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The Crazy Girls Guide to....SQUIRREL! Ahem...The Crazy Girls Guide to Staying Sane. Yeah, that's it.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Abby is a liar liar pants on fire!

I don't have a housework list ready for you today.  I loathe housework so much that I can't even list is.  It burns us!  So I played my Tap Ranch game on le smartphone.  Don't start it, it's addicting.
I have no motivation to do the boring things.  This is quite obvious to me and everyone else in my life.  How do you guys motivate yourselves to do that which you don't want to do?  People like my sister say, "I just do it."  This is not helpful.  Please do better than my sister.

Also, I love in the "about me" section of our blog Seph put the stuff about diet.  The acronym for the Standard American Diet is SAD.  So true (except on sushi day)!

Also also, I need some help figuring out the most efficient (meaning fastest) way to get housework done.  I know one of you is an expert, speak up please and thank you.

And finally, we are going to be switching up the posting days a bit.  We believe in quality over quantity, so we'll be posting 4 days instead of 7.  Our posts will be less often, however they will be an entire meal worth of awesome instead of a small yet delightful afternoon snack.  Seph will post on Thursday and Sunday, and I'll be posting Tuesday and Saturday.

Thank you and goodnight!

-Abby

P.S.  My cat said hello, but I deleted it.
P.P.S.  This post is an example of what happens sometimes when I'm up past my medtime.
P.P.P.S.  I ate Bong Bong snacks today.  No, that's not me in the picture  They are delicious, which is good because I bought them only because of the name.  That could have gone very badly.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Persephone's Sunday Wrap Up

Hey y'all!  After an intense weekend of studying Business Law and Ethics, I am happy to say I passed my final assessment (and the class) with flying colors! 

Part of the impetus for this blog and the lifestyle changes I hope to achieve and chronicle stem from the fact that I want to be successful in school.  This would not be a challenge in and of itself, but I have a very intellectually demanding job, and work gets my priority brain power and effectiveness hours. 

In order to be successful in school, I need to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of both my brain and my body in order to have enough stamina to devote as much of my focus after work hours to school as I do to work during work hours.  That was an awkward sentence, but whatevs.

As it is, I usually feel pretty brain fried after a full work day, especially when you factor in all of my appointments and stuff.  Hence the need for gradual but sweeping life changes, with a focus on effective life management.

I managed to write the new evening routine, and I plan to implement it tonight.  I also slightly revised the morning.  I present the following:

Night
Ø  Physical Therapy Routine
Ø  Set up writing assignment
Ø  Shut down office
Ø  Pocket stuff on breakfast bar – wallet, keys, sunglasses, charms
Ø  Gather purse and other items for work by front door
Ø  Shut down living room
Ø  Smoothie prep – blender assembled and ready, glass clean, ingredients measured
Ø  Tea prep – kettle on burner with water, tea picked, glass with spoon and sweetener
Ø  Grab a drink for med taking
Ø  Shut down kitchen
Ø  Brush teeth / wash face / take night meds / make sure med holder is on bathroom sink
Ø  Shut down bathroom
Ø  Pick out clothes for the next day and lay them on the edge of the bed
Ø  Arrange make-up for the next morning
Ø  Make sure bedside table has book and glasses for morning
Ø  Check / turn on all alarms
Ø  Go to bed
Morning
Ø  Alarm goes off
Ø  Read for 15 minutes
Ø  Second alarm goes off
Ø  PT Routine / Stretching
Ø  Shower
Ø  Get dressed
Ø  Take morning meds
Ø  Make smoothie / immediately clean blender
Ø  Start hot water for tea
Ø  Dry my hair (while drinking smoothie)
Ø  Add sweetener and tea bag to tea
Ø  Writing assignment (while drinking smoothie)
Ø  Make-up
Ø  Finish prepping tea
Ø  Grab stuff and leave

I'm interested in hearing from others what your routines are, if you have them, and if you don't, do you see value in adopting one?  Would it help if I linked to some more articles about it?

-Seph

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Persephone Says - It's Time for Routine Revision

So, I think I've mentioned that my mornings are sort of hit and miss with the whole morning routine, but I need to clarify something - I have been 100% successful at implementing my evening routine.

My screw up point in the morning centers around one thing and one thing only - the snooze button.

If I hit it even once, I am totally sunk.  If I don't, I am successful.  This I understand at 8pm, but at 5:45a, that voice that tells me that this time, I really will ONLY hit snooze once tends to take over, and then I hit it twice, and three times, and then 3 hours go by and I am screwed. 

This is especially hard on weekends, when the concept of 5:45a is difficult to understand.  If I don't have to BE somewhere at a specific time, or in the case of today, not at all, it just seems a waste NOT to sleep in.

However, I am under the care and guidance of a sleep specialist (who is also my general therapist) and right now, sleeping in is not allowed. (I wish that was enough to stop me, but it usually isn't).

Yesterday, I did ok.  I had to BE somewhere at 8am, and I actually got through the routine and got there almost half an hour early.  I made it through the whole day without napping, got grocery shopping, laundry and studying done, and even managed to go on a first date.

This morning was not so good.  I had nowhere to be, plus I was in pain.  That's not a good combo for getting me out of bed.  I slept in by about three hours, and I pretty much skipped the routine itself and just lazed myself into the day.  I have gotten studying done, and more laundry even, but I don't feel as clear and sharp today as I tend to on days the routine works.

In addition, looking at my nightly routine, realize that it is lacking a few things, and it's ordered a illogically.  I think I need to revise it, possibly organizing it in room by room order.  For example, all the kitchen stuff first, then office stuff, then living room stuff, and so on.  Right now it's a bit scattered.

I also need to write in things that I thought I would do naturally, but have abandoned sicne the advent of a written routine.  (Which I keep on the refrigerator, mind you) so now I feel myself mentally checking off the written tasks, and abandoning what's not clearly stated.  For example, my nightly physical therapy routine. 

So, that's my task for this evening, revise it and re-post it to the fridge, and also to implement it.  I have a major test for school tomorrow, so I need both tonight and tomorrow to go smoothly in order to be focused and prepared for it.

Since tomorrow is MY posting Sunday, I'll let you know how I did.

Until then, I hope you enjoyed this rare "link free" post.

-Seph

Friday, November 25, 2011

Abby's doin' the Happy Dance

Woot woot!  I did my evening routine last night and my morning routine this morning.  Not only was I on time for work, but I had time to clean the bathroom sink!  It may not seem like much to most people, but for me this is a major accomplishment.

One of the very important lessons I have learned the hard way (more than once, mind you) is that I take on too many things at once.  I run like a machine for a while, and then I seize up and crash for a couple days, then jump up and do it all over again.  Unfortunately I leave a massive amount of chaos and unfinished projects in my wake.  It's not all bad, mind you.  I've been able to accomplish all sorts of things that leave my friends baffled as to when I actually sleep (sometimes I don't), but it's the unfinished stuff that really irks me.  There's a reason a friend of mine nicknamed me the Whirlwind.

Earlier today I thought perhaps it'd be good to start in on those unfinished projects.  Then I walked into the kitchen and said, "Oh ew.  No, I need to figure out how to do housework."  You see, housework is INSANELY BORING and I hate it with the white hot passion of a thousand fiery suns.  This means it simply does not happen until it's disgusting.  That's no way for a grown woman to live.  So, now that I've gotten my morning and evening routines nailed down, I am going to tackle housework.

Step 1:  List the housework.  This I will have to do next post (Oh, yes I am totally procrastinating) because I took my cough medicine with codeine and oh my goodness I'm about to pass out.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Persephone Says - It's not easy being green...or is it?

All right y'all, I suppose I should be politically correct and say Happy Thanksgiving.  So, um, Happy Thanksgiving?  For me it was pretty much just another day, I'm home, I did laundry, I studied for my test, I failed my morning routine, and I ate whatever I happened to have in the house.

What else did I do today?  Hours upon hours of research on blenders.  Yes, blenders.

Why?  Because I am about to foray into the world of Green Smoothies.  (How do you make a green smoothie?)

I have done a ton of research, on a ton of sites.  I am following The Green Smoothie Blog and I bought the book Green Smoothie RevolutionGreen Smoothie Girl seems to have a ton of information too, though I haven't gotten as familiar on her site yet.

Now, because greens are tough and fibrous, they are hard on the common blender.  If you go searching, almost everyone will point you to Vita Mix or Blendtec for blenders.

Raise your hand if you are reading this and can afford one of those blenders...great, now buy ME one, kthx!

Seriously though, $400 - $500 is a ton to spend on a blender, especially for a lifestyle I haven't even officially committed to yet, but don't get me wrong, I've been a Vita Mix fan my whole life, and I finally convinced my dad to buy one about 15 years ago.  I do believe they are the best out there, caveat being that I haven't tried Blendtec yet.

Here is a video comparing the two, narrated by a guy with a very sexy accent.

And a side by side written comparison.

But what if you can't afford one of these beasts?

This readers, is what I've spent hours and hours researching.  So, basically, you want to find a blender that is at least 1000 horsepower, and that has a blade system strong enough to crush ice into snow.  Sound vague?  Well, I am not one to leave you hanging.  After all the results were in, best bang for the buck seems to be the Kitchen Aid KSB560

I was so convinced by the merits of this blender that I ordered one this afternoon, about 15 minutes before my dad called to wish me Happy Thanksgiving...

GUESS WHO STILL HAS THE VITAMIX I TALKED HIM INTO AND IS SHIPPING IT TO ME AS MY X-MAS PRESENT?!?!

(If you did NOT guess that it was my dad, then you are not paying attention.)

So, I canceled my order from Amazon, and now I'm waiting on pins and needles for my dad to ship the Vita Mix. 

I won't be starting the green smoothies until I have it, or something at least better than my pathetic little hamilton beach I'm using right now.

Besides, I'm still working on this whole routine thing.  This morning totally didn't work, but luckily I have physical therapy tomorrow which will force me to get up on time.

OK y'all, hope you all had a safe and tasty holiday, free from family drama or other strife. 

See you on Saturday,

-Seph

****This post was not sponsored by any of the companies or bloggers linked above, all links and recommendations are based on my personal research.  I am an amateur and a beginner, and make no health or medical claims via this post.  Dietary changes should be made at your own risk and/or with guidance from your doctor, dietician, or otherwise qualified individual.****

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Someday, Abby, you will actually DO this routine thing.

I timed my morning routine on Tuesday, and it went like this:
Shower and medicine- 15 minutes
Morning ablutions - 7 minutes
Get dressed - 8 minutes
Breakfast - in the car on the way to the therapist...and my husband made it for me.  I got there EARLY!

I totally cheated on breakfast, but the rest took me a half hour.  I was blown away.  You see, normally I get up an hour before work, and I'm 5-10 minutes late just about every day.  On occasion I get up an hour and a half before work, I'm right on time, and I actually get to eat breakfast.  "What the heck is going on?" asks me.
Experiment time!

This morning I got up at 7:30 AM when I had to be at work by 8:30 AM.  Plenty of time, since once again my lovely husband made me breakfast.  You can be jealous, it's alright. ;)  I was 10 minutes late.  How, you ask?  I shall tell you.

I hadn't done my evening routine.  I had decided in my brain what to wear to work, but hadn't set it out.  It took me at least an extra 15 minutes just to find socks that matched.  (Don't ask.)  My purse and work tote weren't near the bedroom door, so I lost 5 minutes hunting them down.  That's 20 minutes.  It takes 10 minutes to get to work.  Traffic sucked.  There went all my extra time.

Lesson learned:  evening routine = timely arrival in the morning.

On that note, I am going to get some sleep.  I have a long day of eating and watching the new Muppet movie ahead of me.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Abby

P.S.  Seph, I am thankful for your friendship and for encouraging me to overcome my blog fright.  <3

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Not the Post I Intended (aka "Persephone's Cop Out Post")

I invite you all to GET REAL!!!

Not to sound harsh, just saying the above linked article is a preview into my current phase of research and is probably what I will try to implement next - total diet reinvention and more awareness of taking my body back to how nature intended it.

I've signed up for the info on Mark Sisson's site, and have bought a few books on Green Smoothies, Going Primal, Raw Food Diets, etc.  As I research and assimilate info, I will disseminate it here. 

Morning routine is getting closer to being back on track, with just a few hiccups.  On that note, I'm very late for my nightly routine.  I promise MOAR CONTENT on Thursday, because unlike most people, I have nothing to do on Thanksgiving other than to study for my test this Sunday, and write you all a well thought out post. 

Laterz,
Seph

Monday, November 21, 2011

Abby - The nightly routine results are in!

I finally timed my nightly routine.  Victory is mine!  Here are my findings.

Pick tomorrow's outfit - 10 minutes 30 seconds
Gather all I need for the day into one place - 1 minute 15 seconds
Evening ablutions - 9 minutes 55 seconds
Put on pajamas - 1 minute
Pack lunch - N/A (Husband is making it for me this time)
Read - N/A (I will allot 30 minutes and set a timer)
Blog - About 15 minutes today, however I'll allot 1 hour, and do extra reading/net browsing if I get done early.

Evening routine total time: about an hour and 15 minutes + 15 estimated minutes to pack a lunch =
an hour and a half.

So, if I plan to be in bed by 11 PM,and I want to be up in the morning by 7 AM, then I need to start my routine at 9:30 PM.  I will also attempt to keep away from my netbook until designated blog time.  I lose track of time way too easily while on the internet.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Abby Says - I want to be a Time Lord

One of the most annoying problems for me is my inability to manage time.  It is a symptom of ADHD, and something I've been struggling with my whole life.  I remember writing my entire high school term paper at 2 AM the night before it was due and getting an A.  I used to be proud of that.  Now I realize that's just messed up.

It doesn't have to be this way.  The first thing I need to do is figure out how long it actually takes to do things.  According to my awesome book, More Attention, Less Deficit:  Success Strategies for Adults with ADHD (hereafter known as MALD), people with ADHD are time blind.  We just don't see time and future consequences clearly.  We understand the theory, we just have trouble getting it to work.  One of the suggestions to help with this problem is to actually time how long it takes to do common activities and write it down for future planning purposes.  This way I can avoid the temptation to convince myself that I'll do it faster the next time.

So I've grabbed my Life Improvement Notebook (LIN) and am writing down everything I do to get ready for bed.  Tonight I'll time how long each part takes.  I'll do the same for my morning routine and report the results tomorrow.

Ta!
Abby

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Dangerous Thinking - Persephone's Journey into the Vortex

Y'all - things are not so good up in here.  For one, I am posting this WAY too close to bedtime and don't have everything set up for tomorrow yet.  (I've been on the phone with family, and should have posted earlier, but I'm the queen of procrastination).

I learned the hard way yesterday morning that if I allow myself to hit snooze once - I will NEVER stop hitting snooze.  This sank my morning yesterday to the point I barely made it to work on time.

No worries, right?  Lesson learned, today was going to be better.  When my alarm went off at 5:45a, the little voice that says "Holy crap, Seph, it's a FREAKING SATURDAY, WTF?" took over, and I hit snooze - I hit snooze for about an hour, then turned all of my alarms (I have five of them) off and proceeded to sleep in for NEARLY SIX HOURS!!

I'm not even making that up.  I lost my entire morning I'd intended to use for school, and then had plans this afternoon that were important, like, getting new tires and catching up with someone I hadn't seen in forever.

So now I am on a streak of 2 failed mornings, and like 9 days of failing to do school, with only a week until my exam.

Stressed?  Not even covering it right now.

However, I just need to breathe, let it go, and succeed tomorrow.

Cross your fingers for me?

I'll check in Tuesday to let you know how I'm doing.

Coming soon - stuff about diet. 

Love,
Seph

Friday, November 18, 2011

Abby says - Routine fail

I don't have much to post today.  Due to life insanity, I haven't started my evening or morning sleep routines.  I'm going to try it Saturday night.  Really.  Sigh

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Persephone's Lost Day

I'm glad yesterday wasn't my day to post, because I lost a whole day. 

How does one lose a day?

Well, I started getting a really bad, highly annoying headache on Sunday.  Monday we had a storm that pushed it even farther.  Tuesday it was still there, and nothing was helping.

And then yesterday - well, I woke up in full blown migraine mode.  Screw the morning routine.  I blearily texted my boss that I was going to be home sick, and went back to bed, where I proceeded to sleep until 1pm.  When I woke up, the pounding, searing pain was still there, but at least I could see and process light.  I took mucinex d and advil and flonase, and thank goodness by the end of the day it was feeling better.

I was really afraid that this would screw up the morning routine this morning.  I've only had a few days of momentum, and I broke it with an all day sleep-a-thon.

However, this morning I naturally woke up at 5:41am.  A full four minutes before the alarms started going off. 

Today was actually the easiest on me for waking levels, but I think something happened w/ the smoothie, because then I spent most of the day at work with all the symptoms of food poisoning.  Ugh.

So now I'm home, chillin', avoiding school work and hoping that tomorrow ALL of my body parts will cooperate and let me be.

Cross your fingers!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Abby says - Evening Routine

10:00 PM:  Pack tomorrow's lunch.
10:15 PM:  Lay out tomorrow's outfit.
10:30 PM:  Blog in bed
11:00 PM:  Sleepytime


Am I forgetting anything?

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Persephone Says - Short and sweet?

I had therapy today, and then I spent a solid 4.5 hours talking on the phone, which is totally unusual for me.  I was glad to have every single one of the conversations, but between that and a pretty big day in therapy, I'm low on spare words...so I'll keep this brief.

Good things:

- I earned an extra 15 minutes of sleep.  (11:15p - 5:45a now)
- I had my highest sleep efficiency yet (96%)
- I had a "major therapuetic breakthrough" (says my therapist...I'm not so sure)
- Therapist is loving the routine, my sleep numbers, and the concept of this blog.

Not quite as awesome thing

 - I have lost my school rhythm.  I purposely took a long weekend so I could get my home and life set up so that I'll have the brain power at night to focus on school, but then last night there was a huge storm which meant MAJOR pressure changes and a huge ass all encompassing headache for me, which still really hasn't gone away.  Tonight was no school b/c it was therapy day, and tomorrow I have my mentor call.  With only a week and a half until my assessment, I need to get back on track.

Most awesome thing -

I have NOT hit snooze once in FOUR DAYS!!!  (This is totally unprecedented)

Dumbest thing:

If I don't re-assemble the blender properly, it makes for an annoying (yet probably entertaining) glitch in the morning routine.  Here's hoping I did it right finally and tomorrow is smoother.

OK, that's really all I've got today, I promise to be more alert on Thursday.

-Seph

Monday, November 14, 2011

Abby Says - Perhaps I started at the wrong end of my day.

It's 3 AM and I'm still awake.  This is a common problem for me.  Many people with ADHD have difficulty getting a good night's sleep.  Lack of a good night's sleep makes managing my ADHD even more difficult the next day.  I now realize I'm trying to start my routine at the wrong end of the day.  In order to create a morning routine, I'm first going to have to start getting enough sleep.

I'm reading an excellent book called  More Attention, Less Deficit: Success Strategies for Adults with ADHD by Ari Tuckman.  This book was made for people like me, and so far I love it.  It's written in short chapters, has well-defined subjects, I can use the index to pinpoint the exact problem I'm struggling with, and the bottom corner of each page is perforated so I can mark what I've already read.  BRILLIANT!

And on page 300:  Actually get a good night's sleep.  Bingo!

Some of the reasons why people with ADHD don't get enough sleep:
Procrastination - no, I'm not up late finishing things I didn't get done earlier.
Hyperfocus - not exactly, I'm not enjoying watching TV, and frankly, blogging hasn't really gotten fun yet.
Intentionally staying up too late - Houston, we have a problem, and this is it.  Consequences be damned, I just don't want to sleep and I don't know why.
An overactive mind - Not today
Stimulant medication - Wellbutrin is an NDRI, which acts much like a stimulant would.  Focalin is a stimulant which works wonderfully for me until about 9 PM, at which time there's no longer enough in my system to have an effect.
A true sleep disorder - I don't think so, but I've never done a sleep study.  I do snore though, or so I'm told.

Here are the author's suggestions for getting a good night's sleep:
Get on a schedule - go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.  Weekends?!
Limit caffeine after noon - What?!  If you take stimulant medication (sigh) then you may especially want to limit your caffeine.  NOOO!
Create a prebedtime routine - I can do this.
Finding calming activities to help you unwind before bed
Exercise helps sometimes - I think yoga can accomplish both this one and be a calming activity.  Or so I've heard.
Set a bedtime alarm - I can totally do that!  I'll have to make sure I don't hit the snooze button.

Later today, (if I haven't fallen asleep under my desk) I'll make a prebedtime routine, choose a definite bedtime, check out a yoga DVD from the library, and set my alarm.  I make no promises for the weekend OR caffeine.

Abby

P.S. Did you check out that link?  Podcasts, presentations, and events, oh my!  This is a must have resource for adults with ADHD/ADD.  LOOK AT IT.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Persephone Says - Baby, it's 3am and I'm lonely

First of all, did y'all know that Mr. Rogers had a morning routine?  The link takes you to a great article about Mr. Rogers, and if you look at #3, you'll see his morning routine.

As for my morning routine, it looks like the minor tweaks to my routine really helped.  I managed to get through the whole routine in 90 minutes this morning instead of the two hours it took me yesterday.  So, I think that tomorrow I will stick w/ the 5:45a wake-up call, instead of moving it to 5:30a and see how it goes.  It's all fine and dandy starting this on a weekend, but tomorrow is the true test.

I have a confession to make:

Yesterday, after doing the whole morning routine, including being fully dressed and wearing make-up, I went to sort laundry and fell back asleep for almost three hours!!  It was totally on accident, and I am not worried it will happen on a workday, but it was really bizarre to just conk out after so much prep time.

Writing:

If you've read my morning routine, you know I have a writing component in there.  I decided that I can't just sit down to a blank page, at least not these first few days, so what I've done this weekend is to write down the day/date, a quote (QOTD), and then ask myself 3 questions. 

Then, in the morning, I answer the questions.  For example, here's what my notebook looked like this morning:

Day / Date - Sunday, November 13, 2011

QOTD:  I believe that everyone comes from pain and a certain amount of dysfunction. - Mariel Hemingway

1) How is day two going?

2) Thoughts about "Room":

3)  List three successes from the past week  & three goals for the day:

I will spare y'all the answers to the above, I just wanted to put the structure out there for anyone else who might find it helpful.

And on that note, I have goals to accomplish.  See you on Tuesday!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Persephone Says - Whoever invented 5:45am should be shot.

Hi y'all!

I think I am going to use "Persephone Says" on my main posts, so you know it's me instead of Abby.  Just for the record though, here's the posting schedule:

Persephone - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and every other Sunday.

Abby - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and every other Sunday.

You guys get me today and tomorrow, as I opted for the first Sunday.  (I say that like we have any followers yet, but whatevs)

On guest posts (of which we have a few lined up), I'll make sure I let y'all know who you're reading.

OK, so onto my actual posting.
Today was my first day on the new morning routine.  My therapist and I discussed starting on a weekend so that I have time to A: get used to it, and B :measure how long it actually takes to do the whole routine.  With a slight hiccup first thing this morning, I managed to do my routine in two hours.

Here is what my routine was supposed to be this morning:

Alarm goes off
Read for 15 minutes
Physical Therapy Routine / Stretching
Shower / Get Dressed / Make-Up
Make Breakfast Smoothie / Start tea prep
Drink Smoothie while writing
Finish tea prep
(And had I been leaving for work - grab the tea and go)

I had a little hiccup when the alarm went off, which is not all that surprising actually, but I think it can be solved by picking up a reading lamp for the bedside table, and also by adjusting which alarms go off at 5:45a and which go off at 6:05a (to signify that reading time is over).

I also want to tweak the smoothie / tea routine so that it's a little more fluid, and move make-up to the very end, since the smoothie drinking pretty much eliminated my very modestly applied lipstick.  (You guys will come to learn that I hate wearing make-up, but it's highly encouraged at work, so I'm trying to suck it up and deal.)

Tomorrow's proposed routine - 
Alarm off
Read for 15 minutes
Second alarm off
Physical Therapy Routine / Stretching
Shower 
Start hot water for tea
Get dressed
Take meds
Make smoothie / immediately clean blender
Dry my hair
Drink smoothie while writing
Make-up
Finish tea process
Gather stuff and go
 
I think this revised plan will move a little more organically, and may even shave some time.  It's my desire to have a 90 minute routine, but I think that might take me a while.

10pm rule - 
Most of the research I've done has mentioned that the key to morning routine success is to prep everything the night before that you can.  It suggests doing so at 10pm, so that you are still awake and functional enough to make decisions, thus eliminating decisions and chaos in the mornings when the brain first wakes up.  My therapist jumped all over this, and told me that I need to stop all my schoolwork by 10pm as well, so she likes that I'll have this nightly routine in place to help.

My 10pm Rule Routine:

Pick out clothes for the next morning, and lay them out on the edge of the bed.  
Organize make-up on the vanity so it's automatic in the morning.  (Meaning, choose in advance eyeliner / lipstick colors, etc, and lay everything out in order)
Place wallet / keys / pocket stuff in one location, and make it the same location every night
Structure / set-up my writing exercise for the morning, as well as setting desk up for morning writing instead of school.  (Reducing clutter frees the mind for creative flow)
Gather purse / Nook / stuff to take to work and place it by the front door
Lay out chosen book and glasses on the bedside table
Make sure smoothie prep has been done (this is more on a weekly basis, but is something to verify nightly)
Fill tea pot, place on burner, lay out tea stuff such as mug, tea bag, sweetener and spoon

In order to get this to flow as smoothly as possible, I have a few things to go pick up at the store, such as a reading lamp and more tiny Tupperware containers that I can use to divvy up the forzen fruit for smoothies.  I like the ease of just dumping a correctly portioned container into the blender, which has been given permanent counter space so that it's already ready to go.

So tomorrow is take two of the morning routine, and since tomorrow is ALSO my day, I'll let y'all know how I did.  

-Seph

First Post...of DOOM!

Abby here, hello world!

I have been charged with creating a morning routine.  Although this sounds horribly boring to me, research shows that it will help me have more energy at the end of the day.  That, and I would like to get to work on time and not feel rushed.  With all the chaos in my life right now (when isn't is chaotic, really?)  (The audience doesn't know, but the answer is rarely), I'm willing to try anything.  That's why I'm here.  Here is my current morning routine, so you can get a feel for what I'm starting with here.

7 AM: Alarm #1 goes off, snooze it!
7:05-7:30 AM:  repeated snoozing.
7:30 AM:  Alarm #2 goes off.  Snooze it!
8 AM:  Analog alarm goes off.  Can you guess?  SNOOZE!
8:15 AM:  Finally get up.  Cranky.  Take medicine.  Hop in shower.
8:30 AM:  Realize I have leave for work in 15 minutes, and I haven't yet had breakfast.  Rummage for socks. Give up and wear mismatched ones.  Get dressed.  Skip breakfast.
8:45 AM:  Almost ready, time for one more thing (usually cleaning out litter boxes, washing a couple dishes, can't find my watch, oh noes!)
9 AM:  Supposed to be at work.
9:05-9:15:  Actually get to work.

This is no way to start my day, but it's the most common variant.  Sometimes I forget where my glasses are, other times I trip over a cat, but you get the idea.  I oversleep, then I rush, then I forget things.  I don't often eat breakfast (BAD Abby!), and it's a rare event when I'm at work early.

I'm actually much better than before I started medication, if you can believe it.

So, lifehack has a 5 step process for putting your morning routine into place.
1.  Draft a short list of the things you do each morning and what you'd like to add.
Take medicine
Read
Shower
Get dressed
Breakfast
Feed cats
2.  Figure out how much time it realistically takes to do everything on your list.
medicine: <5 minutes
read: 30 minutes
shower: 15-20 minutes
get dressed: 30-45 minutes
breakfast: 30 minutes
feed cats: <5 minutes
3.  Adjust your wake time to accommodate your new routine.
It looks like about 2 hours.  The earliest time I have to be at work is 9am, so if I wake up at 6:30am, it'll give me enough time to do everything and get to work early.
4.  Go through your list at least two times before making adjustments.
5.  Once your adjustments are made, enjoy!


I am going to start this on Monday.  I'll keep posting on how it's going.


Wish me luck!
Abby



Thursday, November 10, 2011

An introduction of sorts -

Hi, I'm Persephone Raynes, and in this post you will be hearing about me and my cohort / best friend / "GURU MATE" Abby Normal, as well as get an idea of what this blog is about and how it came into fruition.

About the creation of this blog:

This blog came about as a way to hold ourselves accountable as we develop new life management skills.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, there is a lot of research happening these days that show that we suffer from decision fatigue, and that a lot of the highly creative / highly successful people out there make a conscious effort to take as many of the mundane decisions out of their life in favor of set routines. Set routines allow our minds to be free to make more important decisions at work, at school, or in our creative / intellectual pursuits.

See the following:

New York Times - Decision Making Fatigue

Sarah Wilson - Certaintly Anchors / Managing Uncertainty

Lifehacker - 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Routine

One of the main points of this blog is to chronicle our journey in creating these routines and life management plans, celebrate the successes, denote the hiccups, and interact with others who are on similiar paths or would like to be but don't know where to start. 

We will be exploring this from the mind of someone with Biploar 1, mixed and the mind of someone with adult onset ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. 

So with that said, onto the introductions:

About Persephone Raynes:

Hi y'all!  I'm Persephone Raynes (at least as far as the internet is concerned) and I have been diagnosed with Bipolar 1 - Mixed.  For those not in the know, this form of bipolar is one of the hardest types to treat as far as medication is concerned.  I'm lucky that I have a great mental health team who listen to me and understand that I want to be medicated as little as possible.  I don't agree with medication to combat side effects of other medication, etc.

Unlike most people with bipolar, I am 100% med compliant.  I have never decided "oh hey I'm feeling better, let's stop taking the meds".  I make a point to remember that the meds are a large part of WHY I feel better, and also, going off of them creates bigger / more destructive cycles....thereby accelerating this already progressive disorder.

One of the most important things a person with bipolar can do is to establish routines.  This is something I embrace with gusto in short bursts, and then abandon with the same gusto and then wonder why my life / brain has suddenly become way more chaotic.

This blog will chronicle my journey as I learn to manage life with this disorder.  My primary goal is to make the medication the secondary support system for my brain, with myself as the primary director.

To give you a glimpse of what I need to manage - I am employed full time as a contract writer, I am in school full time for Business - IT Management, I am a competitve bowler, and I'm a fiction writer.  It is utterly imperative that I conserve as much brain power as I can in order to do those things well and with complete focus, so my main goal will be in stabilizing my life to eliminate as many "pointless" decisions as possible.

And with that ramble, how about I turn this over to my GuruMate Abby - Abby?  Take it away!

About Abby Normal:


Ummmmm...first of all, I have what Persephone likes to call "blog post fright". I'm also not a writer, so bear with me as I try to put my thoughts into some semblance of order that makes sense to someone other than me.

I was diagnosed with ADHD in college, a diagnosis that was met by everyone in my family (including myself) with a great deal of skepticism. I didn't have a problem, I was just flighty. After attempting one medication which gave me heart palpitations (thanks, Adderall!) I decided that, whether or not I actually did have ADHD, my life could use a bit of organization. And less procrastination. And I could use help completing projects. And finishing my sentences. And not interrupting people. And sitting still. And sleeping. Yeah...I was in total denial.

Cognitive behavioral therapy helped to some extent, until the parts of my life over which I had no control got to be far too stressful. That was when I decided that I needed to try medication again. This was back in March of this year. I am happy to say that after a few false starts and a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), I'm on medication that works amazingly well. It's my belief that medication is only a part of the whole treatment package, therefore I've always had grand intentions of researching, reading, and practicing different types of therapy. I, predictably, have never managed to finish even one book, let alone my entire plan. It's my hope that this project will help me build a routine that will be a strong foundation on which to stand. Then perhaps I'll be able to finish what I start.