Thanks to Crystal Light for sponsoring this post. To learn more about how Crystal Light can flavor your day with 30 refreshing flavors, visit http://www.facebook.com/crystallight.


Neil Young may have said "It's better to burn out than fade away," but Neil Young was never a 20-something female working a 60-plus-hour week, to the best of my knowledge. Burning out = not fun. Fading away seemed like a much more appealing option, as I left my apartment more than once wearing mismatched shoes, drank three coffees before 10:00 on the regular, and was described by some of my coworkers with phrases including "tightly wound" and "a bit of a bitch" (which I only found out about after I'd switched jobs. Good thing or I would have slapped them.)

Thankfully, that especially ridiculous phase of my life is over and I'm happily settled into a much more reasonable and pleasant work schedule that's still super busy but doesn't require me to be in work mode 24/7. But even when things were a lot more hectic for me I always took time every day to do at least one thing for myself. I didn't think of it as "relaxing". I thought of it as "murder-prevention-strategy". If you don't get even one little mini-moment of happiness during the course of even the worst way, you're doing it wrong. Some of my murder-prevention-strategy tactics included:

Sunday spa day. I didn't have time to go to the real spa, OH HELL NO. But on Sunday evenings I'd do a little mini-spa day at home. I'd put on a face mask and give myself a quick mani-pedi while watching my an episode of a show I enjoyed. (And working. Really, having a face mask on and soaking your feet doesn't stop you from using a laptop, lazy ass.)

Morning coffee. At the time we lived just a hop, skip and a jump away from Starbucks and my husband and I used to go down before we left for work, walk to Starbucks and get coffee. It was one of my favourite times of the day. The panic hadn't yet set in and we were able to take 10 minutes to enjoy the sunshine, talk about upcoming plans, and start the day on a really good note.

Cornify. Just go to the Cornify site, download the toolbar and start clicking on any website. See what happens. This has cheered me up on countless days when everything around me was going to hell in a handbasket. Suddenly, client issues don't seem so bad when their website is covered with sparkly unicorns and pink Comic Sans. Best of all, you don't have to get up from your desk.

90s stations on iTunes Radio. No matter how abysmal your day may be, listening to the sweet sounds of All Saints and Marcy Playground and Salt-n-Pepa while you work takes you away on a little mini-vacation back to simpler times. iTunes radio is a must for me.

Sexting. Truth: I have never sent a "sext" and I don't even know how it works, but I can imagine that during a busy, horrendous day, a little textual activity would probably help cheer you up. Again - no need to leave your desk! You can even sext during a meeting, or on a bus or train! Brilliant! Just don't sext while driving. It's illegal in many provinces and probably an embarrassing reason to get in an accident. Cause of death: sexy texting.


Remember, visit http://www.facebook.com/crystallight to learn more about how Crystal Light can flavor your day with 30 refreshing flavors. I was selected and paid for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.