Fuller Life Makeover - Balanced Living for the Modern World

The Sleep-Deprived Mind (or how to convince your boss to let you nap at work)

January 23, 2018 Monica Comments 0 Comment

The start of this week was especially rough. Mondays get a pretty bad rap but for the most part they are pretty tolerable. Not yesterday. I’ve been battling a cold since last Thursday and while I sound way worse than I feel, by some strange combination of Nyquil nighttime cold and flu tablets and a prescription that gives me insomnia, I was pretty much a zombie after waking up. After my alarm buzzed, I groggily made it over to the…

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Simple Life Hacks to Refocus the Distracted Mind

January 20, 2018 Monica Comments 0 Comment

I’m distracted. I’m distracted as I’m writing this because it’s Friday and I’m already fully in weekend mode. I’m also distracted because it seems like it’s the nature of the beast once a new semester starts. The vast, empty stretches of time are suddenly replaced with miniscule windows in which to get everything accomplished. I certainly have days where I’m not making it any easier. Have you ever opened a new browser window and found yourself absentmindedly logging into your…

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The Post Vacation January Work Life Struggle

January 9, 2018 Monica Comments 0 Comment

It’s officially my last day of winter vacation. Tomorrow, I’ll be back in the lab bright and early, ready to start the spring semester, albeit about two weeks early. There’s definitely a bittersweet quality to saying goodbye to unscheduled days and afternoon naps. I’m particularly going to miss waking up and having my husband home and drinking our coffee together without needing to be anywhere. Even though there is a part of me that is looking forward to being back…

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How to Smash through New Year’s Resolution Barriers for Success All Year Long

December 28, 2017 Monica Comments 0 Comment

Spend any time on the internet in late December and you’re bound to find articles on New Year’s resolutions and how to make 2018 the best year yet. I’m all for optimism and cheer around New Year’s, especially since research has shown just how powerful January 1 can be. I’ve written before about how you shouldn’t wait until New Year’s to kick start your resolutions. Thinking beyond resolutions though is what is on my mind. I unabashedly admit that I…

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Self Care Saturdays are What Dreams are Made of

December 23, 2017 Monica Comments 0 Comment

As of 5pm yesterday, I am officially on Christmas vacation. It almost felt like this day would never arrive. The only thing on my mind right now is some much needed self-care after a very challenging couple of months. With that in mind, my first full vacation day was a smashing success. I woke up this morning plenty early due to some insomnia. I didn’t let my earlier than usual morning bring me down though. Why not? There was a…

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How to Switch from Survival to Serenity this Holiday Season

December 15, 2017 Monica Comments 0 Comment

I’m officially done with my teaching duties for the semester. I spent four hours this morning proctoring my students final exam. With teaching over for a few weeks, and only another week of lab before going on holiday, I’ve been preparing to celebrate Christmas. This week I mailed our holiday cards, and the tree is completely trimmed. My display of collectible holiday houses is up, and we even have lights on our front porch this year. The only thing left…

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How to Avoid Balanced Living Fails

December 8, 2017 Monica Comments 0 Comment

Balanced living takes work, even if you’re committed to living a simpler, self-care focused life. I’m reminded of an article I shared earlier this year from Brigid Schulte about how even work-life balance experts are awful at balancing work and life. I wouldn’t quite put myself in that category, but I definitely have my share of fails. Tuesday night was one. My husband was working late, so when I got home from work I had the entire house to myself….

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How to Do Deep Work When You’re Incredibly Busy

December 2, 2017 Monica Comments 0 Comment

“Deep work is a luxury not all of us can afford” is what a colleague recently mentioned in passing when I suggested he hunker down to finish a manuscript. His thinking, like a lot of people, is that with everything on their plate, finding one let alone two hours in a day for focusing on a single task is next to impossible. This presents a false dichotomy. Too busy to engage in meaningful, focused work while at the same time…

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Exercise: The Ultimate Self Care Tool

November 29, 2017 Monica Comments 0 Comment

After a much needed Thanksgiving break filled with Netflix binge watching and late mornings, I am officially back at work. Only a few more weeks left in the semester, and with a New Year just around the corner, I feel like a new me is just waiting to emerge. I have this fantasy of waking up on New Year’s Day and having all my current health issues evaporate. That is definitely my New Year’s resolution, wish, dream, whatever you want…

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Why Eating the Frog is Not Always the Best Productivity Strategy and What to Do Instead

November 25, 2017 Monica Comments 0 Comment

Please note: This post originally appeared on Addicted2Success If you spend any length of time reading productivity articles, you will eventually come across the concept of accomplishing your hardest task first in the course of your day, otherwise known as ‘eating the frog’. The idea is that it is best to tackle the more difficult projects when you are fresh and have plenty of willpower, before the day runs away from you. Plenty of articles list the benefits of eating…

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