the long run, taking care of leather shoes will make them last MUCH longer! I've had pairs of shoes last me over 5 years, and others waste away in less than 2 (depending on how hard my mom wagged her finger at us). So it's not only a good use of time, but a money saver too!

Do you polish your shoes? Do you notice when others do(n't)?

Five 1-Minute Back to School Organizing Tips

Picture by Christopher Webb

It's September 1st today, and in many countries that means the beginning of a new school year. I used to love these days when I was a student. Obviously, the end of the summer holiday is no feast, but it's a great time to take a new start at being efficient and productive.
If you want to make your year a success, it's important to start off the right way.
Maybe these 5 tips below can nudge you in the right direction.

1. Plan your time.
   Unless this is your first year in school, you'll have some idea of how much time you need to take for homework (doing or correcting), and other assignments. Set aside a specific time every week (or ever day) in which to do this. Write it down now! It's much nicer to get an unexpected afternoon off than to have to cancel a fun activity because you didn't have time to do your homework.
   
2. Organize your notes.
   Do this every single day. When you get home from school, put all your papers in order when you take them out of the bag. This doesn't take more than a minute, but saves you soooo much time at the end of the term when you're trying to get everything ready for the pre-exam cram sessions.
   
3. Keep supplies up to date.
   Nothing quite as annoying as running out of ink for your fountain pen, or staples for your stapler. Buy a double supply and keep it in a designated drawer of your desk. Keep it neat so you can see what you need to fill up on when the time comes.
   
4. Start a study/work log.
   A great way to motivate and track yourself is to start up a log of all the time you spend working/studying. Write down what you're working on each time. You can use a notebook for this, or a diary if you have one that provides ample space.
   Just jot down in short what you did so you can go back later and know how far you've progressed. Also a good way to find out what your high-maintenance areas are in terms of required study time.
   
5. Write down your goals.
   Think of what you want to accomplish this year, this semester, this month, this week. Is there something you need to work on? For me, self-discipline and clutter were big issues (long live this blog, forcing me to figure out ways around my own flaws). But it could also be balancing study and fun, or paying more attention.
   Paste your goal above your desk. Write it in your school diary. Keep it in mind.

I hope you have a wonderful new school year, and can find joy and excitement in figuring out this amazing world one small piece at a time.

Worth Every Minute

I've been trying to incorporate more calcium into my diet, and one of the ways I've done this is by sipping the occasional glass of milk. I drink one with breakfast, and one before going to bed. It comforts my stomach when it's upset and it's just nice as an in between snack.

I was looking up some information about the benefits of drinking milk (and the drawbacks) when I came across this site that I'd love to share with you. It has lots of great tips on how to incorporate drinking more milk into your life, and on the benefits of drinking it.

So go ahead, read, think, get a glass of the good stuff!

The Health Benefits of Drinking Milk by Michele Borboa

PS. Avoid taking calcium with iron-rich foods because they sort of cancel each other out. Vitamin C and D help with the absorption of calcium.