Okay, guys, we all know running a business can be stressful. And we've talked about before how taking the time for self-care is SOOOOO important. Well, have I got something for you!!!

For the past month or so, I’ve been doing this FREE 30-Day Yoga challenge, and it has been AMAZING. IMPORTANT NOTE: Prior to this journey, I had only taken a few beginning classes here and there, and I still consider myself a newbie, so please don't be scared at the thought of trying this out if you have never done yoga before. 

Here's how it works...it doesn’t cost anything to sign up, and every day you get an email with a link to a brand new Yoga video, taught by this incredible instructor named Adriene. Most days the video is somewhere between 20-30 min long (first couple of days are a little longer because there is a lot of explaining and teaching going on), but the instructor is SO kind and gentle and truly a God-send. Some days are a bit more challenging (I found I had to take a few extra breaks and just spend a little more time in child’s pose), and some are easier.

But after only 30 days, I already feel SO much stronger, so much more connected, so much more calm. I have a tendency to be a bit of a workaholic, and a people-pleaser, and (as discussed earlier) I’m FINALLY figuring out how important it is that I make time for MYSELF...and this has been a good excuse/way/means to do so. I have no choice but to concentrate on ME during this special time each day. It has been SO incredibly helpful. I highly recommend checking it out.

And like I said, it’s totally free!!! Ya can’t beat that! 😁❤️🧘🏼‍♀️

​Here is the link:
https://do.yogawithadriene.com/dedicate

Today I thought I would share one of the absolute BEST things being delivered to my inbox right now...and it's called I AM Mantra! It's a simple email containing a DAILY MANTRA, designed to "support you & your awakening," delivered straight to your inbox. I subscribed a couple of months ago, and I absolutely LOVE it!! It's crazy how much I actually look forward to finding it in my inbox each morning. :-)

As far as what to do with it after you receive it each morning, that's up to you. There really is no right or wrong way to "do" a mantra. But here are some suggestions from their website:

So what do I do with MY daily mantra? I copy and paste it into my OmniFocus as a daily task/reminder, and each time I go to OmniFocus to check my tasks for the day, I read it and repeat it, out loud (unless I'm with other people, then I do it silently so they don't think I'm completely off my rocker). I also repeat it a few more times just before I go to bed each night. It's really been a comfort to me, and it helps me keep things in perspective and stay focused on what's "important" throughout my day...especially when I start to get stressed or I am feeling particularly overwhelmed.

And guess what....not only is it a fabulous service, it's FREE!! Yep, that's right. Totally free. Since I have now been using a couple of months, and I have seen firsthand the immense benefits, I did decide to make a small donation on their website (which helps them keep doing what they are doing), but it is not required. 

Click HERE, or on the button below, to go to their website and sign up today!

I came across Spark Mail while searching for a replacement for Newton (my previous email service which suddenly went belly-up this past year); and OMG, I am so, SOOOOO happy that I found it!! ​

Spark is AMAZING! It does everything my old service did (except for read receipts, which does bum me out…I am really hoping they add it in the future???), but it also does so much more!

First of all, I absolutely LOVE how intuitive it is, and the features they do have are simply incredible! In addition to Geek Girls in Vegas, I manage several other business (my solo jazz career, Dangerous Curves vocal trio, the Shades of Sinatra show, and all the performing I do with my husband), as well as a couple of different websites/groups (Gluten Free in Las Vegas website and the Las Vegas Celiac Support Group), which all had out-of-control email counts. But now, with a little help from Spark Mail, I have somehow managed to organize it all and actually get to INBOX ZERO for the first time in years!!

They make it so easy to file away emails (even moving messages to other email accounts from right within the app), respond quickly and easily with helpful shortcuts, add messages to Omnifocus so I can respond later and file away, write a response and schedule for later sending, create templates for responses I write often, etc, etc. I particularly LOVE the layout and the "Smart Mail" feature, which makes it incredibly easy to know what's important and what isn't with just a glance. A few other features I love:
​

• I can quickly create custom signatures for every email account
• I can specify which inboxes I get notifications from and which I don’t!
• They have an awesome snooze feature (which I can completely customize for quick processing)
• I can quickly PIN important messages so I can get back to them later and not forget.
• It automatically suggests where to file an email (based on previous filing habits), along with 3 or 4 other options right at the top.
• I can view my calendar right inside the app!!
• And so much more…

And here’s the kicker…all of those features are FREE! No subscription. Can I get a “what-what??” 

I seriously, I love, love, LOVE this email service! I have it on my Mac, my phone and my iPad, and it all syncs seamlessly!! Thank you Spark Mail...PLEASE don't ever, EVER go away!!! 

Okay, if you are anything like me, you probably copy and paste a MILLION things each day...on your laptop, on your desktop, on your phone...wherever. Simple copy/paste can be a HUGE timesaver...that is, when I can be completely focused, and I always do things in the right order, and I don't ever get distracted when I'm working. HA!!!!! Yeah, right. ;-/ More often than not, I will copy something I want to paste, but the I forget and end up copying something else, like a link to go along with the text, then I have to go back and try to find the original text...and what if I want to copy more than one item, but I don't know the order I want to put them in yet? Or what if I copied something last week, but now I want to paste it again, but I can't remember where I found it...OMG, I am getting a headache!!!

Well, no more worries. Enter, PASTE...a truly incredible, cloud-based clipboard manager that lives right on your desktop and works flawlessly!!!

Not only does it work on your desktop, but it works across all devices!!! I can actually copy something on my phone and, as long as I am on the same network, it will automatically add it to the clipboard manager on my desktop...um, so freakin' cool!! It has a search feature and tons of options/preferences  to choose from. At only $9.99 from the Mac app store, it is absolutely WORTH IT!! You can read a great review from the website 9To5Mac HERE or you can visit the PASTE website by clicking the button below...

Are you a Mac owner? Need a faster, easier way to check your calendar and add appointments while working on your computer? Then you gotta check out Itsycal by Mowglii. It sits, unobtrusively and beautifully, in the menu bar at the top of your desktop/laptop screen and is instantly accessible whenever you need it. Just a quick tap and you can see all your appointments, and even ADD appointments, right from the menu bar. And the best part? It's totally FREE!!!! I downloaded it a few days ago and absolutely love it...I promise, you will too. ;-)

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a SUCKER for productivity apps! I absolutely LOVE trying out new apps in the hope that they will somehow make me oh-so-much-more organized today than I was yesterday. Well, I gotta tell you, I am completely in LOVE with the all-new Things 3 app, for IOS and Mac!! It seriously does EVERYTHING I want it to...flawlessly...and it is absolutely gorgeous on top of that!! Check out this great review by Ryan Christoffel at MacStories.net...he does an excellent job of explaining the main features and reviewing all the pros and cons:

​Do you have a lot of contacts on your phone? Got duplicates, missing info?? THIS Geek Girl recommends checking out CircleBack app to help organize them all...works wonders!!

​Is trying to remember & keep track of all your various passwords driving you nuts?? THIS Geek Girl counts on "Keeper" Password Manager to protect and keep all her passwords safe & secure. Check it out on the iTunes App Store...you'll be glad you did!

​Join the 6 million+ people around the world, including us gals at GEEK GIRLS, who are using Todoist – the beautifully simple, cross-platform to-do list app built to help you do more and stress less!!!

THIS Geek Girl uses YOGA STUDIO and the HEADSPACE APP to maintain sanity when deadlines are looming! BEAUTIFUL interface...highly effective...recommend both!!

Need a better solution to organizing multiple email accounts on ALL your Mac, iOS & Android devices? Here it is!!! The ONLY email app that THIS Geek Girl will ever use...it's truly the best!

​Unroll.Me is seriously one of the BEST things to ever happen to this Geek Girl's email inbox!!! Been using it for months now and LOVE it. Tame your inbox...free yourself from junk mail...all for free! 

FINALLY!!! An app for people who INSIST on filming with their cameras in the vertical position! Yay!!

I am in geek heaven right now! I am editing some video with my Wondershare video converter app on my Mac. It generates a QR code at the end of the conversion so you can beam the finished product to your iOS device in seconds using the Wondershare's sister IOS app, Wondershare Player! (Link is here) Wow!! From the Mac to the phone just like that. So cool. Great for working on client videos on the fly. Edit them in Wondershare and beam them right to a device. Looks like there are PC and Android versions too...