Cleaning My House

July 15, 2019July 15, 2019 / Yen-Van Tran / Leave a comment

07.15.2019

0600

I don’t like using a lot of harsh chemicals to clean my house, because of the dangers that chemicals can cause to our physical well being . So I tend to use a combination of natural products. For scrubbing, I like to use a combination of Dr. Bronner’s liquid peppermint soap, as well as baking soda as an abrasive. I like to use a simple brush to scrub services, because those are easy to rinse off.

I’ll use a combination of water and apple cider vinegar to wipe down surfaces as well. I will use old cotton wash clothes and cotton rags to wipe down surfaces.

For cleaning my toilet, I will usually use apple cider vinegar, and a simple toilet brush to scrub the surface. If I need to use an abrasive to scrub my toilet, I’ll use baking soda to do so. I do get nervous about harsh chemicals be in the home because I don’t like the idea of inhaling toxic fumes. I think that now that we know more about toxic chemicals and how harmful they can be, we have the power to make better choices about what we use in our homes.

When it comes to cleaning the hardwood floors, I have a dust mop and also a floor broom and dust pan set. I do have a vacuum that I use, but it’s only once a while that’ll pull that out.

If I need to clean the surface of the floors, I’ll first use a combination of Dr. Bronner’s liquid peppermint soap and water to dilute the concentration of the soap formula. I’ll first wipe down the floors with the soapy liquid, than, I’ll go over the cleaned floors with a clean wet rag, to pick up the soap residue. I just wipe down the surface with rags. I do it by hand because the floor seems to be cleaner with this method.

For the rest of the surfaces, dust is really the only issue when it comes to cleaning my other furniture services. I can wipe down the surfaces easily with a simple rag.

I have a fairly simple cleaning routine, and it really doesn’t take much time to get through it on a weekly basis. It also helps to not own many items and keeping my surfaces clean, also speeds up the process. But I’ve been fairly happy with my cleaning routine, and by using non toxic chemicals, I can sleep better knowing that I’m not creating a toxic indoor air environment for my family.

Thirty Day Challenge

June 3, 2019June 24, 2019 / Yen-Van Tran / Leave a comment

06.03.2019

0600

Have you ever created a New Year’s resolution and were not able to fulfill it? You know, when you hype yourself up during the last week of December, and then plan out your goals, and your morning and evening routines; then life gets in the way? I know I have. I failed when the goal was much larger than I expected it to be. I didn’t take my goals step by step, but tried to accomplish them in leaps and bounds. It took a bit of time and discipline, but I’ve learned to break down my goals into small daily habits that I could adapt to.

My blog does talk about Life Hacks but this is more of a personal life hack. If you’ve ever set up goals for yourself and wondered why you failed halfway through there might be a good chance you’re biting off more than you can chew.

There are a lot of YouTube channels that talk about 30-Day Challenges that may vary from health challenges, to emotional and environmental challenges. Some of the challenges might be, decluttering, getting in shape, going to bed early and even drinking more water on a daily basis.

I follow Matt D’Avella, who was the director of the documentary Minimalism, and he has been taking on his own 30-Day Challenges for 2019. It was really fun and amazing to see how the challenges helped shaped his habits and helped him push his limits. It was inspiring.

If one of your goals was to workout in the morning, but you’re finding it hard to wake up early and still have enough energy to workout, maybe the first challenge to overcome, is simply waking up early. Instead of your goal encompassing waking up early, going jogging, making breakfast, and then going to work, maybe the goal should just be – to wake up early. You don’t have to pile everything on at once. Perhaps the next 30-Day challenge might be to wake up early and then go for a short walk; just a short walk. Nothing crazy, nothing over the top, but a simple walk.

I wanted to set up 30-Day goals through the rest of 2019, so I could see what habits stuck and which did not. They were only a 30-Day commitments, so the dedication didn’t feel overwhelming. I only had to commit 30 days, out of 365 days in the year, to see how I would adapt.

The idea here is to develop keystone habits, that will help you set up healthy habits, which will help contribute to your larger goal.

A lot of people tend to set goals and are passionate about accomplishing them, but we’re a society that is conditioned to expect immediate results. Developing patience is a skill, no matter what stage you are at in life. The habits may not be easy, but persistence is key.

I tested out my own daily challenges, and when I broke down my goals into smaller habits that I could develop over time, they were easier to accomplish and my habits stuck with me.

If you’ve had a goal in mind, and you still want to accomplish it, perhaps breaking down the goal into 30-Day habit challenges, might help. If you have a partner or friend or internet support group that can do a challenge with you- all the better! It’s only a 30-day commitment, so why not? You can find a lot of 30-Day challenges on the internet, but I thought I would make a list of 50 challenges, that I thought were interesting, down below.

Here is a list of fifty 30-Day Challenges:

Drink more water
Plan all of your meals in advance
Practice good posture
Make a green juice or smoothie every morning
Eat 7-9 cups of veggies every day
Keep a food journal
Bring your lunch to work
Detox your house of harsh chemicals
Cook a new recipe every week
Eat vegan or vegetarian for a month
Take a cold shower
Eat local
Take a 30 minute walk each day
Walk 10,000 steps every day
Take the stairs each day
Go to the gym
Yoga
Run
Set priorities for your day
Clean up your clutter
Clean up your digital clutter
Bullet Journal
Follow a morning routine
Follow a bedtime routine
Make your bed
Wake up early
Check email once or twice a day
No alcohol
No credit cards, pay only with cash
No fast food
No social media
No shopping
No sugar
No soda
No snacking
No caffeine
Listen to audio books or podcasts instead of music
Say affirmations
Practice gratitude
Write down three positive things about your day
Draw something
Meditate
Spend time in nature or at least outdoors
Take a photo every day
Take a video clip every day
Read 20 pages every day
Learn a language
Learn a new word
Learn a skill
Learn to cook

TAKE THE 30-DAY CHALLENGE! AND GOOD LUCK!

Goals for 2017

February 21, 2017August 12, 2018 / Yen-Van Tran / Leave a comment

02.21.2017

0700

2016-09-17-13-13-21-1-2

My 2017 Goals…

So each year, I try to set up attainable goals. Sometimes I achieve them, sometimes I won’t and sometimes I only achieve a few goals each year. Either way, the ones that were not achieved, will bleed into the upcoming year. I approach this goal setting a few different ways and this year I thought I’d share with you a format that I frequently use now. These goals have two concise categories and that’s personal goals versus professional goals.

My professional goals will be whatever and however I decide to navigate my professional life. That includes where I work, the length of my career, the job titles I want to move up towards and licenses that I need to attain those job titles. In a nutshell, the idea is to layout where you want to be and the steps it’s going to take to get there. This is a sample format that I tend to follow:

Professional Goals:
1. Job Position
  1. Profesional steps to move into the job position you desire and with desired pay
  2. Certificates and licenses needed to qualify for desired position
    1. Which certificates are needed
    2. How much does each certificate/license cost
    3. Frequency of the continuing education credits needed per year
2. Professional community
  1. Steps to network more, and how to come in contact with more people on a more frequent basis
  2. How frequent will networking occur (ie quarterly, yearly, etc.)

You can use the above format, or elaborate on it however you choose. My personal goals has a different format that I use which includes daily goals, weekly goals, yearly goals and long term goals. With this format, it’s a fairly straight forward setup. However, there are a lot of templates floating around on the internet that will map out each week of each month in a play by play format, if that’s what you chose to use. I tend to not have that many goals that would need a more rigorous format, so I use this the style I use.

Personal Goals:
1. Daily Goals:
2. Weekly Goals:
3. Yearly Goals:
4. Long term Goals:

I like to focus more on general time constraints than day to day time constraints. Also, with the general time goals, it allows for unexpected events to occur. This list may change in the sense that new goals may be added to it or adjusted, but I’ve written it out and now it’s a personal contract. So let me show you what goals I’d like to achieve in 2017.

Professional Goals:
1. Continue to work towards becoming a licensed architect.
2. Continue to work towards my LEED AP certification
3. Take scheduled breaks from blogging and the upkeep of my social media
4. Continue to blog, but post once per week, and continue to push for better content
5. Be more active on my social media accounts
Personal Goals:
1. Daily Goals:
  1. Stay healthy
  2. Buckle down on my workout routines
2. Weekly Goals:
  1. Surf more
3. Yearly Goals:
  1. Community Involvement: Get more involved with the non-profit environmental organizations that I currently support, perhaps add some more to that list.
  2. Grow specific vegetables and enough to sustain a household for weekly meals. (This is an ongoing experiment)

So this is a glimpse into what I plan to do. What are some of your goals? Do you like the daily/weekly/yearly/long term goals format? Do any of you have goals set up for 2017?

Simplify Your Life With These Product Tips

December 8, 2016August 12, 2018 / Yen-Van Tran / Leave a comment

12.08.2016

0800

Part of the reason why I know my day to day life has a simplistic routine, is that I’ve set it up that way due to my investments in specific products. I keep my rooms simple and clean and the one rule I follow, is that items must be off of the floor, including any storage bins. I thought I’d list a few tips of how I organize the living room, bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.

Living Room

Invest in a thermostat – Thermostats are components of which sense the temperature of a system so that the system’s temperature is maintained near a desired setpoint. They are useful in that they will sense the temperature of the space and turn on or turn off when the desired temperature is met.
Purchase multi-functional furniture – Try an ottoman that doubles as storage, etc. Be sure to check out our post for 10 Items You Need to Organize Your Home Like a RockStar with more multi-functional furniture ideas.
Less items to display – If you have more items to display out in the open, the likelihood is that you have to dust them more often or worry about those items falling over or being damaged somehow. I’m not telling you to get rid of everything out in the open, but the amount of items will correlate with the level of maintenance of them.
Keep items off of the floor– The less items you have on the floor, when you vacuum or sweep, you won’t have to stop to pick up all of your items first. Vacuuming or sweeping will be a quick visit to each room and you’ll be done before you know it.

Bathroom

Use dry shampoo – Try dry shampoo (for your entire family) and spend less time getting ready. Try this version or a homemade version here.
Stop using shaving cream – Organic soap bars works for both men and women as a replacement.
Use multipurpose beauty products – Try a lip stain that doubles as blush and eye-shadow.
Stop coloring your hair – Coloring at a salon is pricey and time consuming. Your natural color is probably gorgeous. Embrace it!

Bedroom

Start a wardrobe capsule – Creating a wardrobe capsule will change your life. Check out this post to download the template to start yours Capsule Wardrobe Planner by Un-fancy.
Keep items off of the floor– The less items you have on the floor, when you vacuum or sweep, you won’t have to stop to pick up all of your items first. Vacuuming or sweeping will be a quick visit to each room and you’ll be done before you know it.

Kitchen

Invest in and use a crockpot – Use your crockpot as often as possible to cook ready-made meals.
Invest in and use a pressure cooker – Use your pressure cooker as often as possible to cut down on cooking time.
Make your breakfast the night before – Try overnight oats with fresh fruit for a grab-and-run healthy breakfast.
Make your lunches for the week at the beginning of the week- I think most of the working class has a busy schedule no matter what job you hold. Making your lunches at the beginning of the week saves time and energy during the week so you can spend that time doing something you prefer.
Keep healthy snacks at your desk – Keeping healthy snacks at arm’s length will ensure that you reach for them rather than the vending machine goodies.
Stop using kitchen paper products – Try using cloth towels to dry hands, dishes, or wipe up spills/spots. Use cloth napkins instead of paper napkins. Stop using paper plates. You will simplify the items in your home and reduce waste and costs.
Invest in a coffee/tea French Press – A basic coffee maker with a timer (like this one) will ensure your pot is brewed before you wake up. Try this one to reduce waste if you rarely drink coffee/tea.

Keep Life Simple

November 29, 2016August 12, 2018 / Yen-Van Tran / 1 Comment

11.29.2016

0800

So we’ve officially moved into the season between ‘fighting over products while shopping’ and ‘opening said products in one swift move’. I usually don’t go buy physical objects for this season, I tend to buy gifts in the form of experiences, however, I do understand that not everyone approaches this season the same way.

The holiday season tends to bring on another level of stress, with the year rounding out and the pressures from the holidays added to the pressures from work and family, it can be an overall anxiety driven few months. With these additional stresses, I wanted to post some tips to help everyone to remind them to take care of themselves first and foremost. and perhaps to help keep the home front a little more simplified.

Life will always get more chaotic and complicated, but as long as we recognize it, we can counter it with with a well thought out defense. I practice a lot of these tips, so even if you can try just one tip and simplify your life, you might be pleasantly surprised. So here it goes, I hope you guys enjoy it!

For Your Mental Health:

Stop multitasking – Give your attention and focus to one thing at a time to complete a long list of to-do items.
Stop driving aggressively – Take the steps to stop aggressive driving habits by getting enough sleep, planning ahead and using etiquette and kindness to other drivers. Remember that if children are in the car, they learn from watching you.
Stop going crazy for holidays – Stop stressing to bake/cook a huge holiday meal. If you host during the holidays, ask everyone to bring a dish for a potluck style dinner and there will be less work for you. Stop over-shopping for the holidays. Try the 4-gift rule for Christmas: something you want, something you need, something to play with, something to read.
Accept that change is in order – Acceptance is the first step to changing bad habits. Once you have accepted that you need to change your life, take the next step toward a simplified life.
Program your mobile photos/videos to auto-upload to a cloud account – Never worry about uploading photos again – Try Google, Amazon, Picasa, YouTube.
Use a combined social media app (Instagram)– Try Hootsuite – it combines your social media accounts and shares a post on all sites at the same time.

For Your Home:

Create a command center in your home – a command center is the ultimate hub to keep your family organized. For tips to create your own, see this post. My favorite command center item is this dry erase calendar.
Create a cleaning routine and schedule it on your calendar – Schedule laundry day’s, trash days, housecleaning days, etc.
Downsize – Get rid of items you don’t need or move into a smaller home.
Cancel magazine/newspaper subscriptions – Read articles for free online instead.
Stop buying trending clothes – Purchase classic, high-quality items in neutral colors and you will rarely need to update your wardrobe.
Eat simple meals – Less thinking means faster, easier meals. Keep it simple with simple ingredients and meals that are fail-proof. Be sure to check out our post Clean Eating for Less Than $70 a Week for a family of 4 (Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks included with a shopping list!).
Make freezer meals – Double your dinner recipe and freeze the rest for later. If you do this every night, then you will have 7 additional dinners in the freezer for next month. Here are 365 days of freezer meals for more ideas.
Use your leftovers – Pack them for lunch the next day or use them to make another meal – many leftovers can easily be made into a soup.
Use simple recipe ingredients – Stop buying spices/ingredients for one meal. Purchase basic spices and ingredients to minimize items in your pantry.
Make one-pot meals – Reduce clean up by making an entire meal in one pot. Here are 120 one pot meals for some ideas.
Unsubscribe from junk emails – Try unroll.me for bulk removal. I did this and was able to unsubscribe from 110 subscriptions in just a few minutes!
Cancel cable – Try on-demand options like Hulu, Netflix or Amazon Video.
Print as little as possible – Read documents, books and recipes online. Save these items online or as a document to your computer. Less paper lying around means less to organize later.

For Your Organization:

Consider signing up for an Elfster account or create an Amazon Wish List feature or giving Groupon experience gifts
Keep reusable bags in your car – These bags always come in handy for stores that give you money back for bringing your own bag (like Target) or those that charge for their plastic bags (like Aldi).
Telecommute, carpool, bike, jog or walk to work instead of driving – take the stress of commuting with one of these options.
Stop using credit cards and pay cash for everything – Get rid of the stress of paying interest for that T-shirt. Freeze your credit cards, pay them off and start using cash only – unless you are able to pay off credit cards in full every month.
If you need a credit card, consider one with rewards benefits – If you absolutely need a credit card, choose one with big rewards. Pay the balance in full every month to reap the full reward benefits – otherwise the reward is not beneficial if you are paying interest.
Upload/Download DVDs/digital copies to the cloud – Try Vudo/Ultraviolet to upload DVDs, digital copies to access movies on-the-go. Download/purchase movies online and store them in your cloud account, try Amazon Video.
Share cloud files with family – Share your budget spreadsheet or contact list with your spouse.
Write canned emails – Try the canned email feature in Gmail and save emails that you regularly send out with the same verbiage.

Take Time For Yourself

November 24, 2016August 12, 2018 / Yen-Van Tran / 1 Comment

11.24.2016

0800

As the holidays have come upon us here in the United States of America, this time of the year can be quite stressful. I thought I would make a list of ways I think everyone can or should try to take care of themselves, this includes physical and mental health.

Since I already posted this as you are reading it now, I plan on spending the day in my stretchy pants. Stretchy pants are great for all occasions, today just happen to be a day where I eat when I’m starving and end up too full.

Have a great holiday everyone! Happy Thanksgiving! You should do the first seven items on the Physical Health list, except for #4, today may not be the best day to start on #4. (Unless you like food burps while working out) And if you do #1, you can knock off #3- see… multitasking—> Boom.

Physical Health:

Take a nap – Schedule a power nap (or longer) when you can. A 15-minute nap will provide you with increased alertness and energy. Longer napping provides the same benefits but can make you feel relaxed and rejuvenated.
Plan a R & R day at least once a month – Try to schedule at least 1 day every month for rest and relaxation. Try a Saturday all-day movie day at home or take off work on a Monday or Friday and have an extra-long weekend.
Watch less TV – The average American watches 34 hours of TV a week – almost the same amount of time as a full time job! Try reading a book, going outside for a walk or playing a card/board game.
Schedule your workouts – If you don’t add fitness to your daily routine, then you won’t be inclined to workout. Add working out to your calendar and set a reminder. Check out our post with 5 Easy Ways to Schedule Fitness into your Daily Routine for more help.
Meditate – Meditating reduces aging, helps you feel more connected, improves brain function, increases immunity and metabolism and helps you sleep better.
Do yoga or stretch throughout the day – Yoga provides increased flexibility, improved energy and vitality while assisting with cardio and circulatory health.
Go for a walk – walking prevents high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes while improving your mood.
Watch the sunset or sunrise – Watching the sun rise or set will slow down time. It gets you away from digital devices, helps you appreciate life’s gifts and will inspire you.
Carry a water bottle everywhere – Drinking plenty of water has many benefits including keeping you alert and energetic. Try these bottles and never worry about going thirsty again.
Turn off your phone – Sometimes a break from the blinking light on your phone will serve well. If you want to focus on an important task, turn your phone off for less distraction.
Unplug all devices – Unplug your TV, radio, computer, phones, etc. for a while to minimize distractions.
Breathe – Remember to breathe.

Mental Health:

Keep a gratitude journal – Writing in a gratitude journal lowers stress, gives you new perspectives and opens your eyes to what is most important in your life. Try this gratitude journal to get started.
Try adult coloring books/pages – Print adult coloring pages for free online and take a break to color. You will be brought back to childhood memories and the activity is stress relieving. Don’t worry about staying in the lines.
Learn to say “no” to events, get-togethers, hand-me-downs, etc. – It’s okay to say no in our already over-scheduled and busy lives.
Set monthly goals – Start a monthly/yearly goal planning worksheet and refer back to it often.
Listen to audio-books – Try Audible for Free for 30-days and refer to this post for how audible books can simplify your life.
Turn off notifications from social media – Ever post a comment to a friend and then get notified with every comment thereafter? Remove notification on social media.
Take a social media vacation – Unplugging from the Internet overload will simplify your life. Try a 1-week or longer social media vacation.
Stop trying to impress people that you don’t like – Stop buying unnecessary items to show off and stop trying to “keep up with the Joneses.”
Stop holding grudges – You will feel happier if you just let things go.
Determine your definition of success – Success is defined in many different ways – how do you define success? Is it your “stuff” or is it your happiness?
Stop trying to do it all – Don’t try to do everything on this list right away and stop trying to get everything done all at once. Take baby steps and you will reach your goals.
Stop over-scheduling your life – Make sure you schedule time for yourself every day – whether it’s a relaxing activity like massage, bath, watching a movie or a fun activity like working out or hanging out with friends – stop over scheduling your life with a long to-do list.

Goals For 2016

January 20, 2016August 12, 2018 / Yen-Van Tran / 2 Comments

01.20.2016

0900

My goals for 2016 are… (let me get back to this)

I could sit here and write that I want to better myself in a specific way, but it would be meaningless. My life as it is right now… is pretty great. It’s weird to admit that at times because it sounds arrogant, but I have to admit that life is genuinely good and I’m happy. However, it also took years of analyzing and nit picking and changing routines to get to this point.

My first step in getting to my happy life was simplifying it, which meant trying to live a zero waste lifestyle. After that, the rest was laid out pretty easily. Running errands is easier, sleeping is easier, and waking up is easier. I don’t buy packaged foods anymore so I know I’m not putting certain chemicals into my body anymore. (I know that there is a chance that the bulk foods will also have chemicals, but not the same ones for sure.)

I tend to eat a lot of greens and I stopped eating meat five years ago. I just run around the bulk foods section, grab some vegetables and fruit and I’m done. Even buying soap, laundry detergent, lotion and my other bath and body care are a quick stop at the grocery store- and it’s just one store I go to too.

I think this year is a year of just pushing my blog to further investigate who I am and what I want to report/talk about. I’m a very private person so this is all very new to me. I started living a zero waste life almost 6 years ago and many people had asked me to document it or vlog it on my YouTube channel, only now am I comfortable enough to do so.

The word ‘goals’ sounds too standard. It sounds like you’re going to achieve the goal and then it’s over, it’s done, nada mas. So maybe they should just be changes, changes that will echo even after you reach a certain point. Changes that just become a part of you- they become you.

So my changes for 2016, is to push my blog, vlog more, continue to be healthy and happy but overall- continue to be a better version of ME. The ME version consists of being a sister, daughter, friend, designer, citizen… just BE BETTER.

What are your changes you plan to make this year?