Tag: neat freak

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Let's Look

Let’s Look: Worst Habits

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope you have been having a great week. Last weekend I ran my first 5K and Iā€™ll be sharing more about what I learned about myself while training and how I prepared for it next week. Since itā€™s the second week of the month, I like to link up with ErikaĀ andĀ Shay. for Letā€™s Look. Hereā€™s some of the past things we looked at through the year.Ā 

In July, we talked about new favorite summer finds, in June,Ā we talked aboutĀ best travel tips, in May, we talked about ourĀ morning routines, in April, we talked aboutĀ pet peeves,Ā in March, we talked aboutĀ Amazon purchases,Ā in February it was aboutĀ our medicine cabinets.

Today, itā€™s all about worst habits which is similar to the biggest pet peeves prompt from April, but I decided to change it up and switch up my responses. When I first saw the prompt, I knew I could think of a list of bad habits or things that Iā€™m not good at, which shows me how hard we can be on ourselves. 

Rather than give you a list of bad qualities, I decided to choose three bad habits I have and how I want to work on them. 

Hereā€™s what I came up with:

Over planning– I am a Type A person through and through. I like lists, planners, a schedule and direction and I like it way in advance. But, as I have learned, life doesnā€™t work that way and you have to adapt and adjust, often or on the fly. Sometimes, I tend to over plan and then when things stray or change, I get thrown in a tail spin which is not good. I will also stress out about things that are out of my control. I will get anxious about something that is days, weeks or months away or may not even happen. I sometimes get so focused on it and get tunnel vision and then it may not even happen. Iā€™m also really working on not overbooking things in advance and instead being more open and flexible to plans and things falling into place. Itā€™s way easier said than done. Iā€™m also working (which I have been for years) on being more spontaneous to making plans with friends and family. It hasnā€™t been easy but Iā€™m doing my best.Ā 

A look at my overly organized planner and to do lists.

Neat freak– I am a neat freak, control freak, everything has a home freak through and through. I love to clean, I love to make sure dishes are put away at the end of the day and all the laundry is folded and hampers are empty. I have been known to clean and put away dishes and cups when people are still using them. However, living with five other people, I know the house isnā€™t always in perfect condition. I try my best to let the little things go and give myself grace, but that doesnā€™t always happen. I love the sense of satisfaction of clean space which I alway try to leave room at home and desk at work in good shape whenever I leave, so when I come back, everything is fresh and clean. Growing up in a large family you get used to chaos, disorder and messes and itā€™s all a part about being in a family and I wouldnā€™t change it.

Getting sucked into ā€œSales and Free Itemsā€– I enjoy shopping and I always love a good deal. However, I am guilty about buying things to get a sale or discount or to get something free when I donā€™t need it in the first place. For example, I will get emails like many other people about getting a free item/drink/side with a purchase and I will want to take advantage of the offer, because I would get something free too. However, do I need to buy something in the first place? Probably not. I fall victim to spending more sometimes to get a free item or free shipping when I probably didnā€™t need the item in the first place (Iā€™m looking at you Bath and Body Works and Chipotle!) I will say that McDonaldā€™s app and deals are ones that are consistent and worth the free items or discounts. However, most times, I realize I probably didnā€™t need to buy the item to get something free to begin with. I have gotten a lot better at simply deleting the email unless itā€™s something I absolutely need. However, I am guilty of spending when I donā€™t need to be spending haha!

An example of an email that I try to delete and not give into

I think as I have gotten older, I have seen these habits come out more, they arenā€™t necessarily bad, but when you take them to the extremes or become obsessed then you have to reign it in a bit. 

My biggest takeaways as I have grown up is that itā€™s all about moderation and not going to extremes of being a neat freak or over planned or stressing out about things out of your control, what it comes down to for me is about being more flexible and adaptable and less rigid. Iā€™m a work in progress and Iā€™m proud of that. Iā€™m sure if you ask my friends and family about what my worst habits are, they can can give you a full list of other things, but these are big areas I that hope to work on as I grow older.

Now, that I have opened up, tell me, what are some of your bad habits? They can be big or small! Let me know in the comments below!

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Fitness Let's Look

Let’s Look and Apple Fitness Review

Hello All!

Happy Wednesday! I hope your weeks are going well. It’s starting to feel more and more like springtime which I can’t get enough of. I hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter!

I had the best Easter with family, savoring traditions and having fun!

I have an extra-long post for you today!

First, I’m linking up with Erika and Shay for their monthly “Let’s Look”, every month, they choose different topics to discuss, last month we talked about about favorite Amazon purchases and in February we shared about our medicine cabinets and today’s topic is pet peeves. 

I’m sure if I thought about it for hours, I could give you a list of pet peeves, but to save both your and my sanity, here’s a few of my pet peeves.

I’m a neat-freak, so I can’t stand messes. If there’s clutter, I try to clean it up, a load of laundry in the dryer? I fold it. (Whether it’s a 10 pm or 6 am). Dishes sitting in the sink? I clean them. I love the feeling of going to bed or leaving the house in order, so I always try to have everything picked up and tidied up. It sometimes drives the people in my life crazy, when I spend time suggesting they tidy up a space, I’m a work in progress, so I’m trying to let go of things being tidy and organized all the time.

Another pet peeve I have is I hate wasting, whether itā€™s food or items or time. It pains me to throw away food that I donā€™t eat. I always try to eat leftovers and use things I have in my fridge or freezer or pantry instead of buying food when I have things at home. I also hate wasting items, I like to use samples that I get or I will use cosmetics until the last drop. And time, i hate wasting time and not being productive.

My last big pet peeve is low batteries on phones or low gas in cars. I get stressed with gas gets below a quarter tank or when my phone battery hits 40%, I always like to be prepared with full tanks of gas or a full battery.

I’m sure I can think of plenty of more pet peeves, but those are some of my top pet peeves.

For part two of today’s post, I’m reviewing Apple Fitness. I got a new phone back in January and when I got it, I got three months free with Apple Fitness. I was excited to try it and have used it a lot over the past three months.

Some of my favorite features include the dozens of different workouts, intensity levels and lengths of workouts. There’s a mix of at-home workouts videos and guided workouts on a treadmill, bike, or elliptical.

I tried yoga, strength and conditioning, core, stretching, walking and running, just to name a few. Some workouts were 10-minute yoga sessions which were perfect for a quick stretch and other core workouts were 45 minutes that got you sweating. 

I loved the variety of workouts and the different instructors; some were upbeat and fast paced and others were more calming and chill. There were always new classes to try and I loved that you could see how you were doing to try and close your rings.

I used the guided walks the most, you could choose from a variety of people from singers to activists, actors, or political figures and they would narrate while you walked. They would share personal stories, their favorite songs and life lessons. I “went on a walk” with Prince William, Dolly Parton and Gabrielle Union to name a few. I learned a lot from them while getting a good walk in. 

Apple Fitness is $9.99 a month which in my opinion isn’t a horrible option for access to hundreds of at home workouts and guided workouts. However, I belong to a gym that I go to every day, so I was using Apple Fitness in addition to what I was doing at the gym. Ultimately, I decided to not renew my Apple Fitness subscription. I really enjoyed it and found it super helpful and useful, but I wasn’t using it enough to pay $10 when I was already going to a gym. If I decide to not to a gym and just rely on home workouts, then I will definitely be renewing my Apple Fitness Subscrpition.

Whew, that was a long one. Major props if you made it through the whole post, but I had a lot on my mind. I have two questions to pose to you today!

1) What are your biggest pet peeves?

2) Are you and Apple Fitness fan? Have you tried it? Are you more into hitting the gym or doing an at-home workout? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a wonderful rest of your week! See you here on Friday!