Month: January 2020

Making Myself into a Productive Morning Person

Over the last few months, I’ve been incorporating small habits to help me transition into a “morning person”. The goal is to be one of those people to get up at 5AM and workout and complete half their day before the majority of people even have their first cup of coffee. So far I’ve been able to get up and have about 30-45 minutes of quiet time to have my coffee, plan my day, and make my to do lists. On some days, i’ve been able to wake much earlier and go to the gym, then do my quiet morning planning. There have been a few weeks where I’ve successfully been able to do this, but not as much as I’d like. But now that the new year has started, I am determined to be a morning person.

I’d like to do this consistently for at least a month or two to see if there any any changes to my mindset. I often feel that I don’t have enough time in the day, and that my mind is super busy and active at night and just thinking about all of the things I need to get done. On the days that I days that I started early and worked out, I did feel that it was easier to fall asleep earlier and have an overall better night’s sleep. On the days that i worked out in the morning, I felt more productive and my evenings allowed me more time to unwind and go to sleep earlier. I think working from home, but still with set hours, there are many days where I find myself stuck inside all day. So when I went to the gym in the morning, I felt better mentally and physically.

So starting in this new year my goal is to be a “morning person”. Here’s my ideal morning schedule.

  • 5:00AM- Wake up
  • 5:10AM- Go to gym
  • 6:20AM- Shower and get ready for the day
  • 6:45AM- Coffee and breakfast
  • 7:00AM- Planning and list making

Do you have any tips or tricks for being a morning person? Check back in a month or two for an update!!

2020: The Year of Budgeting and Aggressively Saving Money

This year, I am determined to save as much money as I can. I hear all the time about people to save money so they retire super early to spend time of their passions. Although this sounds ideal, I don’t know if I will actually be able to do this, but I figured I’d try it out this year.

My goal is to live below my means and aggressively save my money. I’ve made a list a few things to do in order to so.

  1. Unsubcribe from promotional emails. This one will be the easiest, I think. I figured that if I unsubcribe from emails from my favorite retailers, then I won’t be tempted to check the site and buy things that I ultimately don’t really need. Just because it’s a good deal, it does not mean that I really NEED to have it.
  2. Not getting coffees, teas, and juices. I reflected on my purchases this past year and I have to say I am pretty disappointed with how much I spent on frivolous things like coffee from Starbucks and pressed juices. For example, a cold brew is about $4.50 and although I don’t have one everyday, let’s say I get 2-3 a week, that’s still $50-$60 a month. This is not including pressed juices that are even pricer.
  3. Meal prepping and planning. I really want to get into the habit of meal prepping and planning. This will definitely help me to cut down on eating out and eat unhealthily. I also just purchased an instant pot so hopefully that will help with time. I fell into a Youtube loop of watching weekly groceries budgets of $10, which is less than what I would spend on just coffee. This definitely made me feel ridiculous and solidify my plans for saving money.
  4. Decluttering my closet and wearing only the clothes I have. To be honest, I way more clothes than I need and I’d like to be more conscious of fast fashion. I definitely want to focus more on quality than quantity from here on out. I like to think that I’m not easily swayed, but since downloading instagram this year, i definitely purchased a several things that I did not truly need and online shopped a little too much.
  5. Sell or donate anything I don’t use. This step will help not only financially, but I think more so mentally. Having clutter and things that I don’t need or no longer use just causes more stress than anything. Some ways that I have started selling not only clothes but also other items is on the Mercari app and the Poshmark app. Some other options are local second hand shops like Style Encore. I will also be donating a lot clothing or household items that I don’t need.

I hope I will be able to stick to my goals this year. To hold myself accountable, I plan on tracking my expenses closely for the month of January. So basically I plan to do “Dry January” but with purchases instead of alcohol. Let me know if you’re trying to aggressively save money this year, or if you have any tips on how if you’ve already started! Any tips or ideas would be super helpful!

Happy New Year!!