Back to Barre, Lower Your Screen Time, The Teeny Projects Era & My Big Splurge!
Friend I am so excited to welcome you to the first ~ official ~ issue of The Journal. My hope is that even though I’m going to share some random things I’ve been up to in order to kick things off… that you will hopefully be able to relate, gain inspiration or encouragement and then maybe even add to the conversation in the comments below!
Back To Barre
So I have kinda recently figured something out about myself… I’ve always considered myself a pretty self motivated person but I have realized that I DEFINITLY thrive with some outside accountability ( anyone else relate to this or am I just a lazy person who needs to have the threat of disappointing someone to kick me into gear? lol) …anyways, for that reason, I started going to Barre3 classes again this past month and holy moly are they kicking my butt 😅 Like my shoulders are so sore right now I’m having a hard time getting the lid off my water cup. But I have to stay it feels so so good to have some consistent movement again. And I actually had one of those moments this past week where I felt “IN” my body again. I would love to know if this is a weird “me” thing or is this normal when you start working out consistently again?
My Big Splurge
Hopefully my soreness doesn’t last too terribly long because a couple of months ago, I splurged on a bigggg item for my home, and it FINALLY came in this past week… in 6 separate boxes with a 28 page assembly instruction book. I’m terrified lol. Y’all should see the giant box of screws and hardware that came with it, my shoulders and wrists are aching just thinking about putting this thing together. But it’s going to be so so so so worth it and I am SO FREAKING excited to show you once it’s ready. ( I’m hoping I’ll have it ready to show you in the next few weeks!)
The “Teeny Projects Era”
Even though I can’t show you yet, I can tell you that this piece(s) is going to be a key part of my first big makeover of this year. Up until now I have been in what I have been calling my “Teeny Projects Era”. To be honest , I’ve had a much lower capacity this year for pretty much everything , I’ve been overwhelmed with life and the thought of tackling a massive project was just a no go for me. BUT I know that making improvements in my home really makes me feel better, I LOVE IT, and decluttering and organizing helps so much with the overwhelm.
So that’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been working on teeny tiny projects like organizing my utensil drawer and making a spice drawer and most recently I worked on organizing our pantry. ( and I’m sharing it with you over on the channel later this week so stay tuned!)
And so if you are feeling overwhelmed right now, first of all, I am so sorry, it’s such a frustrating and exhausting place to be… and then I really want to encourage you to pick a teeny project that you can tackle this next week or hey maybe it takes the next month, but a teeny tiny project that you KNOW doing will bring you a smile and make you feel at least a little better.
Lower Your Screen Time
I really believe a HUGE contributor to feeling overwhelmed and exhausted all the time is our screen time. Specifically scrolling on social media. If you don’t struggle with screen time that is incredible and please please please please share all your best tips and advice on staying off the phone in the comments below with us.
But I struggle big time. And I’ve been saying for literally YEARS I’m going to set some boundaries but then those never stick for more than a day. Our phones are just so interconnected into our lives it’s hard to leave them behind and to expect self control alone to keep you off your social media apps is just unrealistic. I’ve obviously heard of the “delete the apps off your phone” method and the “log out of your apps method” , but being a content creator and someone who needs to access these apps often it’s just not a realistic solution for me when I don’t want to get rid of my apps, I just want to quit the doom scrolling!
Well I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago about the way our phones impact our attention span and mood and YALLLLL … it was mind blowing. I’ll link it for you here if you wanna take a listen I highly recommend it. But I don’t even remember exactly what was said that triggered it, but I got a huge lightbulb moment while listening. And this one simple idea has now reduced my screen time and doom scrolling by almost HALF over the course of this past month. Like literally 45% percent! And that is simply removing the apps from my home screen. Yup that’s it.
Now when I want to use Instagram , I have to go over to my app list and search for it. And the simple act of having to intentionally think to search for it is enough to help me avoid doom scrolling, even though the app is almost just as accessible as it was. Because now having to search for it makes me think about WHY I want to go on there before I do. And it has made all the difference. So if you have an Iphone, ( or if you don’t I’m sure there is a similar equivalent) this simple hack sounds so stupid easy that it can’t possibly work… BUT IT DOES.
And with that I think it’s about time we all get off our screens and take a lil break from scrolling. But before you do , join the conversation below, share about some fun things you’ve been up to! Maybe a fun splurge you treated yourself too and are excited about! Share your own lightbulb moments, your own experience with screen time and doom scrolling and any tips you have! We would love to hear about the next project you have planned for your own “teeny projects” era! Take the next 5 minutes to intentionally connect, encourage and inspire and then put your phone down and go have a beautiful rest of your day!
I love you and I’ll talk to you soon!
JOIN THE CONVERSATION! 👇🏼
In the comments I want to know if you feel self motivated all the time or if you are like me and thrive with some accountability?
What is the craziest thing you ever had to assemble and if you have any tips on how to make it go as smoothly as possible?
What’s a super easy “ teeny” project you could do this weekend that you know would actually make you feel so much better?!
What are your best screen time hacks?
AND If you are brave… Share your current screen time so we can all hold each other accountable and help each other lower our screen times and get back to living a more beautiful and full life :)
Welcome To The Journal!
This is your online weekly coffee date where we come together to chat about our lives, exchange advice, and to encourage each other to design and live as the women we want to be.
Hey! I’m Brooke!
A blogger and YouTuber obsessed with designing not just my home, but also designing my best life.
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