Happy What I Ate Wednesday! How’s your week going? I’m thrilled to finally be getting some legit nice weather in NYC. I’m excited to be spending a lot more time working from home and taking advantage of the opportunity to be outside more.

I had a wake-up moment last month where I realized I didn’t actually need/want to work so often out of a co-working space. I’d spent all this time thinking my productivity struggle was about location, but I eventually came to be realize that, actually, it was about needing to set a schedule for myself to help me stay on task for the day. Isn’t it funny how sometimes we try to solve one problem when our actual issue is something else entirely? Like when we drink tons of coffee when what we actually need is more sleep.

Then there was this moment where I went to get a manicure on my break one day and sprung for the 15-minute chair massage upgrade (I was going to be sitting that long drying anyway, I reasoned), even though I normally wouldn’t have allowed myself to do that. All told, it was only $27, but it totally made my day! I felt more focused, calm, and, yes, productive, as I went about the rest of the afternoon. It dawned on me that making more room in my budget for those little self care practices could have some really meaningful benefits. I tell my clients to do stuff like this, but I hadn’t been doing it for myself! *smacks forehead*

I was also majorly struggling with fitting in recipe development projects and found myself stressing out about having to get to the office early to avoid a messy office mate (not the one with the cute dog) throwing his s*** all over my desk. Then there was dealing with the headphones-induced headache that was becoming a constant side effect of my efforts to tune out the vocal fry in the surrounding cubicles. Is this a new dialect amongst people under 30?

Admitting I wanted to take a step back with renting regular office space was a big deal and had been weighing on me quite a bit. I think I had been falling into the trap a lot of entrepreneurs make in thinking (subconsciously) that I needed a physical all-the-time office space. For some businesses it’s essential, but for others, you can be more flexible. I wasn’t looking at that flexibility as a perk until more recently, though!

I wonder if this has something to do with being an older millennial who remembers, like, when CDs were a thing and you had to have an office to see people in to be taken seriously. Or maybe it has something to do with being a female small business owner trying to be like the big boys? It’s like the 30’s-me equivalent of that time in seventh grade I thought I had to wear Abercrombie & Fitch to fit in at school. Um, yeah. So glad that a short-lived phase. Also glad there are virtually no surviving photos.

It’s been refreshing to hear other female entrepreneurs share their stories about trying out different workspace situations and figuring out what works for them. It makes me feel less alone in my misadventures.

Anyway…another perk of working from home is better presentation with food. It makes my meals more satisfying. Even if I prep, say, lunch, ahead of time, being able to plate it nicely makes a big difference. Here’s what I ate while working from home last Thursday.

Breakfast: I’ve been on a kick of having eggs & veggies at least two days a week lately. This particular day, I had two over greens tossed with a little balsamic & leftover vegetables and added leftover roasted purple sweet potato and a sprinkle of goat cheese.

Lunch: I was testing a recipe for a twist on my burger salad for an upcoming project, so I just ate the results of the experiment. It was delicious. Trader Joe’s grass-fed burgers for the win. I had to be out running around for a few hours so this kept me fueled well.

Snack: Plain yogurt with cocoa powder and peanut butter

Dinner: I couldn’t decide what to make with what I had to use up in the fridge, so I baked up an egg-white frittata and had some with a side salad for dinner—ugly but good.

Bedtime Snack: A sliced banana with peanut butter
Have you ever fallen into the trap of dressing a certain way or feeling like you had to do something to fit in at school or work?  

To see more WIAW, check out founder Jenn’s blog Peas & Crayons or visit hosts Laura and Arman‘s blogs.

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