How They Do It: Amber

How They Do It is an ongoing series in which I interview creatives, bloggers, students and freelancers about their productivity and time management strategies for creating awesomeness. Today, we'll hear some thoughts from Amber, blogger, coffee-lover and productivity master.

1. How would you describe the work that you do (whether it's an actual job or around the house or hobbies)?

I’m a full time student by day, and part time blogger and creative by night! I spend most of my days running from classes, to meetings and then to my part time job as an office assistant. When I’m not doing that, I’m brainstorming and creating over at Ember & March.

2. Would you (briefly) describe a typical work day for you? 

All of my days vary a bit, but here’s the general flow of things:

6:30am : Wake up, and convince myself to get out of a warm and cozy bed! Make coffee, and breakfast before spending a few minutes answering emails and getting ready for class. I sometimes use the morning to study.
9:30am - 12:30pm: Class
12:30pm-4:00pm: Work/homework… also, a second cup of coffee usually happens.
4:00pm-6:00pm: Meetings (or on down days, grabbing coffee and catching up with friends...or Netflix.)
6:00pm-bedtime: Read blogs, edit upcoming posts, do some writing for my upcoming ecourse and a few other projects!
11:00pm: Shower and (hopefully) bedtime

3. What's your workspace like? 

My desk is pretty simple, and usually very tidy under the sea of post its. I love working in my room during the morning and afternoons because it’s filled with natural light which keeps me productive!

4. When you are working, what is your biggest struggle as far as staying motivated and focused?

Eliminating distractions --especially social media. I’m always tempted to “check in” to what’s happening, which leads to me getting off task. Keeping my phone off my desk when I’m working has been a big help.

5. When you feel drained, what inspires you or pushes you to keep doing what you do?

I’m really big on setting goals, and seeing the bigger picture. Knowing that I’m working towards a much bigger goal than the small tasks at hand is a huge motivation to me.

6. Do you have any favorite resources for organizing your work and time?

I love Evernote to keep track of notes and projects. I use the web app and the Mac app to keep everything together. I’m also a huge fan of Google Drive for storing and sharing work when I’m on the go. To stay on tasks daily, I’m pretty old fashioned --a standard weekly planner helps get me by without getting lost in everything going on.

7. How do you refuel your soul after a long day?

At the end of the day, I can be left feeling pretty drained (especially when most days I leave my house by 8am and don’t get back until 7 or 8pm). Two things really help me to refuel: making a delicious dinner for myself, and spending some time alone in my room for at least an hour. The introvert in me loves the alone time, and no matter how tired I am after a long day, taking the time to cook myself a meal does wonders for the soul.

Lastly, just for fun, would you list a few songs that you listen to while you work (or while you're not working!)?

My playlist changes based on what work I’m doing! I’m a huge fan of Sara Bareilles radio when I need a tranquil setting, and Beyonce radio when I’m into something more upbeat. I also love old 90s r&b (think Toni Braxton and Boys II Men).

Big thank you to Amber for sharing today! She inspires me to be a better blogger and live a more inspired and minimalist lifestyle. Now, if you wouldn't mind, would you take my super short survey! Thank you bunches!

5 Ways to Kickstart an Unproductive Day

Y'all this is my first official post on the shiny, new, updated Call Me Sassafras (and updated it is!) and I am so glad you're here reading this! Big yay! 

So this here post is very representative of my vision for the content I've planned for the blog. When I was reconsidering the topics that I post about, I knew I wanted to put more focus on writing things that are helpful and useful while still writing things that I have experience with and are personal to me. 

As a student, I care about productivity because it helps me waste time on the things I want to waste my time on. Instead of spending three hours sort of working on a task, sort of on facebook, sort of texting my friends, focusing on my productivity means that I'll spend an hour and a half on the task and then I have an hour and a half to read, blog, find new music, or try to make victory rolls look as good on my hair as they do on Victoria's (spoiler: they never do). 

As much as I try to be productive, sometimes I have days where I'm just plain not. Whether I overslept or got sidetracked early on in the day, some days I get in a time-wasting groove and can't getting out. You feel me? Well, these days suck + I've started practicing some of these tried and true ways to pick yourself out and get going again.

Reprioritize and refocus.

If I get stuck on a task and I'm not making progress, I like to stop what I'm doing, physically move somewhere else in the room to distance myself from the project, and reconsider my priorities. I'll brain dump a list of things I need to do an quickly prioritize them by numbering them from highest priority to lowest, consciously thinking about why my important tasks are important. Then I'll choose one of my higher priority projects and focus on it. 

Move to a new location.

Especially outside, weather permitting. Changing locations forces our brain to process new information, really waking up your brain cells so they can process new information! Plus, we could all use a little more fresh air. My new favorite (because it's still in the 60s here in Florida!) is setting up my eno behind my building and studying or reading emails. 

Do some quick exercise.

Sometimes, I'll do fifty jumping jacks or a couple minutes of yoga flows (modified plank, cobra, downward dog, plank, child's pose, and again). Usually this is enough to wake me up + get blood pumping. Whenever I do quick spurts of exercise, I can feel my brain start to pick up speed and prepare to get work done.

Consider what's stopping you.

Did you not get enough sleep? Take a 30-minute nap. Is social media distracting you? Turn on a web filter. Is your project too large? Break it into five steps and just do one. On top of that, take note of the things that made you have an unproductive day + try to make sure they don't happen again. When I sleep late, it takes me forever to get focused. So now I know getting up on time is a huge priority for me.

Dig deep and work.

If you try, you can come up with a hundred reasons why you aren't productive. Sometimes, the solution is just to grit your teeth and get back to work. Set a timer for 15, 30, 60 minutes and work. Be sure to reward yourself afterwards--you worked hard! 

Thank you for reading today, you guys! Do something amazing today! And please take the short reader survey :)

Curated Weekly / 1

Curated Weekly is a new series with installments posted every Friday (even though today is Saturday!) where I share a variety of moments or interesting things (like links or photos or songs) that I've collected over the last week. I hope that this series gives you a snapshot into my world and my brain!

First off, I'd really appreciate if you'd take the reader survey! The questions are different than most surveys but I wrote them specifically because I really want to get to know you and what you love and what you need out of a blog. Thank you for taking two minutes to fill it out!

Naturally, this week I was very focused on getting all ready for the launch yesterday! If you've been around long, you know I like my life busy and busy I was. I signed up for some of my classes for next semester and I'm really excited about a few of them...along with chem 2 and a few other required classes, I'm pumped to be taking entomology (bugs) and fungal pathogens. If you're new, let me explain and say that I'm a college student studying plant pathology, which pretty much means I study bacteria, fungus, insects, and viruses that harm plants. It's fun stuff!

Yesterday was (you guessed it) pretty busy as well. I met with my wellness coach (more about that another time) and we discussed my goals for the semester as far as working towards better sleep habits, time and stress management, and overall health! If you're in college, I highly recommend looking into resources in your counseling and wellness center. My school has so many amazing, free resources and I'm so thankful for people that want to help me succeed!

And to wrap up a busy week, today is actually my sorority's semi-formal at Disney so I will not be responding to comments today! But for those of you who left them yesterday, thank you. I'm so glad you're here!

DIY morse code bracelets -- what a creative way to carry a message with you!

Cat Ipsum and kitty image placeholders -- in case you can't decide if you like design or kitties more.

Compliments that aren't about physical appearance.

How to diffuse conflict + make angry people calm down + be cool.

Tribal nail art -- just for fun!

6 top ways to improve your daily routine.

Sticky garlic chicken and broccoli -- holy yum.

7 style tips to trick people into thinking you made an effort

A day in the life of a college student

10 steps to uncover wisdom in your anxious thoughts

This beautiful marine-themed moodboard in honor of Rachel Carson

(images by Danielle Kroll)

For some reason, I'm really into Hawaiian folk these days. Seriously! If you're having a busy day and you want some thing calm and soothing but still thoroughly happy, this is the way to go! Plus, it always reminds me that I need to work harder so I can graduate and get a job that pays enough so I can get to Hawaii. Logic, right?!

This week, I intend to work really hard at prioritizing how I use my time. I've talked about this before and I'll talk about it again...I'm a big believer in wasting time intentionally. If you're going to procrastinate, do another important (but less unpleasant) task while you gear up to work. If you're going to rest and relax, do something you really enjoy like reading a book or blogging or watching your favorite movie instead of being a potato and watching that same episode of House Hunters for the third time because there's nothing else on. 

Something that I definitely don't prioritize enough is SLEEP. Whenever more tasks get loaded onto my ever-full plate, I always think to myself, "oh it'll be a late night." Because when something needs to get cut, I cut sleep. Instead, I'm going to work on cutting Facebook or other social media and Netflix before I cut my sleep.

What have you been up to this week? (And yes, I actually want you to answer that question!) What will you prioritize this week?

The NEW Call Me Sassafras!

More than a month ago, I woke up (figuratively) and realized that my blog had become something I totally didn't recognize anymore. I used to feel like my blog was a mirror--everything I wrote, I closely identified with. It was a passion project. 

But over the last couple months, as I became busier and busier, CMS took up less space in my soul and more space on my to-do list. It was stressful. I felt no direction, and more importantly, I didn't feel like CMS was growing my soul, much less yours. 

And so after lots of thought, my short break from blogging became a reckless rebrand. The more I worked on it, the more it felt like home. The more it felt like a passion project again. So if you don't mind, I'd like to take a few moments of your precious day and tell you a little bit more about the new CMS...because it is very, very new + different.

The soul of the new Call Me Sassafras is intentional living. Living with kindness and passion and fearlessness and power and joy. When I decided that I wanted to change what I write about, I knew I had to change my design. I chose to bring in this dusty pink, one of my favorite pick-me-up colors, and the flora, my passion as a botany student. But I also used the plants because I wanted the design to be a tangible reminder the guiding quote of my blog (and my life) from William Butler Yeats:

"We are happy when we are growing."

There are lots of new things coming. I'll be honest, most of my posts will be entirely different. As you can see from my new category bars on the right, I will not be writing about science or music (regularly--I may on occasion). I'm choosing to laser-focus on how I live try to live more productively and positively and passionately, put in practical terms (holy alliteration!). 

But that's it! It's simple, really. 

I'm really excited about all these new things here on the blog and I hope you are as well. Please take three minutes and take this super-short, eight-question survey. Y'all are seriously the greatest and I can't wait to reconnect with you.

Whatever you're thinking right now, I'd loveeee if you would pop those words into the comments below. Have a wonderful day and I'll see you soon!

It's Time to Take a Break

(Unsplash)

Well I guess the title pretty much says everything. 

But still, it's pretty ironic how my last post was telling you how I'm changing around my schedule + fine-tuning my days to make time for my priorities. But the really funny part is that I've found out that blogging...isn't. At least right now. 

We're all busy. There's nothing especially good or bad about that, it just means that we have to make choices on a daily basis what matters enough to warrant our time and what doesn't. 

So this is just to say that right now, blogging is not how I am choosing to spend my time. I love blogging. I love connecting with my readers. But when I blog on a restricted time-budget, I spread myself too thin + I end up throwing out mediocre posts riddled with grammar mistakes to you. And I respect myself, this blog and the process too much to do that.

I will be back. Soon. 

Please don't leave. Leave me in your feed...I'll show up again soon. It may be a week; it may be a month. But I can't wait for that day. 

I'll be making a (better) effort to comment + connect with all of you. If you're not a blogger, feel free to comment or email me at allie@callmesassafras.com so we can keep in touch during this time. 

I'll see you all soon (figuratively, on the internet)!

Weekly Goals #40

(Unsplash)

Y'all. The last few weeks have really been tossing me around. Do you ever have those periods of time--days, weeks, months?--when nothing seems to go right? When you just want to be productive and make great things happen but little problems keep stopping you in your tracks? 

That's how the last two weeks haave been for me. Between overcommitting myself to everything, learning to get in the groove of classes and a horde of technology issues, it seems that I'm behind on most things in my life right now. 

But it's okay. I feel like I'm on the upswing of this funk + I can feel good things coming! And in order to refocus on the things that matter, weekly goals felt appropriate.

This Week's Goals:

+ Practice better time-management strategies. I know this is super vague, but basically, I'm not liking my current routine. Because of my class schedule, I have a bunch of 45-minute chunks scattered throughout my day. I've found that I struggle with making small chunks of time productive.

+ Come up with 10 quality new ideas for posts. When I'm busy, I tend to post routine things like link roundups or whatever. But I really want to focus this week on taking time to write high-quality content. 

+ Look for ways to eat better. Seriously, I'm becoming much too acquainted with the Freshman 15 and that's so not okay with me. I've been exercising super regularly, but it's the food side that I struggle with. 

What are your goals this week?

How Do You Prioritize Your Time?

"You can't commit to anything because you're committing yourself to everything."

Someone told me that a few days ago. She wasn't talking specifically about me, but about people as a whole, especially the Millennial generation. In my small group, we were all complaining that we never have time to call our families or really listen to our friends because there are always events to go to and homework to be completed and exams to study for.

And we were right. We really didn't have time. But so was our leader. As we talked about our days and weeks, I realized that the reason I have to say, "I don't have time for that," isn't really because I don't have time, it's because I don't make it a priority.

This really hit home with me. I don't know about you, but I love complaining about being busy. Seriously, when I'm busy and manage to go to a social event or get to the gym, I look like wonderwoman. But if something pops up that I don't want to do, no worries, "I'm busy."

But when you find yourself too busy to do good things that you should be doing, like I did this week, take a moment to reconsider what you're spending your time on + look at the choices you've made that are making other choices for you.

+ I wanted more time to spend working out and journaling. I realized that I spend at least an hour a day on Netflix or facebook. Now I watch Netflix on the stairstepper and block facebook for most of the day.

+ I wanted to meet more people. Instead of listening to music through headphones on the bus, I looked around, saw an acquaintance and made conversation until my stop.

+ Now, I realize that I want to spend more time on my blog and practicing my creative hobbies (lettering/cross stitching). Throughout the next few weeks, I'll be looking for things to cut out that I don't really want in my life and replace them with the things I do.

It's your life + your time + you are the only one responsible for filling it. If you're looking for more time in your day, consider cutting out TV, unproductive social media, unfocused time, and even unproductive relationships. Because really, how much more fun would life be if we all got to read more blogs and do what we like without worrying about what's going on on Facebook? A lot, that's how much.

What things don't you have time for that you wish you did? What things do you make time for that you don't need to?