5 Ways to Streamline and Edit Your Summer

Welcome back from the long Memorial Day weekend! I took a mini vacation, playing hooky Friday through Monday. After a really fast paced and tightly packed January through May I was admittedly feeling burnt out. And finally, I'm well versed enough in how my business runs to know I needed a break and should begin to transition to a slower summer pace. Business has been so good, I've realized it was time for me to let go of some of the volunteer projects I had been working on for years to create space for the contracts that I am paid for. It was hard but necessary. Needless to say I'm still sitting on THREE boards (NE DPG, Virginia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the current Chairperson of my county's Head Start Policy Council)...but we are getting there and streamlining slowly. 

To start the weekend, I struggled to not check my email and even for the first time ever, set up auto-responder vacation emails. But by Monday morning, I was getting in the relaxed flow and have a renewed sense of the projects Healthfully Ever After will be tackling this summer! 

If you're feeling the burn of a scorching summer pace, it might be time for you to reset and streamline your life. Here are 5 things I'm doing right now for a way more balanced life...and many are apps (eep!): 

1. Add One Health Habit to ToDoist: I am obsessed with the app/program ToDoist. This free program allows you to create a to do list electronically and view by day or week as well as create specific projects. Probably my favorite capability in ToDoist is to add people to certain lists (my interns each have a list) and create due dates (that can be reoccurring!). But to get to the point, I've realized that even as a health professional, there are still health 'to do's' that aren't quite habits yet. Case in point, after my favorite NutraSea omega 3's arrived on my door step (Thanks Ascenta! Remember you guys can get my discount code, CARLENET for 25% off. ), I had not been taking my omega 3's every day and I can tell my skin is not glowing as much! Now, 'Take NutraSea' is on my ToDoist for every day, reoccurring. For my Wedding Wellness clients, adding "Drink X bottles of water" or "Pack snack with protein" are usually on their to-do's from me! 

2. Get Everything Off the Floor: Our house feels more clean when things are up and off the floor. The Shakers are geniuses and way ahead of the game, as you can see in their amazing storage systems. When things from books to shoes are up and away, the chi is better. So this weekend, I went around moving plants onto holders and shelves and kitty jingle balls and dog bones into a basket. Less visual clutter is heavenly. 

3. Manage Your Budget: Even though we've been married for over two years, the husband and I just haven't really had the time to streamline our accounts into a better system...until now! Everything from automatic payments to consolidating accounts makes it way more efficient. We are also in love with the website/app Mint. It lets you set budgets for each category of spending and analyze what category you spend the most on each month. It's kind of addicting to see the data. 

4. Get a CSA and Wunderlist Your Grocery List: SO EXCITED! We just picked up our first week of CSA. It means all of our produce and eggs are paid for until October and automatically selected based on ripeness each week. For everything else that we can't get at the farmer's market on the weekend or through our CSA (like beans or pasta), I put the grocery list on Wunderlist categorized by store. I have a Wegman's/Target/etc list and a Costco list put in order by store layout. That way, as I go through the store I always have my list on me and items are efficiently listed. I also use KeyRing so I always have grocery/store rewards cards on me but not junking up my keys! 

5. Edit Your Wardrobe: Over the past two years, I've finally figured out my go to wardrobe that works! I know v-necks are my friend and polos are definitely not. Every season, I go through the previous season's clothes and honestly sell or give away what I didn't use or don't love any more (side note: anything I sell ends up on Poshmark). I love the way Scandinavian style bloggers have streamlined wardrobes and seriously that's why I think of before I add anything new to my closet. A new favorite site for classic staples in a ton of colors to check out is UNIQLO.  The husband just streamlined some of his closet via UNIQLO to make getting ready for work easier. I opted for another v-neck t-shirt dress after I realized that is my go to for summer around the house! 

How are you streamlining your summer?