Quick update before we jump in: my book is finally out on Kindle – woohoo! Order your copy here. Not sure if it’s for you? Check out what 77 fabulous reviewers had to say.

I’m very excited to have my first post up on Lifehack.org today — a site that has inspired my own thoughts on organization, lifehacking and providing useful content for readers for as long as I’ve been blogging.

My Lifehack post is about how doing a cleanse (and subsequently “going Paleo”) changed my life — and business — for the better. It’s not necessarily the fastest, magic bullet-iest (new word!), or sexiest lifehack (or maybe it is?); it requires dedication and tough choices, but I’ve found the rewards to be exponentially positive. I’ve included an excerpt at the end of this post.

Here are some related posts (a virtual welcome mat, if you will) for all the new readers this week — hopefully this serves as a nice recap for the veteran readers as well!

On Health & Fitness: 

• I owe all of my success with Paleo to this soup recipe, which I make every Monday
• Check-out my detailed health journal from the first 21-days of my cleanse / health experiment
• Related books I’ve recently read and enjoyed (more reviews on GoodReads):
  • The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolfe
  • The Four-Hour Body by Tim Ferris
  • Wheat Belly by William Davis
  • Clean by Alejandro Junger
  • Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

On Side Hustles, Leaving Google & Solopreneruship:

• 6 Ways to Manage a Side Hustle Without Going Insane
• Forbes.com: 5 Tips for Managing Your Energy, Not Your Time
• I’m a Free Agent: From Six Figures to Suitcase
• Free Agent Part Two: On Big Decisions & Very Real Fears
• LocationRebel.com – Someday.
• 20 Lessons from 2 Months of Solopreneurship (Part One)
• 20 Lessons from 2 Months of Solopreneurship (Part Two)
• Escape from Cubicle Nation: Side Hustle & Flow Feature

On Lifehacking & General Organization: 

• How I stay organized, Part 1 - 15 tips to get your online and offline life in order
• How I stay organized, Part 2 - 27 new tips & tricks (primarily focused on Internet-based tips and apps)
• Make Sh*t Happen Tools – 50+ resources to help people with big, hairy, scary goals (Sound interesting? Sign up to be notified when my Make Sh*t Happen course re-launches in January!) 
• Book Recommendation: The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry

My latest greatest (pen and paper!) organization strategy:

I’ve tried everything for daily organizing – Todoist, TeuxDeux, Evernote, Google Docs, Google Calendar, my own Weekly Activity Tracker - the list goes on.

And then I discovered the one…the only…Post-it Weekly Organizer! It’s simple, it helps me map out my week, and the best part is that I can SEE it all day while I’m working.

This has also helped me ensure that work, people and health get equal billing in my life. No one category takes priority, and I made it a point to list the daily health goals first. At first I resisted only having five lines for each category, but now realize that it helps me stay focused and prioritize the most important tasks.

Intro from tbe Lifehack post: The best decision you can make for your business — that has nothing to do with money

Imagine two people starting identical companies with the exact same resources, network, and time at their disposal (gender randomly assigned for brevity’s sake):

Both of these people are me.

I quit my job at Google two months ago to pursue my passion as an author, speaker and coach, and during my first month of solopreneurship I was Person #1.

I wasn’t running my business, my business was running me. And as 100% of the company, the opportunity costs of operating at half-mast were extremely high.

Continue reading the full post on Lifehack.org, which includes 4 key tips for growing your business or big goal, and improving your life by putting your body first.

A quick note before jumping in: I was all geared up to announce Make Sh*t Happen enrollment in my next blog post, but the course sold out within 24 hours of the doors opening! I’m thrilled by the response, and incredibly excited to work with the inaugural group. To receive monthly(ish) goal-tackling tips and to be notified when the course re-opens in January sign-up here. 

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You may not know this, but I have the cooking skills of a fourth-grader. Probably worse.

Much to my mom’s chagrin and semi-frequent prodding to learn the important life skill of how to cook, I’ve been spoiled these last ten years.

I ate dorm food during freshman year of college, I lived in a sorority for the next two years (three meals a day), then I lived at home while working at the start-up and benefitted from mom’s home-cooked meals, and THEN I worked at Google for 5+ years where I ate three meals a day — and dated a chef for a year and a half (survival instinct kicked in on that one, I tell you).

So here I am, turning 28 in October, with absolutely ZERO clue how to cook. None, zero, zip. I toast and I microwave, and even that is pushing it on the effort scale.

But alas, I have been on a health kick lately AND trying to save money as a newly-minted solopreneur, so I am PROUD to announce that I’ve learned how to cook SOMETHING!!!

The recipe, shared by my mom, is a popular chili soup.

It’s AMAZING. It  tastes delicious, it’s as healthy as it gets, and serves as lunch and even dinner for an entire week!

If I can cook this, a troupe of monkeys can too, which means you’ll knock it out of the park! I can’t find the exact recipe the way that she makes it, so here it is:

Chili Soup (that lasts all week!)

Meat: 1 pound lean ground turkey or lean ground beef (2 lbs if you’re really going for protein)
Base: 1 can of pumpkin or butternut squash, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 box of chicken or beef broth
Veggies (diced): 2 yellow squash, 2 zucchini, 2 bell peppers, 1-2 boxes of sliced mushrooms, 1 onion, 1/3 bundle of celery (slice directly across the stalks), 1 can black beans / garbanzo beans / kidney beans (or all three!), and anything else that sounds good!
Seasoning: 1 packet of chili powder, garlic salt (optional), flax seeds (optional)
Directions: On medium, brown the meat, then drain. Add in the base, followed by the veggies and seasoning. Let cook on medium for ~30 minutes — eat! Turn off the stove and let the soup continue to simmer until the pot cools, then refrigerate.
Serves: 12-14 bowls
Cost: ~$40 if you have to buy all of the ingredients from scratch

Update: click here for a handy shopping list you can take to the grocery store.

Best online recipe boxes:

My friend Ben Tseitlin, whose Tumblr is one of my “must-reads” for awesome pictures, quotes and titdbits, recently reblogged “5 Best Online Recipe Boxes” for those of you who are interested. If not, check-out Ben’s blog and gourmet handmade chocolates - he’s also hosting a chocolate-making class for any of you living in the SF Bay Area on September 19.

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Update on my August Health Challenge:

I’m writing a longer guest post for Forbes Woman on the health challenge that I will share with you soon, but for now, suffice it to say that I feel like a NEW person. I’ve decided to make my health challenge journal public for any of you who are curious about how things progressed over the last 30 days. Grab the template version here. 

You don’t have to do a crazy cleanse like I did (though I highly recommend Dr. Alejandro Junger’s Clean Program if you are interested); see what experiments you can run in your own life that work for YOU. Now that I’m in maintenance mode I’m adding some coffee back in (can’t skip those deliciously foamy lattes forever!) and 1-2 cheat days per week, borrowing from Tim Ferris’ Slow Carb Diet and The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet (a GREAT book I just read by Robb Wolf).

Here’s an excerpt of my post:

During the first three days, I had complete monkey-mind — craving coffee, sugar and TV like the addict I was — unable to focus because I was thinking about them every five minutes. But on the fourth day and every day thereafter, I started noticing something incredible.

I felt clear-headed. Creative. Confident. Energized. Productive. HAPPY.

I was getting more done in one week than I had completed in one month. I was no longer experiencing crazy mood swings or unproductive days. I started sleeping like a rock. I was in a great mood, glowing and energetic at conferences and razor sharp during my coaching and speaking engagements. I was on a roll and I stayed there.

I used to scoff at the countless magazines that preach healthy eating and exercise — get over yourself! Until I experienced, firsthand, the insanely powerful impact it had on my business’s bottom line (not to mention my actual bottom, which now fits nicely back into my best jeans).

Do you have any health tips or observations to report?
Got any so-easy-a-monkey-could-make-this recipes you can share (ideally that will last for longer than one meal)? 

A full rainbow over the canyon at White Lotus

Re-entering the “real world” after 16-days of actual rainbows and sunshine in Santa Barbara was a major shock to my system, as I alluded to in Part 1:

“I’ve been working harder every day but feeling like I am falling farther and farther behind. I’ve felt exhausted to the core; disappointed and helpless as I watched (mortified and even ashamed at) how quickly the clarity and calm from White Lotus escaped me.”

On the first day back I could already feel anxiety pulsing through every vein. My breath was short and I ran around like a maniac all day re-arranging a room in my house (more below) as an avoidance tactic to delay diving into the massive amount of work that had piled up while I was gone.

Ganga and Tracy taught us to breathe – that breath is life – and to treat our whole day as our yoga – but I quickly spiraled into a nervous, compulsive, frenzied state. I wanted so badly to carry that zen, relaxed, peaceful yogini-self with me into my normal life. I wanted to change the way I work and commit to habits that would sustain me over the long-term, especially as I prepare to launch and promote my book next year.

Another awesome rainbow...love all the fog around it

By my second day back I was feeling semi totally panicked about how much I had on my plate. I felt like I was sinking faster by the minute in productivity quicksand. Every day I woke up earlier to start working, but every day I ended farther behind. Balancing a full plate at work, the final-final-final edits of my book and drama over the cover (it goes to press any day now) was wearing on me. Without my full emotional faculties, every text message, phone call, email request and social commitment that piled up felt increasingly suffocating.

By last Friday, I was a total wreck. A hot, hot mess. Case in point: I made myself my first coffee in a loooong time so that I could survive the afternoon slump, then ended up spilling it all over the table five minutes before starting to deliver a three-hour training, eyes still red and puffy from crying hysterically that morning as I was getting dressed for work. Feeling guilty but in survival mode, I regretfully cancelled all weekend plans (again) so I could try to get my life in order (again).

I’m not trying to be dramatic – I know that people have it so much worse than I do. I am ridiculously lucky to have the problems I have (and the unwavering support of my friends and blogger BFF Elisa). At the same time, I am determined to start solving these problems for myself and others who get overwhelmed by the big shoes they are trying to fill.

“Our culture has an excess of doing and a poverty of being” – Ganga White

People often tell me to stop doing so much, to slow down, or to go easy on myself. It sounds so easy. But that doesn’t change the number of deadlines at work or with the book, or the number of email requests in my inbox. If I knew how to change the situation, I would. But somehow I keep ending up back here.

Here is my pattern (which may be blindingly obvious to long-time blog readers):

1. Work too hard for too long.
2. Get overwhelmed and resentful.
3. Feel as though I’ve lost myself.
4. Fall out of sleep and exercise habits that keep me happy and healthy.
5. Get sick and/or break down.
6. Force myself to slow down.
7. Feel guilty about not being able to keep up with all friends in all corners of the world.
8. Gremlin tells me soon I won’t even have friends (or blog readers) if I keep complaining about feeling overwhelmed and ditching everyone to go into “emergency mode.” (Gremlin also kicks in to tell me not to publish this post because it’s too Debbie Downer).
9. Promise to change.
10. Try my very best to actually change and put myself first…
11. Fall back into old habits.
12. Feel like I’m lacking the magic sanity-management skillset that others seem to have.
13. Repeat steps 1-12.

I feel compelled to quote Ganga’s wise words once more. This is what I would like to strive for instead of the pattern above:

Sit under the stars with a quiet mind and no goal.
Be attentive to all things in life.
Honor yourself.
Laugh at yourself.
Listen to the voice of your own body.
Carry joy and light on your path.
Listen to the wise, but always question.
Truth and love are simple and ever present.
—Ganga White, Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

Even though the first week back was rough, all was not lost.

Here are some positive changes I have made:

• I’ve gone coffee free (in an effort to get my natural energy back) – I’ve only had coffee once in two months (to give me a boost for my 5-hour drive back from Santa Barbara). I started cold turkey when I did the Clean Program cleanse about a month ago, and have been really focusing on letting my body return to it’s natural energy rhythms. It feels great – I can already tell I am way less tired in the afternoons.
• I have been eating mostly vegetarian, and significantly reduced my dairy intake. This change was inspired by White Lotus where we ate delicious vegetarian meals every day and watched Food, Inc. (an incredibly powerful and shocking movie from Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation). I also recently read and was encouraged by Michael Pollan’s Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual. His core principle: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Pollan has two other great books worth checking out: In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
• On my first day back, I gave away my TV (for free!) – I knew it was now or never — and was curious to see if I could survive without a TV…another seemingly impossible feat. I figure without TV I will be more likely to read, write and think — all things I could definitely use more of. If I were smarter I would have waited until after football season, but hey — this might also encourage me to actually leave the house!
• Taught my first (private) yoga class - I am excited about finishing my certification, which means teaching 20 group classes and 5 private sessions (I’ll gladly take volunteers if you’re in the area!). I successfully fumbled through teaching my first class last weekend, and I know it will only get easier from here. I also really want to make time for my own yoga practice every day – even if it’s only 10 minutes. Now if only I could figure out what my recurring dream/nightmare about teaching an unruly yoga class means (twice now I’ve dreamed about teaching a class that rebels and stops paying attention to me).
• Created an “essential self” sanctuary - this is the change I am most excited about. While at training I found myself longing for a dedicated yoga space. In an “aha moment” I realized that I’ve used my dining room about once in the last year. I never cook and I never work at the table, so it seems ridiculous to have a whole corner of my house go unused 99% of the time. So on my first day back I spent the whole day re-decorating to create a yoga/reading room with books, magazines, candles and all kinds of zen paraphernalia. I also bought a gratitude journal to keep in there — before leaving the room, I make a point to write something in it.

BEFORE (the dining room I never used) . . . and AFTER (the yoga zen room!):

All of the great art on the wall is my dad’s – online portfolio here.

***

My friend Julie is writing a book on this very subject – navigating work in a 24/7 world. We would both love to hear from you:

What is your biggest challenge in managing your work in the global, digital age?
What related problem/s would you want help solving?

Giveaway #4 – Free Health & Nutrition Consultation with Megan Serow

Megan is a co-worker and former coaching client who is now kicking-ass and building her own side hustle. Megan is finishing up holistic health counseling certification, which takes into account total wellness in mind and body instead of focusing solely on nutrition. Her goal is to do 20 free health consultations in the next 3 months. She also started a blog that provides recipe and wellness ideas for busy 20-somethings and cooking novices.

• Learn more and schedule: You can find free recipes and wellness tips at CityGirlsKitchen.com, and email her at megan@citygirlskitchen.com to set up a free health consultation.
• Other fun food blogs: Lauren Hannah’s recently launched Nomists.com, Doniree‘s Nomadic Foodie, visual recipes from Recipics.com (via Elysa‘s GenPink blog), and Grace‘s recommendation: Sunday Suppers.

That’s it for now — have a great weekend everyone!

Seomoz’s Web 2.0 Awards highlight 170 interesting websites in 41 categories, and I always have fun scouring the list for new online applications. Based on winners from their “food” category, here are three recipe sites to add to your repertoire:

Im Cooked
From Seomoz: “An entire site dedicated to food, Im Cooked lets members share recipes, make friends, watch cooking videos and learn more about culinary arts without the frills that often come with gourmet food television shows and websites.”

Recipe Key
Similar to Super Cook, Recipe Key allows you to find ingredients based on the items in your pantry.

Cocktail Builder
From Seomoz: “Have a lot of bar fixings lying around and aren’t sure what to do with them? Enter your ingredients into the Cocktail Builder and let it tell you which concoctions you can make! Find recipes, drink suggestions and purchase bar paraphernalia.”

I’ve neglected posting to the food category of this blog, mostly because I’m a terrible cook and spoiled by Google food. That said, I just got a reader tip about a fantastic recipe search engine called Super Cook: Recipe Search, Served Well Done.

The site allows you to search for recipes based on ingredients that you already have in your kitchen. There’s a box on the left called “Your Kitchen” that keeps track of the ingredients you list (the site says “for best results enter all the ingredients you have at home”). Recipes will then populate on the right-hand side of the page based on the ingredients you’ve listed. You can view all results at once or filter by Starters, Entrees and Desserts. Funny side note: I used “garlic” as a test ingredient and a few desserts actually came up! Lemon-garlic sorbet anyone?

To learn more, you can take a tour or read the excerpt from their About page below:

“Most recipe search engines are very simple: a user types a query (like ‘shrimp with garlic’) and the engine returns a list of recipes which contain those words. Typically, the recipes returned will require many additional ingredients the user might not have at home. When coming across an interesting recipe, the user then either leaves out the additional ingredients or heads out to the supermarket to buy them. It is precisely this problem that Supercook aims to solve. Supercook returns recipes you can actually make right now with the ingredients you have.”

Happy searching, cooking and eating!