Category: advice

My schedule has looked a bit differently lately and while there some changes that can be nice like having time to actually drink my coffee in the morning before it gets cold, there are some changes that I need to get rid of. One of them is that my bedtime has become later than it should be. Seems silly to say that I have a bedtime at my age but I’ve known for a long time that my body needs sleep and a lot of it. In high school, I went to bed at 9pm and scheduled my classes in college so that I could balance my work load and sleep. A part of growing up is learning that you have to do things for yourself like grocery shopping, cleaning your own home and setting your own bedtime. It’s easy to stay up and watch another episode but you and your body will probably regret it the next day.

I noticed on my Fitbit that my hours of sleep were declining and I was groggy in the morning. Clearly, something needed to change. I needed to get my nights in order so that I could have more productive days. Here are a few things I’ve been doing to make sure I get a good night’s sleep.

Melatonin

Melatonin helps you fall asleep which I think is where most of us struggle. I like to take a gummy an hour before I am going to go to bed and I find that when my head hits the pillow, I quickly fall asleep.

Shower

I like to shower at night and I’ll use a face mask, exfoliate and use a relaxing scented body wash to unwind. It’s my way of telling my body that I am ready to go to bed. There is nothing better than taking a hot shower, putting on fresh pajamas and getting into bed!

Reading

If you want to go to bed and get a good nights sleep, turn off the tv and read a few pages before bed. It’s tempting not to put on movie to fall asleep to at night but I have found that every time I read a chapter before bed, I am asleep after only a few pages.

The Right Bedding

Hopefully you wash and change your bedding once a week to begin with! I like to change my bedding on Sundays so I can start the week with clean sheets. I also wash all of my blankets at least once a month and like to swap them out when the weather changes. I invested in cozy bedding and the perfect pillows since it’s where I spend at least 8 hours a day – I want to be able to enjoy them and be comfortable!

Set an Alarm to go to Bed

Seems silly but I have an alarm set on my Alexa 15 minutes before my bedtime as a reminder to start getting ready for bed. You can also set reminders on your phone with your nighttime routine to keep you on track to going to bed on time. Having the same nighttime routine every night helps train your body to get tired before bed.

These are the things I have been doing that have really helped me go to bed at a normal time and get enough sleep to be in a better mood and have more energy the next day. I hope you find them as helpful as me. The biggest change for me to get a good nights sleep is having a bedtime and sticking to it. Right now I am slowly going to bed a few minutes earlier every few nights so I can wake up earlier to get the most out my mornings. Who knew that when we grew up we would get so excited about going to bed early? 🙂

It was one of those nights that I couldn’t sleep so I was laying in bed making a to do list for myself, my version of counting sheep. This to do list quickly got crowded with a lot of little thought bubbles because I wanted to update my LinkedIn bio and it made me realize I wanted to update my blog’s “about me” page, my Instagram bio and such. It made me ask myself, “Who am I?” and then my mind went blank. I didn’t really have a good answer. So I asked myself “Who is Rosie?” and I thought of the book sitting on my nightstand with the author’s bio on the book jacket with a nice photo of a woman who has the perfect outfit and blow out. If someone had to write my bio on a book jacket, what would they write?

Professionals suggest that you have an elevator pitch ready so that you can quickly summarize your past, present and future goals in a sentence or two that describe who you are. This can be what you do, where you work, what value you have at your job, and something to catch their attention. I thought it would be clever to apply the same elevator pitch strategy to answering the question of “Who am I?” The same elevator pitch is often said when you meet a new person and start to get to know one another. I imagined myself getting coffee with someone and what I would say to introduce yourself. This approach helps make it less business oriented and help explain who you are in a more authentic way.

Once I had a few things in mind, I typed up a little bio of myself similar to what I would see on a book jacket for an author. We are the writers of our own life so why not have the same approach when describing who you are? Since I was writing it as if I was going to have it printed in a book that I wrote, I chose more confident words and highlighted my accomplishments that I often overlooked. I typed it up in an email and sent it to myself to have so I can easily refer to it when I know I will be asked to “Tell me a little bit about yourself” – a question often asked during interviews and mentoring events.

Once I had my book bio page and elevator pitch written, I took the opportunity to see how I could improve myself so I could therefore add anything that would benefit my bio. Is there community service you wish you did? I would do countless of hours of community service as a college student and would like to get back to it. Was fitness once important to you but got pushed aside once life got busy? For years, I was committed to my gym routine and was really strong because of my Pilates classes but now I’m not sure when the last time I took a class was. I could go on but I think you get the point.

I’ve updated my bios and have a prepared paragraph to answer the dreaded “So, tell me a little bit about yourself” question. Instead of being a deer in the headlights, I have something prepared that I am proud of and can be used for my personal growth as well when I see on paper how I am summed up in a few words. By doing this, it can help you look at your career path with fresh eyes and see what hobbies or passions are missing from your life. It was fun for me to do and I hope you get something from it to!

My first move to Philly was a very easy process. I moved into an apartment building that I had been to many times before because a friend of mine lived there. I drove down, signed a lease and moved in two weeks later. At the time I was fun-employed during a transition between jobs so I had a lot of free time to do this move in the least stressful way. Lots of organized packing and labels and to do lists. A year and a half later, my next move was a bit more challenging. I spent months trying to decide what neighborhood to move to, what a fair price was for certain square footage, a townhouse or apartment… there were a lot of decisions to be made before we even got started. This move was challenging. It was hard to find a place while working during the week and with personal things getting in the way like interviewing and getting a new job, a family illness and a million other things that kept popping up. Trying to find a new apartment was like a full time job.

Here’s a list of a few things I learned while trying to find a new place to rent in the city. Once we signed the paperwork, I was finally able to breath. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be and we hope to be staying in this house for a long time! Once we had the check submitted, the paperwork signed and a date to move in, I realized there was still a lot more to be done! We have been in our house for six months now and we are still unpacking!

Make a list of things that you cannot live without.
That can be laundry in unit, close to public transportation or a really big closet in the master bedroom. Some things are cosmetic and will have to be reevaluated again to determine if you really can’t live without it. Then there are some things like laundry that are essential to have and can help eliminate options that don’t meet your criteria. If you are working with a realtor or looking on Zillow, you can put in your must haves to shorten the list of available options. This also allows you to have an honest conversation with yourself and the person you will be living with to make sure you know what you can afford financially and what you both need.

Walk around the area you are interested in moving to.
While I loved my old apartment building, I learned quickly after moving there that there wasn’t much around the building. This time around, I did enough research to find out where the food store was, the restaurants and coffee shops in the area and what my commute to work would be like. Spend a full day walking (or driving!) in each direction so you can get your bearings to see if the neighborhood has everything you need. We are still exploring and finding a new CVS or Starbucks in our area but I am happy we got to see what the area had to offer before we committed to anything.

Know your budget.
Jake and I had an honest conversation about our finances and came up with a real number of what we could afford each month. We made a list of what expenses we each had and what our monthly income would be after rent and expenses coming out. We both wanted money to be left over for experiences and available to put into savings so we considered that as well before coming up with a figure. We wanted to make sure that both of us could afford rent and not just one of us. It takes some back and forth to figure out what rent range we could look at and I’m happy we had that conversation first before we started looking at options.

Who is paying for what.
I read an article once that one of the worst things you can do when moving in with a significant other is to split things 50/50. Seems like odd advice but the more I thought about it, I realized that this helps having honest conversations about what each person can afford. Jake and I split rent, electric and gas evenly and sometimes will just pay the full gas bill if it’s low enough and we are feeling generous. We turned one of our extra bedrooms into a media room that has most of Jake’s stuff and his own tv for video games. It is technically a shared space, but I let him do whatever he wants with the space. Since it’s square footage I don’t use, we agreed that Jake would pay the Verizon bill for cable/wifi. He’s the tech guy so I let him pick what type of service to sign up for. By letting him pay for it, I didn’t care about what plan we had or costs. I pay for most groceries because I’m the snacker and I bring a packed lunch to work more often. Jake also does most of the cooking so I think this compromise works for us! We will take turns paying for groceries too when we are stocking up on essentials too! Find a system that works for everyone and that everyone can live with.

Network.
The same way you network to find a job or to make friends, you should do the same to find an apartment. I joined Facebook groups that often posted rentals that were available and reached out to realtors to assist us in finding the right home for us. You can also get email notifications on Zillow and other home rental websites – that is actually how we were able to find our place!

Be ready to take action.
I found that the good places go quickly so be sure to have enough money for a down payment and paystubs easily available. We scheduled to tour our current home just minutes after it was posted on Zillow and spent less than 10 minutes in the house during the open house before we walked to the realtor office with a check and a filled out application. Because we had done all of the steps above, we didn’t need much time to talk things over. We fell in love with the house, knew we could afford it and it had everything on our list!

I’m writing this post on a Sunday night as I procrastinate before going to bed. I still have a few more things to get done tonight but like most Monday’s, I am getting a little anxious about starting another work week. The Sunday Scaries usually start on Sunday morning and my brain goes into over drive making me create unrealistic to do lists and freaking out that I won’t be able to get everything done. I’m sure I am not the only one who goes through this… hopefully? I’m only four months into my new job and there is still so much for me to learn. Each day is unpredictable no matter how much I try and over plan and over prepare. I organize meetings for the practice group and there are a lot of logistics that people don’t realize, update charts with data and putting out fires before anyone realizes that something didn’t go to plan! I’ve made an effort to not just mope on the couch and stress about the things I haven’t done on Sundays and actually enjoy my weekends.End

1. Your Work Week Properly
Do you just drop everything at 5pm on a Friday and rush out the door because it’s finally the weekend? Yeah, I used to do this and then would stress on Sunday night because I couldn’t remember if I did xyz or I would get stressed about the upcoming week because I had no clue what was coming up. Now on Fridays, I make sure that I get everything done for the week even if that means that I stay at work a little late. I also go through my Outlook calendar for the upcoming week and make my to do list for Monday morning. Once I go over what I have coming up, then I don’t feel so overwhelmed before I step into the office. Just knowing that I finished up the previous work week and there is nothing outstanding on my to do list helps me feel more confident.

2. Saturdays are for Errands. Sundays are for relaxing
Gosh, this rule alone has changed my weekends dramatically! I try to make it a rule that I do my errands; grocery shopping, trips to Target, adulting, cleaning the house, etc. on Saturdays. With everything out of the way, I have all day Sunday to relax and take things slow instead of rushing and feeling drained Sunday night. I’ll leave laundry and change the sheets for Sunday morning because it’s something that I can always do it during the week and I have plenty of clothes to get me through the month!

3. Shower Before 7pm on Sundays
I shower at night and if I’m not careful, I will procrastinate and not shower until close to midnight on Sunday nights. This is a recent rule for me and I already see a dramatic difference in my night time routine. When I shower and wash my hair earlier in the day, I actually have time to let my hair air dry and style before bed! No more going to bed after a quick shower and wet hair!!

4. Meal Prep for the Week while You Make Dinner
One of the reasons I am so burned out during the week is because I just don’t have the time to pack a lunch or snacks for work. If I don’t bring a lunch with me, I will just go all day without food and then have no energy when I get home from work. Now on Sundays while I cook dinner, I spend a few extra minutes to pack easy grab and go containers of food for the week.

5. Tell Someone About Your Sunday Scaries
I honestly could not get through the week without Jake. He’s my voice of reason to calm me down when I am freaking out about getting everything done and reminds me that I need to sit down and enjoy my weekend! It’s nice to vent about what you are stressed out about and help enforce that work/life balance. It’s also really nice to share responsibilities with. Some Sundays, I will go to bed and Jake will clean up the kitchen or will stay up to finish the laundry. After talking about what causes me to get stressed out, he has stepped in to help take a few of things off of my plate so we get things done faster and have more time to relax on the weekends. If you don’t have a significant other, do your grocery shopping with a friend, Facetime with a friend while you clean your apartment or talk to your mom when you need some encouragement to keep you going.