Finding Motivation With Aaptiv

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Does anyone else find it difficult to keep up the motivation to stay fit and active when the temperatures outside drop? Glad I'm not the only one who lets their routine go by the wayside if you feel a cold chill nip at their legs. During the summer I manage to make it outside at least every other day if not everyday. I'm a runner. It's the one thing I manage to do consistently. Once in awhile I will look up a yoga or pilates work out if I'm feeling a bit more sluggish and, you know, bleh.

The running becomes a bit more difficult to do when we get into fall and winter. For some reason I don't dig the burning cold in my lungs, and refuse to step foot in the gym—on principle...I don't like working out with others. Yeah, I'm one of those.

This morning was another cool one, but I knew that I needed to get outside and break my week of not doing anything. While I was sipping my coffee and scrolling through my Instagram roll, I came across a sponsored post by Aaptiv. I had seen the fitness app advertised before and figured that maybe the addition of a curated playlist and a supportive voice cutting in and out of the music would help me to keep up the motivation to move.

After setting up my free trial (7 days!) I searched through the Outdoor Running list and found the Zombie Run workout. I loved it! It was a fun, Halloween-themed playlist—it's always great to close with "Thriller" right?—and a great workout to get me back into running since my little break. I absolutely loved the experience with the app and intend to use this free trial to the fullest extent. Who knows, I might even keep up with the subscription!

<3 Ashley

How do you find motivation to workout as autumn continues? Have you used Aaptiv?

Surf vs. Turf

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The internal argument for me used to be: to shop or not to shop? Now that I understand myself and know that the perpetual answer is to shop, a new question has presented itself: shop online or in-person?

While getting out of the house and walking a distance greater than that of my bedroom to the kitchen would be the healthy and logical answer the world of online shopping can seem so much more alluring at times. It can be more convenient, you can take as much time as you need without the sales associate breathing down your throat, no waiting in lines, and sometimes it can be easier to spot the deals. Do I sound like an anti-social millennial yet?

Sounds like online shopping wins. But, hang on! What if you are like me and your sizing is by no means consistent? I'm looking at you jeans! There are several situations like this where it's just easier to go to the store and spend some time trying everything on since there really is no telling if the item in your online shopping cart is actually going to fit the way that you are expecting it to. Then you have to return it if it doesn't and that takes even more time on top of the 5-7 business days you spent waiting for the item initially.

When I shop I prefer to do it in-person if I can. That way I don't have to play the waiting game and don't have to pay for shipping. If no store has what I am looking for, only then will I turn over my attention and my card to my good friend, Amazon.

<3 Ashley

So what about you? Do you surf the web for your fashion finds or do you prefer to see the options right in front of you?

Social Media Etiquette

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Social media etiquette is a topic that I have been considering for the past year or so, ever since my friend made the comments, "I never post more than twice on Instagram in a given day," and "That post is from yesterday? You can't like it now!"

I understand perfectly that I fall into the millennial generation, technology is my lifeblood, and I speak in hashtags and take pictures of my food. That last one is true...but this pizza honestly looked too good not to capture. I also work as on of the marketing heads for our campus late night show, and one of our many responsibilities is social media, which requires its own rules and guidelines for the sake of the brand (ex: most tweets are accompanied by either a funny gif or a still image from an episode.)

Of course, I have been casually using social media since I was a freshman in high school. I can honestly say though, that up until recently, I had never considered that there could be rules about how many times I post in a day or what the shelf life of a status is. I guess by default I don't post too frequently to any social media that I am on just because my schedule is so packed I don't have time to come up with posts or stop and document something that is happening. Believe it or not, I am quite an "in the moment" kind of person.

But I am curious about what other peoples' stances are on social media etiquette: how many Instagrams in a day is considered excessive? How crafted is your tone on Twitter? How much time has to pass before a post is no longer "likable?"

<3 Ashley

What are your thoughts on social media rules? Are there any that you follow or have established for yourself?

On Productivitiy

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As a college student I have my studies, on campus job and the stress of applying for a million summer internships until some responds telling me that they are interested in giving me money and responsibility. Fingers crossed on that last one, folks! Anyway, I have a lot on my plate plus my commitment to blogging pretty frequently based on my stress level that week. While I do consider myself to be a well organized and responsible person, I do believe that there is always room for improvement.

This month I committed myself to figuring out ways to get even more organized and stay productive. If my assumptions based on the grades that I have gotten back are correct, I have some pretty squeaky clean grades and need to maintain them for this last month of the semester (read: hell month). I have millions of papers and digital media projects due throughout these next four weeks and need to distribute my attention to all of them somehow.

I have cleaned up my tech and downloaded a few apps to keep me organized as the spring semester draws to an end:

- Emails: As I am sure you do, I have more than one email account. I have decided to make the commitment to one and have linked the others so that all of my other mail can be forwarded to one account. This empties my brain of a few passwords!

- Sunrise Calendar: While I do have access to Google calendar, I have heard a lot about the Sunrise calendar app and have fallen in love with it. It is linked up on both my MacBook and my iPhone. I use this in conjunction with my weekly planner and my desk calendar. That way I am reminded constantly of impending due dates and events.

- EverNote: This is another nifty little app that can be downloaded on both your phone and computer. I like to use it for to-do lists, which I like to use for any tasks I have to do at work, and also grocery lists. It is also where I keep record of my blog content. I have several notes specific to different topics (i.e. recipes, lifestyle, etc).

<3 Ashley

How do you maintain your productivity and keep organized?