heretohelpsstuff - Tumblr blog

[heretohelpsstuff]

Things you can do in bed.

Listen to podcasts and audio books about a topic that interests you

Play brain games like sudoku or word games

Deep breathing exercises or meditation

Journaling on your phone or computer (no need for a physical journal)

Text an old friend and check in

Stretch your hands or legs to the sky (you can level this up by doing more stretching)

Play your old favorite song

Read your childhood favorite book

Scroll Pinterest for a vision board pictures (think about the future not the past)

Swap your pillows to the other side of the bed and lay somewhere different

[heretohelpsstuff]

Things I do to prepare for the week.

I don’t do them every Sunday but I have found the weeks I did them go smoother and are a lot less stressful.

Clear out all my emails to zero. This way I know if it’s a recent email that I need to respond to and also lessens the stress that having a cluttered email brings me.

Make a little treat to have throughout the week. Some kind of baked goods usually so I can reward myself.

Meal prep my meals. Typically I don’t make full meals I just chop and marinate things so I can start cooking right when I get home. I also make a giant batch of protein smoothies because if I don’t I won’t eat anything for breakfast all week.

Do all my laundry and set out clothes to wear for the week. Prevents decision fatigue and I always make sure to have back up outfits just in case the vision just doesn’t workout.

Declutter my desk, clean my shower , and wash my bedding. These are the main spots that stress me out when they aren’t clean but take longer so I can’t do them mid week.

Plan out your week and set up daily to dos. Call me crazy but I schedule every hour of my day even my “chill on phone time” this helps keep me productive without over working myself.

Wash my hair. With the hair wash cycle I’m on I typically won’t have to fully wash my hair until Thursday if I wash on Sunday so it helps me get through most of my week without worrying about greasy hair ( especially cuz I have a lot of hair and it’s a workout to wash).

If you are really stressed do a brain dump of everything you need to do that week and then turn them into actionable tasks and spread them throughout the week. Such as if you need to write an essay. Monday: read sources and make outline Tuesday: begin drafting and you get the idea.

Go to bed early. I do very well on a typical schedule of 7.5 hours of sleep but at the start of the week it’s great to start out at like 8ish hours to be fully rested.

[heretohelpsstuff]

Things that got me through college.

These are a list of habits and practices I did in college to keep up on work and get good grades.

Notes

Keep two notebooks for each class.

One that you take notes during class and it can be as messy and I typically only use one color pen and highlighter to keep up with even the fastest teachers.

The second notebook you use after each class (or as soon as possible) and this is for your pretty detailed notes. Try and use active recall questions to make sure there is no gaps in your understanding. I also would try and write it in my own words to make it easier to remember.

After each lecture make flash cards (either online or physical) and have these for anytime you have free time you can quiz yourself.

Scheduling

Plan out your day!

Use some kind of calendar and time block every hour of your day. Plan out when you are gonna study, eat, sleep, free time all of it. This will help you make sure that you are making time for yourself.

I typically do this on Sundays for the whole week and it keeps me from getting decision fatigue while keeping you productive.

Study daily

Even if it’s just for 20 mins make sure you are keeping up your knowledge.

Try different study methods on different days. Flash cards for all your classes Monday. Going over your past quizzes Tuesday. Practice questions Wednesday so on so on. This can be personalized to your schedule.

Take care of yourself

Make sure you are eating sleeping and spending time with friends.

Call your family and old friends

Take yourself out for coffee or to the movies

Also make sure you are exercising regularly however you like to.

Do things ahead of time

I literally wrote down all my due dates as the day before to give myself a day of cushion just in case.

Never plan to study right before the test. What if you sleep in late or something comes up? Always study ahead of time.

Get to know your professors

Go to there office hours and ask questions in class.

Professors have hundreds of students that don’t care about their class. I have found typically professors love having students that actually care about their subject.

When I’m taking notes I write down anything confusing to ask at office hours

Get out of your dorm

You are paying thousands of dollars for college you are allowed to exist and study anywhere on campus.

Study in the library or the cafes anywhere you like.

Explore campus find cool places to hangout.

Feel free to add your own!

[heretohelpsstuff]

Little things to do that make your home feel 10x cleaner.

I use these when I have guests coming over. They don’t make your home look spotless but most people will say you are very tidy.

After shower sprays. You spray them in your shower right after you use it helps keep your shower from getting buildup. (Still need to clean your shower but this should make it so there’s less buildup)

Basket of stuff that needs a place. Ok so I have one and how I use it if I have stuff that I’m just gonna toss on my counter and not put in the proper place I put it in the basket. Then at the end of the night I take the basket and put the stuff away. Sometimes all leave it for a day other times I do it the same day.

Dust. Get a wet rag and just wipe everything off. This can be a pretty quick process if you do it frequently. Makes your house look and feel cleaner.

Air freshener everyday(doesn’t have to be but I like the smell). Having a home that smells good will automatically make people think of your house as cleaner.

Keep trash from building up. Always take out garbage and don’t let it sit for days.

Keep the biggest piece of furniture in the rooms neat looking (beds, counters, couches, tables, and desks). This was my mom’s rule because when you walk in a room the first thing you notice is the biggest piece of furniture so having that clean makes the whole room feel cleaner.

Sweep. If you get a nice broom it can move really quickly.

You can use these as daily habits or just as ways to keep it clean for guests.

[heretohelpsstuff]

Reminder to clean out your email.

It can be overwhelming to clean out an email especially when you have over a thousand and you can’t just delete everything. Here is my personal method to clean it out in a timely manner.

Look for emails you know are only sending you things you’ll never look at. Copy and paste the email into the search function. Delete all of them.

Repeat this with all the spam emails. Until your email only has things you need to read.

Next create labels/categories to organize important emails

Now you can go to the categories and labels and look through them.

[heretohelpsstuff]

The basics of soup!

How to make homade soup the easy way. Anything can go into a soup and it’ll taste good you just gotta know the basics.

Get a big pot the bigger the better. This is so you don’t accidentally overestimate the capacity of your pot and end up with soup everywhere when it boils.

Next put oil, onions, and garlic at the bottom of pot and let them cook until the onions are translucent and the garlic smells good.

If you are adding any type of meat you can cook it in the pot so the juices are in the broth and add “depth of flavor”. Once cooked remove the meat from the pot.

Next add the vegetables that take the longest to cook this is your carrots, celery, and potatoes. No leafy greens yet.

Next add your broth. Broth can be bought at the store but the cheaper alternative is to pre make it by boiling water, salt, and vegetable scraps until you get a nice brown color and delicious flavor. This I recommend doing the day before you make soup because it takes a bit.

If you want to add noodles add them once your soup boils then bring it to simmer for a bit.

Add your leaf greens. They cook quickly and turn to mush if you over do it so watch it. The best leafy green for soups (in my opinion ) is kale because it doesn’t go quite as soft as others.

If you want a creamy soup add some heavy cream. I have not tried this with other milk substitutes but it should work it just might not have the same level of creaminess.

Bam soups done.

Make sure you are seasoning to your liking and checking the flavor frequently. I like to adjust my seasonings after each steps for that extra “depth”.

I also like to store half my soup in freezer bags and freeze them to be reheated for later dates. Just make sure if you do this leave the noodles out and add them in when you are reheating the soup so they don’t become too soft.

Soup is such a good way to get a good healthy meal in and almost anything can be made into a soup so experiment. Also soup is one of the more cheap meals you can sub any of the vegetables for frozen vegetables and it makes many meals.

Don’t forget your piece of bread and butter for the full experience.

[heretohelpsstuff]

Drink more water challenge

This is how I challenged myself to get more hydrated without those giant water bottles with time stamps on them (they don’t match my vibe)

The rules

Get a water bottle any size and make sure it is always full of water and ice (I put lemon juice in mine too) and is always next to you.

Drink a whole glass of water (or a set amount from your bottle) right when you wake up.

Drink a glass of water at every meal time. Also at restaurants you can order a fun drink but you gotta drink your glass of water first.

Drink water all through out your workouts and a whole glass after

Make sure to clean your bottle frequently

And those are all the rules this may seem like a lot of water at first but eventually your body will adjust and love it.

Some of the benefits I know of and have experienced are:

Clearer skin

Less bloated (this took a bit )

Period cramps were less intense

Didn’t need as much chapstick and lotion

Less headaches

Better mood stability

[heretohelpsstuff]

Okay if you:

Make your bed everyday

Keep up with a skin care routine

Whiten your teeth once a week

Use a hair mask once a week

Take a cold shower in the mornings

Get dressed and ready everyday

Make a to do list for the week

Dedicate specific hours in the day to work and play

Limit caffeine intake

Keep a set sleep schedule

Make protein the center of all your meals

Drink a glass of water at meal times

Eat when you are hungry stop when you are full

Make sure you move everyday

Get 10k steps everyday

Have set no screens time in your day

Read for 20 minutes or more everyday

Take yourself out on a self date once a week

Unfollow and block toxic people on socials

Write a gratitude journal daily

You’ll have a new mindset, healthier body, and happier heart in 6months.

[heretohelpsstuff]

My personal Saturday reset routine.

I thought I would put this here as like inspo because I personally love looking at others routines.

I go to bed at my normal time but I always allow myself on Saturdays to wake up without an alarm so there won’t be set times for everything.

Wake up and immediately go down stairs to take morning medicine/vitamins and drink a glass of water.

Put a kettle on and go do skincare, brushing my hair and teeth

Drink tea while eating a breakfast with carbs and healthy fats for fuel.

Throw in my laundry for the week to wash (I put on timers so whenever it needs swapping I go do that)

Do quick chores. Unload dishwasher, make bed, and general tidying of living/bedroom. Also giving pets there breakfast and make sure they have water.

Change into workout clothes and do a little stretching/yoga and take my dog for a walk.

Once home I do a full everything shower and change into comfy outfit I won’t mind leaving the house in. I also put on some makeup to make myself feel good and ready for the day.

Put on headphones and do a quick clean. Wiping surfaces down, putting things away, moping and sweeping.

I like to get out of the house I typically go to the library or a coffee shop and read or do some studying/work. Plus getting myself I nice little beverage and lunch(it’s normally that time) as a little reward.

Come home finish up laundry make sure everything is put away then the rest of the day is free for anything.

I obviously don’t do everything on Saturday but this is the goal.

[heretohelpsstuff]

How to set good achievable goals and complete them in the coming year.

As the new year approaches many people want to set resolutions this year only to let them fall off almost immediately. A lot of times it’s because the goal is unrealistic and doesn’t have a plan to get from start to the end. Here is my method for good resolution setting.

First the goal it’s self has to be achievable other wise you are just going to fail then feel bad about yourself

Don’t make your goals perfectly specific statements. Say you want to lose 10 pounds. While yes you can do this in a year but there are different variables like say you start working out you gain a bunch of muscle your size goes down but muscle weighs more so the number doesn’t go down. Are you really going to call that a failure because it’s really not. The goal should be something like “become stronger/more fit”or “workout twice a week”.

Make sure you actually have set reasons for these goals because without that what’s the motivation for having the goal.

Your goal should improve your life not make it worse or harder to live peacefully.

Allow yourself to fail if your values change half way through it. If half way through you decide that this isn’t going to improve your life let the goal go don’t try and complete it still.

You need stepping stones to get to the larger goal.

I like to take my goals and break them down to monthly goals. Then break those down into weekly goals so I am always working towards my goal and I can celebrate smaller victories along the way.

Ex: I want to adopt a healthier lifestyle. January my goal would be to find and set the healthy habits I want to keep during the rest of the year. First week my goal is to do some research on habits that will fit my body and life best. Second week my goal is to begin habit stacking. So on and so on.

Looking at the year at a whole can be so overwhelming so you can break it up as much as possible to make it easier to achieve.

After each month reevaluate how these goals have worked in terms of getting you closer to your main goal and don’t be afraid to switch strategies.

Create a mood board or collage of the aesthetic you would like this goal to bring you.

This sounds dumb but it allows you to romanticize the process and just give even more motivation for the goal.

I also recommend following social media people who fit the vibe you are looking for (only positive people though).

When I was applying to college my senior year I had Pinterest boards full of college aesthetics and perfect grades while my instagram had the study girls who posted their notes for college.

I hope this helps when you are ever thinking about goals. Remember some goals can take more than just one year so be sure you are being reasonable and remember starting now is always the best time.

[heretohelpsstuff]

I hope you all are having a happy, warm, and safe holiday season. Wishing you all the best !

Feel free to message if you need someone to talk to during the holidays I’ll still be active.

Warmly, birdie💕

[heretohelpsstuff]

Listen I am all for the green movement but if you struggle to keep a clean kitchen because dishes are the worst or illness or anything else just use the paper plates. Leaving dirty dishes in the sick can lead to rotting food, different pests in your home, and just a lot of heart ache. So please don’t try and save the planet before you save yourself the planet will be fine.

Also I would just like to say no one (average) persons trash and co2 emissions will end the world. It’s the big corporations and lack of regulations that are doing it. So please don’t feel guilty for maintaining your own health and wellbeing.

[heretohelpsstuff]

How to make cleaning fun.

I understand that not many people get the relaxing feeling when they are cleaning(frankly I didn’t until recently). So here are some ways to make it more fun to do.

Spin a wheel/roll a dice. I personally first saw this on TikTok and it is so good when you are burnt out to get rid of some of the decisions that make cleaning hard. Just make a list of what you need to do then put it on a wheel or roll a d20 dice and do whatever it lands on. I have done this for a whole day straight I’ve done it once a day either way it is very fun.

Blast your favorite music. Make it a party dance sing, clean.

Try and beat a timer. I typically do one task at a time I give myself like 15-20 minutes to complete it and then I try and beat the timer. It helps you start cleaning and you also get things done way faster.

Assign points to different tasks and then set a goal for points if you reach the goal you get a prize.

Weird one but hear me out. Pretend you are vlogging you cleaning. Act like an influencer and narrate your day out loud. (I also do this for self care days) it allows me to romanticize myself doing tasks which makes them more enjoyable.

Remember breaks and rewards for doing tasks you deserve them.

[heretohelpsstuff]

Hello

I feel like I probably should introduce myself.

Hi I am birdie she/her.

I am just here to share some tips and good hacks for most everything about life. I am always free to message though I am very bad about checking notifications as I keep my notifications turned off normally. My inbox is also open if you would like to submit any posts or ask questions. I will always admit when I don’t know something. But I believe in being a life long learner so if you want to add anything to my posts that you know of I would love that ( as long as it’s not misinformation I will try and fact check it).

Please no hate to anyone on my blog we are all humans for the first time in this life let’s respect each other. Anybody causing trouble will no longer be welcome in my blog and be blocked.

Lots of love, birdie 💕

[heretohelpsstuff]

This is your formal reminder that the pharmacist are medical professionals and can offer guidance on what medications you should buy if you’re sick. It won’t cost you anything to just tell them your symptoms and them to give you a recommendation. Now this is obviously only for stuff like the flu and common cold. Please go to your doctor for anything more specific or life threatening.

[heretohelpsstuff]

Things you should absolutely buy the best quality you can afford every time you buy it.

Listen I am a very frugal person and I hate spending money on unnecessary things but a lot of the time buying things that cost more saves you money because they last longer and don’t break as much.

Shoes! This is so overlooked. You should have at least one pair of comfortable everyday shoes that you can wear to work and to daily tasks. Look into shoes that have a wide toe box because pointed toed shoes aren’t good for your feet in the long run.

Underwear/bras. They should be nice cotton with strong seams. This is more for my feminine bodied individuals but thongs are not good for daily wear and neither are tight underwear. Also bras can last years if you buy a good one. Go get sized at the store and buy at least two good ones.

Supplements. Listen to me and I mean really listen. DONT BUY SUSPICIOUS SUPPLEMENTS. Go to the pharmacy/doctors and ask them for their recommendations of good fda approved brands. Also unless your doctor says you are deficient you probably don’t need them in general.

Lotion. A good lotion should not require you putting it on constantly and in giant amounts. You should only apply it once a day in small amounts. I recommend something with high amounts of coco butter and shea butter. These lotions will often come in giant tubs and is cheaper in the long run.

Lip balm. Same principles as lotion.

Computer. Especially if you do a lot of work online it will pay for itself eventually. Plus a good computer can last quite a while before it starts giving you trouble.

A good jacket. Especially if you live somewhere that has winter. Make sure it fits good and it will last forever.

Bedding/bed. This is an investment because beds if well taken care of can last through generations. I currently sleep on my parents 30 year old queen bed they gave me when I moved out. It is so comfortable I sleep so well. They told me it was there first big investment next to buying a house when they got married. The only reason they gave it to me is because they wanted to get a bigger bed so our dog doesn’t push them off at night.

Anything that you use frequently and would enjoy. Don’t get so caught up in saving money that you self sabotage your own joy and happiness.

Make sure anything that you buy that is on the pricier side you know how to take care of. There is no point buying something expensive if you aren’t going to try and make it last.

[heretohelpsstuff]

This is so real once I got a cute bedspread I liked I made my bed everyday. Once I bought a new desk with organizer my desk has never been cleaner. Making your space more your style you will want to keep it tidy. Don’t feel guilty for wanting an cute home

Not to be all "Marie Kondo was right" but as a person who grew up believing that wanting anything was a character flaw and went into adult life like "I will subsist on the bare minimum required for survival" I have never been happier, tidier, and prouder of my own living space than I have been since I stopped filling my environment with necessary things I resented and started surrounding myself with endearing things I enjoyed using. Like I *want* to take care of my objects now. And there's less of it