Monday blues are real! Start your work week right by hitting the reset button. Listen in for tips about refreshing your mind and getting organized! Send us a message https://anchor.fm/kay-jen/message

We're gonna be talking about just how to get to the work week and how to reset and different tips on how to get your work week started.

I'm excited to finally be doing our episode together.

I know it's been like I've been playing is something that I've been planning.

We wanted to do a podcast and then you hit me up.

So I was like, yep, let's make it happen.

But yeah, I wanted to share with you like I know we haven't like pretty much talked this weekend.

But I know you did hit me up when I was down in North Carolina.

Like I went down there from Friday and I came back Monday and I was actually going to come back last night so that I could like have this whole day to like reset.

But since Angel is off, my boyfriend, since he's off, he said no, like, you know, like, let's just stay until Monday so we can spend more time with your family.

And then I'll help you like cook and mop and all the other things I usually do so that you'd get like the whole week set out.

For you guys that don't know, but he's a big baby.

So he had a big party on Saturday and he had 2 dog friends that came.

He had ice cream, hats, party hats, like the whole 9.

Like Jennifer has an actual child, but I don't have any kids.

So Mello is my child, but we have Mello's party.

My aunt is actually opening a homeschool.

So She had a welcome event where she had like refreshments and just information about her initiative, started her homeschool.

So that was really exciting that she's, you know, dreaming big and making it happen.

was in Nevin and I came back and I really just chilled the rest of the weekend.

I actually went to see the Batman movie on Sunday.

Yeah, no, I went on Saturday and yeah, I was falling asleep on certain parts.

So I went, I did that Saturday night and I kind of just chilled and relaxed on Sunday I'm trying to get started for my work week so with that was saying all of that um I guess I wanted to share 2 wins that I had that, you know, I was able to start my work week by just relaxing on Sunday.

And I'm actually winding down now with a glass of wine as we speak.

So, for my wine drinkers, it's actually, it's Taylor Port.

It's a kind of like a semi-sweet red wine.

Like I only do sweet, but I can do semi-sweet and my go-to is Stella Rosa.

Yeah, so I'm winding down with that, but my win for the week was just having a very productive Monday.

Like I was able to reset on Sunday, just by relaxing, not traveling too much, just getting everything done, clothes washed and everything, cooking.

I made some chili in the crock pot so that I've been eating on that for like 2 days so just um That was like my win for the week, well, not for the week, but just for the day to get my week started was just being able to relax and get prepared for the work week and have a productive Monday.

So I think my win, and I know, well, my win obviously was like going down to North Carolina because it had been several weeks and then there's nothing better than like mom's home cooked meal.

And I swear, I feel like my mom is the best cook, like best Mexican homemade food is just the best.

But yeah, it was definitely that just spending time with my siblings.

Like I was able to spend all Friday, Saturday and Sunday with them.

Usually they all have like something going on on random days.

So like we might be all together 1 day and then everybody kind of does their thing.

But this time, like we were all together, like we had like a bonfire and then we went out for my sister's birthday and it was just a really fun time.

And then my other win, which is kind of like not emotional for me, but it was like super touching.

I went into this drawer that I used to like obviously at my mom's house.

When I had graduated, I don't know if you remember, Kayla, but we graduated, like, well, not when we graduated, but before, like maybe a week before, like they have the graduation pictures and like they, then they take, they take like a bunch of the different shots and then they like print out or they, I forget if it got mailed or what, but I had like the sheet of like all the 8 different like headshots of me, 1 with, What is it

And like, I had 1 where it's kind of like, like just like a black kind of top that has like a short, like a V cut and like the A&T background.

And I remember that my mom had only gotten like 1 of the smaller ones because at the time, like we were like struggling, struggling, like my dad had just passed.

And so we were like really, really struggling to making ends meet.

And I remember like just telling myself, well, I'll just keep the sheet for like, for memories or like, you know, just to say that I have it because I felt terrified, I didn't want to throw them away, but I also knew we couldn't afford a $60, like 8 by 10, you know, picture.

And so I saw them and I was like, oh my God, like what I would do right now to like be able to print 1 off and or like buy 1 and then like hang it up so that Emma could see with my 2 year old daughter that she could see growing up.

And like I looked at the it has a link, I had a little not a link it had like a little code and and it had the website and I was like what would be like the chances of me actually like finding these pictures.

So I actually went online and I typed in the code and sure enough, all 8 of those pictures were still there.

So those pictures had been sitting there for like 3, like 4 years, like going on, yeah, 4 years.

And I, I just got like, I didn't even think about it twice.

Like, I remember that day, I hadn't even planned on getting my pictures.

And so my hair was all like, like bent out of shape.

But I remember with the little hat, like you couldn't see like my uneven, like what is it called in Spanish?

Like when you put in your hair and it doesn't look like all the way straight, it just looks like you woke up and you just

Yeah, Like, well, the little hat thing, like it covered it.

So I was like, oh, that 1, I like that 1.

It has like the little like A&T logo in the back.

And I ended up paying like 60 dollars for it.

And like it's supposed to be getting here in like 4 to 6 weeks, but I was like, oh my god, I cannot wait to put this up.

Like, I'm so glad that I kept the little sheet and I thought it was just going to be memories, but it just brought memories of me, like with my family not being able to afford it to now, like being able to and like having that picture so my daughter can see of like the the sacrifices and the I can tell her about it now.

Now that little story of like of like really coming up after like a really hard time.

Like, oh, my gosh, I've just been reminiscing about how in May it'll be 4 years.

Like I know you were a semester ahead of me, but like it like it's just like whoa like 4 years you know wow but that's amazing like that you were able to found those pictures and have that memory and now that you know like it was meant like the chances that you had kept that and the link still work and the pictures were still saying, it's just like, like, it's kind of like the same like pictures are worth, you know, worth it like 1000 words, like it's like the picture that you saved all those years, you know, it was worth it because you were able to still access it if that makes sense, like to be able to print it and have that.

Yeah, and it was honestly like it was honestly forgotten.

Like you take those grad pics, I had completely forgotten that I took those graduation pictures and then I just started like digging in drawers.

I think I was actually cold and I was like, I wonder if there's like a random like jacket in here.

And I started opening them up and then I saw like a, like a folder and it said NCAT.

And like, I opened it up and it had like my transcripts and like, but like my, my, was it called the award letter that I you know I had been awarded.

I think when you first sign on I can't remember I think it was like some kind of like incentive for joining and or like I don't even remember I'm so like between work and school like I forgot the lingo of school well being admitted there you go

being admitted into college and like ant I had that and then I saw that and I was like oh my god but yeah that was my win I'm really happy and I can't wait till till it comes in because that's a big accomplishment like crossing that stage Like that's huge and like I mean, I would really want something to walk in at home and like, you know, being able to see like instead of me just and I'm not even want to like talk about me having a degree but like, you know, coming home and seeing that like reminded myself that it was a really hard milestone a milestone that that we achieved so yeah definitely I'm looking forward to having that picture.

Well guys with all that being said just our little wins wins of the week and just catching up, we're going to get into our episode, hitting reset.

So you know, as Jim was saying, just how we get into our work week, you know, for her, it may be traveling back and having, you know, the support to, to get the house clean.

But I guess I can start with sharing my 2 things of how I, you know, kind of just reset my mind, reset, you know, my space to get ready for a productive week.

You know, really for me, starts on Sunday.

I don't meal prep like I should, but I do clean and do laundry most of the time on Sunday.

I may even start on Saturday to just start my week with my weekend.

So just cleaning, doing laundry, and then each night.

So starting on Sunday and then each night of the week, I reset my space.

So whether that's just putting the pillows back on the couch, where it's supposed to be putting my shoes back in the closet, hanging up my coats, like just resetting my whole space so that when I wake up on Monday morning, everything's in order and I'm not like going into my work week scrambled, you know, with just things all out of place.

Like tidying up your home, like tidying up

So that's, Yeah, that's 1 thing that I like am faithful to to do every night, even starting on Sunday with washing my clothes just tidying up everything.

And then, um, that's really the main thing like, like I said I should be meal prepping, but that that will come.

Um, When I do do my clothes, I'm cleaning up my closet a little bit, kind of getting my clothes ready for it for the next day.

I would say that's 1 of the main things to get ready.

Okay, well, I used to not be or still don't feel like I am where I need to be as far as like hitting reset to get ready for the really long week ahead of me like thank goodness I have Mondays off but I work like as if I worked to 5 days because you know like I work Tuesday through Friday but I work 2 p.m.

So it doesn't really give me enough time during the week to make food for work and I work like I think I've shared with you this already, Kayla, but like, it's considered a quote unquote closed campus at work.

So we're not allowed to leave the building.

So they have those little like vending machines where you can get those cold, crusty sandwiches.

Like I will do that if there's absolutely like, I completely forgot or like I was running late and I didn't have time to get fast food, but I will get fast food before I go in and get that, like $3 sandwiches just cause like, it just, I just can't.

So I've been kind of forced into having to meal prep because if I meal prep on Monday, like I can get, like I do Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I'll meal prep for 3 days.

And then the fourth day, I'll just buy food before I go and work and then just hope is still tastes good 5 or 6 hours later.

Like I like if I go to like Chick-fil-A at 2, like 1.30 in the afternoon, if you try to reheat those fries, it just don't taste the same.

What I'll try to do is like, I'll eat the fries, or if I get like a soup or whatever, like I'll eat that.

And then like the, the sandwich, I'll try to save it for later, but like something that like fries that I know won't taste right afterwards, like.

I'll just go ahead and take a major L and just eat that first.

And then the sandwich later, but I still hate, like, it doesn't taste right, like the sandwich without the fries, But anyway, so I definitely have to meal prep on Mondays if not, if I don't then like on Tuesday or Wednesday I'll like, I haven't, I haven't even opened my eyes yet like I don't remember what my name is And I'm already freaking out about like, okay, I have to wake up.

I have 1 hour to do this and I have 30 minutes to do this and I need to spend 30 minutes with Emma and, you know, I hate that.

So I have learned the hard way of just, um, taking time on Monday and just meal prepping.

Yeah, I know it's a lot of work, but it pays off because when I meal prep, I don't have to worry about that.

It's like 1 thing less I have to worry about during the week.

Meal prepping is 1 thing I definitely learned to do once I started like working at a warehouse distribution center where I spend most of my week.

But I also, what I do, and I've also learned to do, I'm not the best at sticking to it.

And I always try to but during the week, I have no time.

So like on my Mondays, I'm a big tip that I do for myself when I hit reset is to make a like right out on my calendar, like I ordered a calendar.

And like, it's like broken down by the hour.

And on Mondays, since I'm trying to be as productive as I can without being overwhelmed, I'll just kind of make my time out at 8 in the morning, get up and make myself coffee, or I'll write out like tea or like I always try to go ahead and like write down we're going to have what I'm making for breakfast or brunch because by that time it's probably brunch, but what I'm going to have for lunch and then I'll write out the 3 whatever meals that I'm going to do plus whatever I'm going to eat on Monday.

And it seems to be pretty favorable for me.

But it's definitely a work in progress and something that I like write, like I try to journal also, not necessarily to reset, but I feel like it does help me whenever it comes to Monday because I kind of already, like I feel like I hear myself when I'm writing and it gives me clarity of like the things that I still have to do or like how I'm feeling.

And like, I know how to cope with certain things.

So like if I get homesick or something like that, I'll call my sister or, you know, whatever it might be like schedule time to like FaceTime my mom and I still use that my sound because I feel like I just text her and when I like see a face to face conversation, I just feel like I get like this little boost of energy.

But definitely yeah, resetting And then also like having a toddler running around is also kind of challenging to stick to your script.

Like, you know, she might want to be doing something else or like, you know, I plan to be doing this for an hour, but Emma needed this and this.

So I try not to stick to it or be hard on myself if I don't, like do everything.

And then I also have a calendar out on my kitchen and I kind of use it as a guy like I'll look at it like if I have anything on Monday like angel will drop something on there every now and then.

And I kind of try to like planned around it or if he knows he's getting out early like okay well let me try to get xyz done so that by the time he gets home, like everything is clean or, you know, I just, you know, try to tidy up the place by the time he gets home.

And he kind of lets me know, like, hey, I'm going to get off early.

You can just, you know, sweep or whatever, which we have the what is it called that 1 robot that kind of like cleans for yourself.

I think it's like the It's like, I don't know, but it's like the automatic robot thing that that zooms across the floor to clean for you.

Yeah, yeah, that and I forget what it's called, but it does wonders for me.

Like I can be cooking and it can just be doing its own thing.

But I always have to make sure that like, there's no big, well, not by big, like random socks sitting around like Emma socks, like random socks underneath the couch or like, I don't know, like a random toy because then it'll stop and then like, I have to like do some maintenance to it.

But yeah, those are the 2 main things that I do.

If I meal prep, I just have this big weight off my chest.

Like I can wake up Tuesday through Friday, like a lot more relaxed, just worry about making lunch and getting like Emma's like bag ready for her to go to her sitters.

So yeah, that's pretty much what I've been doing.

And it seems to be working well, but I don't know.

I continuously want to keep learning and like exploring new ways.

So, I mean, who knows, maybe in a couple of months, I'll be doing a different routine or a different tactic.

But so far, this is this seems to work good for me and my family.

And I think I mean, it definitely starts with getting into a routine, because for the longest, I didn't realize that I hated routines.

So I was like, oh, he's like, why, why can I, you know, reset?

Why can I get, get myself together for the week?

And it's because I realized I, it wasn't used to a routine.

And so once I started just, I was listening to this other podcast where the girl was saying, you can do anything in 15 minutes.

And I even made like, like you were saying, Jen with organizing, like just putting stuff on your reminders or your calendar.

So I guess that's another way that I kind of reset and get prepared is by setting reminders.

I have a reminder that goes off at, I believe like, oh, it's going off now at 09:00 that's a reset reminder reset and then like tomorrow create your budget so just those reminders that go off on my phone and then the thing about iPhones they'll keep popping up until you do it.

So like 7, 15 minutes to just stop what I'm doing.

You know, do whatever I need to do for the next day.

So you guys heard it, like that's 1 tip, few tips, meal prepping, and then setting those reminders to stay organized.

Because once you have something that kind of reminds you, well, like, you know, we're busy, so having a planner or having a calendar to put it in writing where you can visibly see it, because it's kind of like out of sight, out of mind.

If you don't see it, you have 10 billion other things that are going on where you're not thinking about it.

So when you see it or like me, the, the notification is popping off my phone to remind me, it's like, okay, Hey, take, take 10 minutes, take 15 minutes.

And you can even start small, like take 5 minutes just to load the dishwasher.

Like for me, I have to like keep my dishwasher loaded because if I wake up, you know, and there's dishes all in the sink, I just feel all out of place.

Like, you know, my house is dirty and it can just be 1 dish in the sink.

I'm like, okay, you know, take 2 seconds to add it to the dishwasher or to, you know, load the dishwasher completely and go ahead and start it.

So, definitely, definitely, you know, I've learned to organize, you know, my, my time, organize and prioritize things.

And another thing that I do is just, you know, self-care.

I have to get really a lot better with doing self-care.

That's kind of how I start my week or even just daily, daily things.

Like for me, it's settling down, you know, in the evening, whether it's with self-care or doing a devotional or just quieting, I don't know if that's a word, but just

Yes, Like, so kind of how you saying with like journaling, like just, I even have a reminder to, reminders y'all have become my best friend.

Like I have a reminder to, I forgot what I put, like work, kind of like word vomit, everything,

I was kind of brain dump at about 02:00 because that's after lunchtime at work.

Where I just have to like I have so much on my mind.

So I just go type in my nose or journal, you know, just brain dump everything.

And then I'm thinking about, or like in the evenings, just, you know, journaling, writing out your plans for the next day or whatever, however, you journal so yeah is definitely definitely a challenge but.

I can say once you find your routine and starting small and not giving yourself to too many tasks to do So kind of how you were saying, Jen, like your 2 things are meal prepping and your calendar, just stick with that.

Don't try to, you know, bombard yourself by saying, oh, uh, meal prep isn't enough and doing my calendar isn't enough.

You know, those that's been working for you, that's your routine.

And like you said, maybe later down the road, add in another thing.

But just be be good with what works for you.

The other thing that I didn't want to say it because I don't feel like I would be 100% honest, but I honestly, I don't do it enough for me to claim that I do it because those 2 things that I spoke to that I can like talk about forever, like it's something that I do that seems to be working for me.

But 1 of those things that I feel like I've tried a couple of times and it definitely does make a big impact is like learning to like put your phone away while you're choosing to be productive.

Like today I was meal prepping and I had like a mountain like I'm talking like Shenandoah Valley, like Shenandoah Valley full of dishes in my sink or on my sink.

And I was like, oh, my God, I just looked at it and I was like, I don't want to.

So I remember I grabbed my phone and I was like, let me just go lay down in the guest room for like 10 minutes.

So I went in like on my phone, like scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, like just honestly just wasting time.

And I laid down in like the 10 minutes just sitting on while I was laying down for like 10 minutes, it turned into like almost 40 minutes and I didn't even realize.

And then, um, I caught myself like rushing.

And then I was like, I, I just like lost 40 minutes and I was supposed to be like productive like this afternoon, because we ended up staying till Monday and, you know, I was like on a tight schedule and usually it's not like that but I was just kind of like disappointed in myself but you know I try not to be hard on myself but definitely told myself like okay I need to learn to put my my phone down So that would be definitely a big opportunity for hitting reset for me.

I don't know about you, but it definitely a phone, like being like right there, like if I see it, like it pops up, like I get distracted.

And I mean, like, yeah, that's definitely true.

Like you can, you can be like, oh, I'm just going to check this notification or someone calls and then you look into the phone with some someone for an hour versus like just putting the phone away.

Or if you're someone who likes to listen to music, play your music, but maybe play it on a laptop and, you know, or if you like to just it's convenient to play on your phone, plug it up to a speaker or something and put it in a way or like I know for a lot of my close friends, they are just people I've talked to, they put their phone on do not disturb.

So like I, when I do my devotionals, I have to put my phone on do not disturb.

I haven't really been consistent with doing it.

So that's just a tap of my hand to be more consistent with doing it.

But when I do put my phone on, do not disturb, you know, it cuts out the distraction and I can really get my time in and my quiet time and settle down with no distractions.

So, yeah, I mean, like for me, it can be hard, but like just starting small with like 10 minutes or 15 minutes with doing certain things.

And I was going to say, I know we're wrapping up soon, but I was just going to say with, I guess, with the phone thing, setting the timer for me works because I can set my timer for 15 minutes and when the timer goes off, I hear Emma in the back.

But yeah, like for me, when I hear the time go off, I'm like, okay, on to the next task or on to just, you know, relaxing, because you can get so you can kind of get discouraged.

Like I used to try to do everything, you know, I'm going to spend the whole day or spend 2 hours cleaning my closet or 2 hours getting prepared for the next day.

And then you get discouraged because, you know, you're like, oh, this takes too long.

So just starting small is what helps for me by you know setting the timer so it's like okay 15 minutes is done I did what I was gonna do and on to the next thing so yeah but I think that wraps up everything.

Um, stay tuned for what it will be and be sure to like and subscribe to our podcast Unlocking Us, download and leave us reviews and we thank you guys for listening.

Did you have any other in comments, Jane?

Yeah, I just wanted to share that if anyone else would like to chime in or have any other tips that they'd like to share with us on how to be more productive and hitting our reset button, definitely share with us and let us know.

Or if you do any of these things that we do, please let us know as well.

Be sure to like again, download and subscribe to our podcast and we will see you guys next time.

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