TresSugar

The How-To Lounge: A Great Morning

DearSugar — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:00:00 -0700

A good morning really does pave the way for an even better day, but somewhere between the sound of the alarm clock blaring and arriving at your daily destination, more than a few things can go wrong. Before you know it you’re lying in bed again, dreading the next day! So to avoid this cycle, I have some pointers for how to set yourself up for a great morning. To see them just read more.

Most of us naturally establish a morning routine out of necessity, but streamlining that routine can go a long way in creating a more efficient and ultimately, more successful morning. If you pack a lunch for work, save time by doing it the night before. Or pick out your outfit the night before. A few small changes can make a big difference in turning a typically hectic morning into an easy one.
Much of the franticness of a stressful morning comes from not having enough time. While planning ahead helps, so does giving yourself 10 extra minutes. Set your alarm clock early for one week, and see if you don’t find yourself significantly more relaxed. Plus, 10 minutes less sleep really is doable.
For many people, exhaustion plays a detrimental role in a morning routine. When you’re sleepy, everything just seems more difficult. If you find yourself struggling to get up everyday, it may be time to start going to bed earlier. If you struggle falling asleep, try increasing your daily exercise routine.
Though caffeine can be helpful when you’re in desperate need of a quick boost, you’ll get far more energy out of a meal. Even if it’s as small as a slice of toast with peanut butter, it’ll go a long way in getting your mind ready for the day.
It’s true that there are only so many things we have control over in creating a positive morning. We can’t fix a terrible commute and there’s not much you can do about the work that lies ahead of you. But setting aside a few minutes just before bed to organize yourself and clear your head can make a huge difference.

Nothing ruins the potential for a good day like a rough morning. Taking the time to create a successful morning will go a long way in establishing a happy and productive work week.

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The How-To Lounge: Turning Around a Bad Day

DearSugar — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 10:00:00 -0700

We have all woken up on the wrong side of the bed, I'm sure more than once, but instead of giving into a bad day, here are some tips on how to re-start your morning.

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Don't snooze your alarm clock. In my opinion, snoozing makes you lazy for the rest of the day. It also can add a level of stress to your morning routine if those extra 10 minutes in bed made you late for work.
As soon as your alarm goes off, mentally plan out your morning and try to do something nice for yourself. Stop to get coffee and your favorite muffin if you are already dreading the morning. Giving yourself something to look forward to will lessen the sting of your bad day.
Hydrate. Our bodies wake up dehydrated, which can cause fatigue and effect your mood, so drink a couple glasses of water as soon as you wake up to jump start your morning.
If you wake up grumpy, exercise. If you don't have time for a full fledged gym workout, take a quick walk around the block, do some sit ups or push ups at home, do a quick exercise video, anything to get your heart pumping so you can reduce tension and increase your energy level.
If you woke up thinking about something specific, don't dwell on it. Get to the root of the problem and if you can, deal with it head on so you don't wake up the next day on the wrong side of the bed too.
Have a sense of humor about it. Sometimes when it rains, it pours, so try to laugh at yourself. When I have a really bad morning, I usually call a friend and make light of just how miserable my morning was so I can get it out and just have a laugh at it. Give it a try and see if it works for you!

These are my methods, do you have any?

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Smartass Kitty Won't Get a Move On. . .

GiggleSugar — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0800

I think we just found the counterpart to this lazy bum. A whole night of partying left both of them in a sluggish morning funk. But the cat below ain't gonna let a wake-up call get in the way of his hangover. No sirree, bird. And he has a few choice words for the dude who dared to wake him. . .

Wake Up Calls From Hell

GiggleSugar — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 08:00:00 -0700

With family like this, who needs enemies? These dads are just lounging around trying to take a nap when along come family members with pots and spoons, electric guitars and deer heads. After their terrified reactions, they're ~~pretty good natured about it~~ not homicidal. Notice this isn't happening to moms...

Butt In Face Wake Up Call

GiggleSugar — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:59:03 -0700

This girl who's being woken up by her friend's grinding, be-thonged butt in her face is remarkably good-natured. A couple observations: 1) The girl in the thong is enjoying this a little too much and 2) Please notice the big bottle of vodka by the bedside.

A Generation of Male Commitmentphobes?

TresSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0800

A recent Marie Claire trend piece takes on a certain species of man: the commitment-phobe. Lest you think this is but one unavoidable type of man, the writer suggests that there's a whole generation of 30-something men having early midlife crises:

These guys are part of a cause-less generation. They didn't grow up burning their draft cards or fighting the Nazis. They weren't part of the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Movement, or any other movement. They were spoiled as kids and now they want to spoil themselves as adults. The old cliché was that a man would wake up one morning and realize that he wanted his youth back. The new version is that he never reached adulthood in the first place.

This type tends to be drawn to Type-A women who can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let him forget he's a man . . . but the writer wonders if part of what the male commitmentphobe is thinking is that this type of woman doesn't need him at all. (Hmmm. So it's her fault?)

I don't think many would argue for a return to old-school gender roles and the suffocation that went with them, but do you think there's a whole generation of young-ish men who don't know how to commit?

Headline of the Day

GiggleSugar — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:00:00 -0800

Not Dead Yet, Chilean Man Wakes Up at His Own Wake

What's the moral of this story? Take your seemingly dead octogenarian relative to the doctor before you pronounce him dead and prepare to bury him alive. To read more about this tale that could have gone horribly, horribly wrong, click here.

Berlusconi Insults Women Again - And They're Fighting Back

TresSugar — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Feminism is back in vogue in Italy. Some say it lay dormant in spite of a vibrant '70s feminist movement, but thanks to raging misogynist Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, largely silent Italian women have had enough and are speaking up.

"[T]he scandals surrounding the prime minister have been like a violent slap in the face for millions of women who are just now waking up from a state of passivity," said political scientist Francesca Izzo.

A favorite tactic of the 73-year-old Berlusconi is to disparage the looks of his female political opponents. In a heated debate with 58-year-old opposition party member Rosy Bindi, he said, "You're more beautiful than you are intelligent," to which the annoyed politician shot back, "I am not a woman at your disposal." (Perhaps she was referring to his multiple girlfriends, which finally led his wife to file for a divorce.)

Many American women claim they aren't feminists, but I wonder if they'd change their tune if the president were speaking this way every day! To find out how Italian women are fighting back and to see a clip of a documentary about how women are represented on Italian television, read more

After Berlusconi's nasty comment to Rosy Bindi, pissed off women drafted a petition saying that his sexism was an insult both to women and to democracy. 11 days later, more than 100,000 women had signed it, claiming that Berlusconi participated in the "cretinization of women."

It took long enough for more women to speak up, but it's great they finally did it. Alas, Italian feminists have more than Berlusconi and his rhetoric to fight. In the following clip from filmmaker Lorella Zanardo's documentary Women's Bodies, you'll see that almost all the representations of women on Italian television depict them as sex objects.

If You Could Wake Up Anywhere Tomorrow, Where Would It Be?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:30:24 -0800

Ask 50 people one question and you'll get, well, 50 answers. Fifty People, One Question travels to cities and does just that. Now it's off to New York, Brooklyn specifically, to ask 50 of its millions and millions if they could wake up anywhere tomorrow, where would it be? Many chose to stay in the fantastic hooray of the city - as if where else to go? - while others looked backward and forward, inward and way, way out there for answers. What would be yours?

Do You Ever Wake Up Laughing or Crying?

DearSugar — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:00:00 -0800

Dreams can be so bizarre and seem so real. There have been times when I've dreamt about something horrible happening in my life, like being lost or someone passing away. In my dream I'm crying, but then I start crying for real, and my sobbing actually wakes me up. It's such a strange feeling to wake up so sad and scared, but such a relief to realize that it wasn't real.

I've also had dreams where something funny happens, and I wake up laughing hysterically. It's almost as good as having an orgasm in your sleep.

So what about you? Have you ever woken yourself up laughing or crying?

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