5 Tips for Finding Peace in the Summer Busy Season

Memorial Day weekend is upon us, humidity and thunderstorms have hit Chicago, and we're about to unofficially kick off summer 2016! Are you ready???

This year is going so fast.

May is usually the month when the CRAZY hits, and I'm sure you're feeling it. School is ending, energy is buzzing, trips and vacations are being planned, and all of a sudden the glorious relaxing expanse of summer that we envision in our minds is booked to the max.

Are your stress levels rising yet?

Last summer was crazy for us with lots of travel and moving, so this summer I'm determined to slow down and do my best to relax and enjoy life in Chicago!

5 Tips for Finding Peace in the Busy Summer Season

1. Stop multitasking your entire life away

I know, I know, we women pride ourselves on our multitasking talents and skills.

But when we're forcing our brains to jump from one thing to the next, we just create more frantic, anxious energy for ourselves. When we can focus on one thing at a time, we get into a flow and can be more productive in the present moment.

This is definitely something that I'm still practicing myself. I only have 2 tabs open on my internet browser right now though, so that's a pretty big win!

Choose one thing at a time to work on is one of the simplest ways to bring more peace and intention to your workday.

2. Practice saying NO

It's so important for us to feel empowered to say NO to opportunities that aren't important or will drain us, instead of automatically saying yes to everything out of some false sense of duty or obligation. If someone is personally offended that you're too overwhelmed to add one more event to your calendar, that's their problem, not yours!

3. Eliminate the word busy from your vocab

"How have you been doing lately?"

"Oh you know, I've just been so BUSY! Life is crazy right now!"

-Every single conversation I've had in the last 3 days

What does busy really mean to you? Is it good busy, or bad busy?

If it's good, let's say it how it really is and stop diminishing our joy so other people don't feel bad about themselves. "My life is overflowing with awesomeness right now and I'm loving every second of it!" Your positive energy will rub off.

But if your busy is bad, own up to that and cut yourself some slack! "I'm feeling a little over-worked and drained, so I'm going to have to say no to [your party/grabbing drinks/this extra volunteering opportunity] right now so I can take some time off this weekend to recharge. I appreciate your understanding!" 

Empower yourself to choose more peace and slow down, even if you're tempted to jump on the busy train ... it's ok to do life differently :)

4. Create white space in your schedule and fight for it!

So now you're starting to focus on one thing at a time, saying no to things that don't serve your priorities or energy, and eliminating the concept of busy from your life, what are you going to do??

How about nothing?

Hear me out!! As a chronic overachiever, I've always crammed my schedule with as many activities as possible. To give you the picture, by my senior year of college I was double majoring, added a new minor at the last minute, took two senior seminars instead of just one, was the president of our environmental club, played in the band, took piano lessons, ran cross country, worked as an Admissions Ambassador, peer mentored incoming freshmen, ushered at the performing arts center, was involved with SAI (a music fraternity), Phi Beta Kappa, and another service organization, and had an internship with the Fish and Wildlife Service. OH and I was taking the GRE and applying to grad schools so I could get a full ride to my next level of awesome.

AND I BURNED THE HECK OUT. It wasn't pretty. Lots of teary phone calls to my long distance boyfriend Ben, who was just trying to survive his first year of Teach for America in inner city Baltimore...no big deal. Miraculously he somehow took me in stride. Now we're married and I know that no matter how crazy I get, he'll be able to handle it! I love youuuu Benben...

ANYWAY, the concept of intentionally scheduling WHITE SPACE into my calendar freaks me out and is still something I'm practicing, but I'm slowly learning that taking time off, even if it's just an hour on Saturday morning, with NOTHING PLANNED (nope not even chores!!) makes me such a happier person.

5. Put yourself first

So what exactly are we supposed to do when we're doing nothing in this precious white space?

WHATEVER THE HECK YOU WANT, BABE!

Carve out time every single day to unplug and chill your brain, even if it's just 10 minutes here and there. What makes you feel good? For me, that's eating outside on the deck, journaling, getting out (even if it's a walk around the block), going to yoga, running, reading, coloring, sewing or being creative, making a yummy dinner or trying a new recipe without feeling rushed, doing my hair or make-up, or just laying on the floor in my office and staring at the ceiling for 2 minutes.

When you have a little more time like on the weekends or in the evenings, get out into the world and do something summery and fun! Have an adventure. Check out a new part of town or a new restaurant. Have a backyard BBQ with friends. Take a picnic to the beach or park. Go camping. Explore your world!

Don't worry about being productive every second of the day. The more time we take to nurture our soul, the more productive we end up being. I can't believe I can actually say this and mean it. It takes practice to flip your mindset, especially when you're a fellow Type A perfectionist, but nothing will fall apart when you pause to slow down for a second and take care of yourself.

Self care isn't selfish.

In fact, don't we owe it to our friends, family, and co-workers to show up with our BEST energy?

When we stop rushing through life, we'll be able to enjoy it so much more. And that's really the point of this whole crazy ride, isn't it?

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Do you need some help or accountability putting yourself first? I know it's super hard and I'm here for you! Let me be your life coach this summer and I'll keep you on track so you can calm the heck down, enjoy life, and work on discovering your best self. 

The June Session of my Inspire Joy Challenge is opening up next week, and I am so excited to share my journey and support YOU as you're off supporting everyone else in your life. Click here to learn more!

And have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend full of peace and lots of fun. And maybe a glass or three of rose ;)

xo Anna

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What to do when you have no energy or motivation

Happy Friday!

The sun is finally out and it's a gorgeous day here in Chicago. I'm camped out at a Starbucks for a couple hours to write before meeting my friend Amanda for a late lunch and our usual Friday adventure. We've been meeting up every week to hang out and explore different areas around the city and it's been great to have some regular face-to-face quality girl time! Even though I'm an introvert and love working from home, I'm learning that I do need regular social interaction or else I start to feel lonely and get caught in my head.

It might be sunny today, but the rest of this week was rainy, dark, gloomy, and my mental energy has been really low. I've been lacking motivation and drive, and it's been a struggle to get up and moving in the mornings.

(In addition to the weather, I know my cycle is still a little wonky since I quit hormonal birth control pills in February, so I think that has something to do with it too).

The Old Me would have freaked out about slacking, beat myself up for failing to crush my early morning workouts, and tried to push through and be productive.

Luckily, the New Me is learning to go with the flow and back off! I know that if I give myself permission to take it easy and rest, my energy will return. I'm embracing the fact that I'm human, not a robot, and especially as a female human my energy does run in a cyclical pattern week to week and month to month.

When we feel off, our bodies are giving us a signal.

The funny thing is that you don't have to be physically tired to feel blah, unmotivated, or lazy. We have several different forms of energy: mental, emotional, and physical, to name a few.

Have you ever noticed that you feel burned out or spacey after a really hard day of getting stuff done or pushing your comfort zone, even if you were sitting in front of a screen the entire time? That's because you used up your mental energy!

Or have you ever felt completely drained after a deep or tough conversation (even if it was good)? Emotional energy: zapped.

Here are some of my tips for bouncing back and recovering your energy when you feel blah!

What to do when your energy is low

1. Identify which bucket of energy you've been using in the past few days: mental, physical, emotional, or a combination.
Have you been waking up early to work out and not getting to bed on time? Have you been going through stress at work, in your relationship, or with your family? Have you been stretching your comfort zone and getting super excited about life lately?

2. Take note of where you're at in your monthly cycle.
The week before your period, you'll feel restless or anxious (oh heyyy PMS), and during your period you'll feel super low energy. This is completely normal, and it's important to recognize! I really love this e-book that relates our cycle to the changing seasons.

3. Take a moment to BACK OFF and touch base with yourself.
Ask yourself "what do I NEED right now?" Brain-dumping your thoughts and feelings into a journal is a great way to tune into your intuition. Be aware of any mental chatter, self-judging thoughts,  internal pressure, or thoughts that begin with the word "should." Tell the chatter thanks but no thanks, I'm going to listen to my heart right now! 

4. Go with the flow and take action to restore your positive energy.
Deep down, you already know what you need to do to feel better. The trick is to quiet down our mental chatter and let the right answers rise to the surface. Once your intuition tells you what you need, do it! Don't worry about letting people down, finishing your to-do list, or slacking off, because unless you work in the ER or labor and delivery, no one is going to die if you take a moment or even a full day to re-calibrate. If you're taking care of kids as a parent or teacher you have a more complicated role, but you still deserve to put your energy first and the kids will ultimately benefit too.

HERE IS THE SECRET: sometimes inaction is the best action, and you really do need to chill out with your favorite Netflix show, or sit in the sunshine with a book, or ditch the to-do list and meditate for 10  minutes to clear your head. But sometimes if you're just mentally or emotionally tapped, a run outside or a workout will re-invigorate you even if you feel lazy or unmotivated.

Remember this quote...

Intuition + Action before emotion

Don't let your emotions get in the way. If you wait until you "feel motivated," you'll never get anything done. On the other hand, if you feel guilty for being unmotivated, you'll start to bring in even more negative energy.

Touch base with your intuition and take action (or inaction) to feel the way you want to feel!

Whether you need to cut yourself some slack or rise up and do the hard thing, the right answer is inside of you. Consider this your permission slip to tune out the noise and tune into what YOU need :)

xo Anna

Cinco De Mayo Healthy Recipe Round-Up!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!! This has always been one of my favorite holidays for so many reasons.

1. May is the best month (even if the weather hasn't warmed up yet...)
2. I love tacos and margaritas
3. It's just fun!

We're hosting a party this weekend but I'm definitely going to be whipping up a batch of epic healthy nachos and skinny marg's tonight.

I realized that I've accumulated quite the database of healthy Mexican-inspired recipes from the blog and Instagram over the past couple years, so I figured I'd share some of them with you.

Enjoy!

Healthy Homemade Nachos

Corn and Black Bean Fiesta Salad

Classic Ground Turkey Tacos

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and saute 1 chopped red onion and 1 package of ground turkey until cooked.

Add a jar of salsa or diced tomatoes, chili powder (or fave seasonings), and heat through.

Layer on corn tortillas with lettuce, red onion, avocado, and a dollop of Greek yogurt!

Crockpot Salsa Chicken Tacos

This is the easiest crockpot recipe ever! Just combine 1 package chicken and a jar or two of salsa in a crockpot and cook 4-6 hours until the chicken is done. Shred and serve! It's perfect for summer because it doesn't heat up your kitchen.

I made these tacos with black beans, red onion, and cilantro. Nom bomb.

Fish Tacos

Pan sauté some seasoned whitefish (cod or tilapia), then assemble with with slaw, avocado, Greek yogurt, salsa, lime, cilantro, cholula, so good. 

Chicken Fajita Plate

Slice a package of chicken breasts and marinate for 15 mins in lime juice, live oil, 4 chopped garlic cloves, and southwest seasoning.

Sautée bell pepper and onion in a large pan or cast iron grill pan, set aside, then cook the chicken.

Mix a can of black beans with garlic powder and more southwest seasoning (Mrs Dash) and microwaved for 2 mins.

Combine everything on a bed of lettuce and cilantro! NOM!

Taco Salad

Sautee a package of lean ground turkey (or tofu) with a chopped onion and LOTS of taco seasonings.

Combine with veggies of choice (tonight I heated some frozen peppers and fire roasted corn).

Warm up 1-2 cans of black beans with some garlic and chile powder.

In a huge bowl, portion out 1 red of turkey, 1 yellow of beans, and 1-2 greens of veggies. You can also top with avocado or cheese (blue)! For dressing I use lime juice, salsa, hot sauce, and cilantro!

Homemade Skinny Margs

• 1/2 shot triple sec (or orange liqueur)
• 1 shot tequila
• juice of 1/2 lime
• between 1/4 - 1/2 packet stevia (to taste!)
• club soda or flavored sparkling water

Pour shots and stevia over ice, stir to dissolve stevia. Add remaining ingredients, fill glass with club soda (about 1/2 cup) enjoy!

Fiestaaaa!

Skinny Strawberry-Lime Margaritas

• 1 shot tequila
• juice of half a lime
• stevia to taste
• sparkling water
• smashed strawberries

Shake or combine in a glass and enjoy!

xo Anna