Ways you upped your game in life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not working every night after the kids go to bed, going to be early (at least 7 hours of sleep in order to get up to workout in the morning). It's hard not to putter around after bedtime but it's worth it.

Curious - how did you reconcile your workload? I wish I could do this, and I do for a stretch of a few days, but then I feel like I'm behind.

Readjust your job.

If you have to work after hours multiple times a week (and don't like it) think about your workload. Many places expect wayyyyyy too much and many people (women, generally) just take it and come back for more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I pick up my house every night. Not a major clean or anything, just getting every room "back to ready." My husband and kids do help.

I am very choosy about what I eat. I make good investments. I will never eat a lame bagel in the conference room or a store-bought cookie. I'll enjoy the real-deal things, and I save my calories for foods that are truly worth it.

This is such good advice and I need to follow it (I did for a little while and then stopped). There is NO POINT in eating bad desserts at the catered conference lunch. Or the terrible treats that co-workers leave out on Mondays.

If you feel tempted to do so, look at the other people that are eating them. I don't mean this as a dig at people but for me the wide-bottoms barely fitting the chairs and rolls hanging over belts/waists is a good reminder of why I, like PP, am super picky about what I eat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started doing barre classes on my lunch hour at work. I have small kids at home so exercise before or after work is too hard.

I stopped buying clothes that 'almost' fit. If it doesn't fit absolutely perfectly (and is too expensive to get tailored), I return it. I now have a set of 10 work dresses from Nordstrom Rack, Neiman Last Call etc. that fit really well and that's two weeks of work outfits that I never have to think about. Just throw on dress and jewelry.

I got a robot vacuum and now I don't get annoyed walking on crumbs every day. I run it in the middle of the night.

This would scare me to have running at night. Can you hear it? Is it running on your bedroom level?

I got a really quiet one, I don't hear it unless I'm already awake. I run it downstairs at night in the main living area and kitchen. Sometimes before I leave for work I bring it upstairs to run in the bedrooms while we are all at work/school. Run in the basement on weekends. This thing is one of my favorite purchases ever!
http://m.thesweethome.com/reviews/best-robot-vacuum/

This might be something that could definitely enhance my life. our kitchen floor can't seem to stay clean for 5 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Bought a great planner and am determined to write everything down--as a planner and diary of sorts (I'll write WHAT I bought someone for a gift, etc)
Carve out time to read
Lights out by 10:30
I leave lists for my kids every few days with things they need to do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I made more of an effort to follow the cliche, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

It really helped me cut back on being unduly judgmental, and it has a way of naturally curbing gossip.

I also noticed that it helps avoid the downward spiral of complaining and negativity. When I'm actively focused on this in my conversations, I find it also carries over to my thoughts.

When something is truly bad, I notice/think/say so, but the small stuff doesn't move the needle as often.

Like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Changed careers and now work on a school schedule. If the kids have a snow day, I have a snow day. No more panicking or wasting vacation days. It meant I'll likely never make 6 figures, and dh can't take certain business risks because we have less of a cushion, but I am grateful that he makes just enough money to make this possible and we agree that a giant house and fancy neighborhood isn't necessary.

I am working on scaling back on "stuff". Recent example, why do we have a billion water bottles and travel cups? Every household member keeps the one most functional one, not the one with the best superhero on it. Also, makeup. I laid it all put by category and kept one of each. Got rid of little sample products and extra bottles. Everything fits in one small case. I toss things that annoy me, like the kids kazoo, when he's not looking.

I take time for myself. A morning in the park with a good book does wonders. And I give dh the same flexibility. We both deserve to take care of ourselves.

I know what to splurge on and what to save on. I've scaled back on even occasional indulgences like pedicures. $40 is a lot for a fleeting experience. Taking the time to do it myself also looks and feels good, and I bought decent tools to do it right.

What is your career. Would love to work school hours so I can spend more time with my kids
.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I made more of an effort to follow the cliche, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

It really helped me cut back on being unduly judgmental, and it has a way of naturally curbing gossip.

I also noticed that it helps avoid the downward spiral of complaining and negativity. When I'm actively focused on this in my conversations, I find it also carries over to my thoughts.

When something is truly bad, I notice/think/say so, but the small stuff doesn't move the needle as often.

Like this.

+1

Peaceful people don't let disturbed people ruffle their feathers.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I both had really demanding jobs. With two small kids. I went down to very part time (15-20 hours a week) it has made a HUGE difference in all our lives. I spend the time time doing grocery shopping, cleaning, meal prep, doing random errands, taking care of house stuff we have been putting off forever. Now nobody has to take off work for doctors appointments-I just make sure to schedule them on my time off. I don't mind cleaning my own house because I'm not stretched so thin.

I actually have the time/energy to exercise now. Before I was so exausted and stretched so thin that I couldn't handle much of anything other than working, taking care of my kids and being fall down tired at the end of the day.

Oddly when I went to part time we actually started saving money because since I had more time to plan out meals we spent less on food shopping and take out/dining out and no longer need our house cleaner.

[Anonymous]

I learned to sleep with earplugs to drown out my partner's snoring. Life is way better without chronic daytime fatigue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I stopped being flaky and stopped being late.

I started investing in my friendships more. I live overseas and my friends are all scattered around (my closest friends live in NYC, DC, SF, London, and Shanghai) and these long-term friendships are really important to me. I make a point to reach out and see how everyone's doing regularly.

I raised my standard of cleanliness for my home. By keeping the house neater, my mood tends to be better overall and I have more energy (I'm not kidding).

I'm already pretty minimalist, but now I regularly get rid of things rather than doing a big purge. More manageable.

I refuse to engage in drama with anyone, ever.

I stopped being self-deprecating. It's not to say I act like a cocky a**hole, I just started to realize my value and worth and no longer present myself that way.

If I don't feel it, I don't do it. Friendships, undertakings, books, whatever - life is too short.

i like you

[Anonymous]

was hoping that this thread would keep going

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bought a great planner and am determined to write everything down--as a planner and diary of sorts (I'll write WHAT I bought someone for a gift, etc)
Carve out time to read
Lights out by 10:30
I leave lists for my kids every few days with things they need to do

I do the same with my planner/diary, down to what I serve guests for dinner, so I'm sure not to give them the same things twice, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I both had really demanding jobs. With two small kids. I went down to very part time (15-20 hours a week) it has made a HUGE difference in all our lives. I spend the time time doing grocery shopping, cleaning, meal prep, doing random errands, taking care of house stuff we have been putting off forever. Now nobody has to take off work for doctors appointments-I just make sure to schedule them on my time off. I don't mind cleaning my own house because I'm not stretched so thin.

I actually have the time/energy to exercise now. Before I was so exausted and stretched so thin that I couldn't handle much of anything other than working, taking care of my kids and being fall down tired at the end of the day.

Oddly when I went to part time we actually started saving money because since I had more time to plan out meals we spent less on food shopping and take out/dining out and no longer need our house cleaner.

Did you start part time day care or you keep the kids in day care full time while you catch up on house stuff? I've been wanting to go part time with work but most child care around here (at least that I'm aware of) only offers full time seats basically because they can. For us, we wouldn't actually save unless we found another child care scenario.

[Anonymous]

I quit my stifling, monotonous job and moved to a much cheaper house down South near the beach.

My husband still kept his job/salary SO that will tide us over until I get myself back to work again -- in a much more rewarding job, hopefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my stifling, monotonous job and moved to a much cheaper house down South near the beach.

My husband still kept his job/salary SO that will tide us over until I get myself back to work again -- in a much more rewarding job, hopefully.

Sounds fantastic. He works remotely? No kids it sounds like?