HOW TO: MAKE MORE TIME IN LIFE + BUSINESS

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to run a business. It wasn’t until I started running my first (back in 2004) that I realized, holy cow, it’s not as easy as it looks! Now that I’m older with a family of my own, I’m constantly finding myself in a struggle of making sure I set enough time aside for them, that I’m present and my husband and puppy know how much they are loved. If there is anything I’ve learned it’s that this type of work/life is a 24-7 balancing act — that I’m sure will get even more tricky once we add babies. Even now without kids, I juggle and I fail a lot, but I’m always working to make it better!

I wanted to share 5 tips I’ve learned to making life easier, happier and a little less loco, both in life and my career:

+ Get up early & get moving: I never used to be a morning person but started making a point of getting up earlier, little by little everyday. Now I usually get up before my alarm which I never thought possible! I always feel so much more productive starting the day early and it forces me to get to bed on time so I can get my 8-hours.

+ Put it on paper: most days run pretty smoothly around here, but more often than not my brain is running a mile a minute. Between taking care of household duties, our puppy and balancing my growing business, there’s no such thing as a slow day. I can only image how my days will feel once we do have kids so I’m soaking up as much solo-time as I can, while I still can! When I sit down and write out the things I need/want to get done, the list ALWAYS seems a lot more doable than it did in my head. There are a tonne of apps and iCalendar tools to use but physically writing it out on paper for me just works.

+ Set your (weekly) schedule:  every Sunday, in between laundry and groceries I get out a pad of paper and write out our week; our meal plan (2 Fresh Prep meal deliveries, 3 home cooked meals), any events I have going on/nights out I might have to prep dinner for Roberto and any other important due dates, workouts, deadlines or to-do’s on the agenda that week. Seeing our week at-a-glance helps us tackle our tasks more efficiently, keep tabs on each other and avoid extra, unnecessary trips to the grocery store etc. through the week.

+ Carve out some YOU-time: I have a love/hate relationship with the gym but I make it a priority each week to get there and work hard for the sake of my physical, emotional and mental health. This has had to become a non-negotiable for me. When I get out of routine I become lazy and more easy to let things slide. No bueno. So instead of making it an option I just got use to scheduling it in my calendar as part of my day. Find whatever works for you and make time for it in your weekly schedule even if it’s just 30 minutes a day.

+ Make the most of the little things: for me that could be as simple as something as making a delicious cup of coffee to fuel my workday. Creating positive little rituals help to reinforce good habits, so find what motivates you to tackle your to-do’s and get it done.

Since I work from home most days, I’ve been relying heavily on our new VertuoPlus coffee machine from Nespresso. It makes both small and large cups of coffee which I’ve been loving! I’ll usually have a full cup in the morning (extra froth, pls) and then an espresso in the afternoon on days I need a pick-me-up.

With the arrival of June and warmer weather we’ve been totally loving the limited edition iced capsules. Now we can make the most frothy, creamy, delicious iced coffees from home — perfect every time.

MY ICED COFFEE [AT HOME] RECIPE:

+ fill glass w ice.
+ pour creamy cashew milk (or any alternative of your choice) into glass.
+ place glass on Nespresso grid and insert one Ispirazione Salentina iced coffee capsule into machine & press start.
+ enjoy!

Alternatively, I also love the Ispirazione Shakerato iced coffee — just brew coffee, add (any milk/cream) ice & shake!

If you’re having a go at making this at home, don’t forget to recycle your empty Nespresso capsules. I’m always saving mine to take back to my local Nespresso boutique for recycling when I’m stocking up. It’s easy, you can use the home collection service Nespresso offers or just drop them off at your nearest Nespresso boutique or Café.

If you’re in Canada, click here, to find out more about all the different ways to recycle your capsules locally.

Thank you Nespresso for partnering on this post. As always, all comments + opinions are my own.
Photography: Melissa Skoda