Joanne Lam

4 States, 5 cities & more

I really need to work on my travel blogging when I’m on the road! I’ve been slacking and that’s my fault but here I am- to give a little update on what’s been going on. Since my tips on decluttering and packing, I’ve attended my graduation (I’m a Master! Woot woot!), traveled through a few states and moved into my place in Austin, and spent time in the Pacific North West.

My very American (suiting right before July 4th) road trip was quite exciting. I managed to see a few sights along the way, but I didn’t over pack my schedule too much. Instead of writing too much and describing each spot, I’ll simply show you a few photos from my trip.

View from University of Texas El Paso

Balmorhea State Park (San Solomon Spring Pool)

Bellingham Taylor Shellfish Farm

Chihuly Garden and Glass

Hole in the Rock (Phoenix)

My route was Pomona –> Phoenix –> El Paso –> Sonora –> Austin –> Seattle!

I drove 6 hours or less a day, and had plenty of time to eat, relax and grab coffee along the way. Upon arriving in Austin, my dad and I made our way to Seattle to meet the rest of our family. Seattle is a fun city- plenty of things to do, places to see, and food to eat.

One of the highlights was definitely Bellingham’s Taylor Shellfish Farm about 2 hours North of Seattle. The oysters, and clams were beyond fresh. The view from our table was breath-taking. They even offer grills for you to grill the oysters and clams if you didn’t want to eat them raw! Though, I do suggest going prepared. It’s a picnic spot, you may buy gloves, plates and all that at Taylor’s Shellfish- but better to bring everything yourself (including drinks) so you can relax for a few hours without having to worry!

Bouldering

I even managed to go bouldering twice while in Seattle! I went to Stone Gardens in Ballard as well as Seattle Bouldering Project. Stone Gardens has rope climbing, and is much smaller than SBP but has fun upstairs bouldering area. SBP is a beast of its own. If I were to live in Seattle, I’d definitely continue going there. There’s a work space, plenty of bouldering space, and even a kids section- not to mention the large work out area! I sure hope Austin Bouldering Project is similar to SBP.

In the past two months, I’ve really taken up and enjoyed Bouldering. I want to improve, I want to get back into shape and be able to complete the routes that I may not be able to do at the moment. I want to learn the strategies and continuing challenging myself each time I go. One of my biggest challenges at the moment is being too short, I can’t seem to reach some of the holds that are too high for me to reach! Any suggestions from experienced boulder-ers?

Pacific North West

I’m in the last stretch of my travels before really settling into Austin. Currently in Oregon, just outside of Portland spending a few days with friends. I’ve heard so much about how beautiful it is here! I’ll make sure to take plenty of photos, drink lots of beer, and get some hiking in!

That’s it for now! I’ll be back soon enough!

Tips on De-cluttering & Packing for a move

Less than two weeks until I drive to Austin, TX. It’ll be the first long journey road trip I’m taking in the U.S. where I’m moving all my belongings in a car. At first glance around my room, I said confidently I’d be able to fit everything into my car with space to spare. Little did I predict, as I’ve given furniture away, I realized I have way more stuff than I need- or want.

Thankfully, as I’ve finished up my thesis and school (just waiting for my official Master diploma now!), I’ve had more time to go through my room. If you’ve been in this situation before, you know how hard it is to get started. If you haven’t, you’ll probably end up in this situation at some point in your life. If you have some time and simply want to de-clutter, this post is also for you! Here are some tips on how to get started.

5 Tips on De-cluttering & Packing for a move

Narrow down the major category of things you need
Start by slotting the things in your room into categories. What do you have? These categories include, clothes, books, documents, electronics, shoes, etc. Once you can visualize sections of your room into various categories- it is easier to sit down and clean out one category of things at a time.
Clean out your wardrobe not once, not twice, but three times.
This idea came from the brilliant ted talk on The Ten-item Wardrobe. How much of your clothes do you really wear on a regular basis? I surely find myself wearing the same two pair of jeans, the same 5 shirts, with maybe a variation here and there on special occasions. By no means do you need to narrow everything down to ten items but clearing some out is better than none.

Start by going through drawers one at a time. With any clothes you find yourself saying “wow I forgot I had this!”- put that in the donate pile. More likely than not, you haven’t worn that piece of clothing in the last 6 months, which means you really don’t need it or want to wear it that often.

Most importantly, once you’ve gone through it once. Go back to your normal routine and forget about it for a few days, then go back and go through the process all over again. There might be some clothes you wanted to keep a few days ago that you realized you don’t feel that keen about. Go through this process multiple times and you’ll find yourself impressed with how little you need!
Get Rid of Furnitures Early
As I’ve said above, once I got rid of my furnitures- I noticed I really have more belongings than I thought I did. Furnitures including dresser and cabinets are a really easy way to hide all the stuff we own. Once they’re gone, everything is on the floor! And there’s only so much floor space for everything when you can’t pile them on top of each other.
Move things you’ve decided to donate/sell out of your room
While you’re cleaning and clearing things out, you want to have an organized and clean space to serve as motivation that you’re making a change. Move the garbage bags of clothes to donate out of your room, or the space you’re trying to clear. The less physical clutter you’re surrounded by, the more you’ll feel good about wanting to clear everything out. It’ll also give you more motivation to actually donate the clothes!
Pride yourself of the fact that you can fit everything you own in one car!
In today’s society, we tend to pride ourselves of having MORE stuff. We constantly want more. Companies are always having sales to tempt us that having more is COOL. But what if we stop priding ourselves of having more stuff, but start priding ourselves of having less? Imagine the freedom when you can say to a friend, guess what? I have everything I own in my car. They’re going to think its impossible, but you’re going to prove to them IT IS POSSIBLE!

These five tips are only a few of the many ways you can start to clean out your belongings. If you get a chance, check out the ted talk on A Rich Life with Less Stuff | The Minimalists. I still have a ways to go to fully organize all my belongings, but I am incredibly excited to put everything in my car and start my trip!

What are your experiences with moving and packing? Any tips for fellow movers?

Guest Blogger: Eat Right to Work More Effectively

A lot has happened since the last time I’ve written. I finished my thesis. I defended my thesis. I attended an International Educators conference in Denver- and I’ve started to de-clutter my life to prepare for my move to Austin, TX. Alas, this post is not about me. Today I’m honored to have one of my close friends Charmaine from Ready Steady Done as a guest blogger. She’s an inspiration: constantly challenging and encouraging me in all aspects of life. Today, she writes about eating for productivity.

Eat Right to Work More Effectively

A couple of weeks ago, I started a new job, and took a 26-hour journey to America, where I’ve been eating out with coworkers, living out of a hotel, and working in an office with unlimited access to candy.

It was quite the change from the 4-Hour Body eating I try to do at home, and I’m just crawling out of the candy and bagel fueled fog now.

Food plays in keeping us alert and feeling great. We eat for sustenance, we bond over meals, we all have comfort foods that we turn to when we’re anxious or stressed. Little wonder that something that takes up so much our lives makes a huge difference in the way we perform at school and at work.

Luckily, after we turn healthy eating into a habit, it eventually becomes effortless. All we need is a little common sense – and a few lifestyle adjustments to ensure that the choice to eat well comes naturally.

5 Healthy Foods That Help Maximize Your Productivity

Good Carbs

While your body does need carbs for energy, pick sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and steel-cut oats over plain bagels, chips, and overly-sweetened cereals. This will keep your energy levels much more even during the day – and keep you from going crazy on those meeting room doughnuts come the mid-afternoon slump.

2. Smart Nuts

If you’re not allergic, peanuts are surprisingly one of the best nuts (okay, legumes) for brain health. They’re high in folate – important for brain development in unborn babies, and also important for brain maintenance in adults – as well as healthy fats that feed your brain and keep your blood pressure steady. There’s no need to go nuts (no pun intended), though – 28 unshelled peanuts a day will be plenty.

3. Brain Saving Berries

Preferably eaten together with healthy fats like avocado or oil-rich nuts, blueberries contain antioxidants and polyphenols that keep your brain healthy over time.

4. Five-A-Day (Or More)

Aside from the obvious health benefits of eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, it’s much harder to give up unhealthy foods than to replace them. There’s no point munching through a dry green salad, though. Reach for carrot and roast garlic hummus, sticks, apples with peanut butter, or even kale chips (or crunchy grilled seaweed) when you get the munchies, and you’ll be far less likely to feel deprived.

5. Green Tea

While too much coffee can give you the jitters and make you more antsy than alert, green tea has enough caffeine to keep you alert, and four cups a day can protect you from degenerative brain disorders.

Bonus: 3 Eating Habits to Help You Stay Sharp

Cut The White Stuff

Odds are, you’ve sat through a sugar crash at work before, and you know that it’s a quick way to lose your mental edge and set yourself up for failure.

Stress can sometimes give us a sweet tooth – it’s natural, after all, even as babies we gravitate towards food that is sweeter. We’re wired to understand that sweetness means comfort, nutrition, and safety.

Sweet cravings can be sign that your body is lacking for tryptophan or another important nutrient – try having some cheese and raisins, or a baked sweet potato with spinach on the size. If you’ve skipped lunch, go for a balanced meal and see if it helps you to power through your sweet tooth.

Peer Pressure

Often, people make excuses to pig out with their friends.

Start taking control of where your friends go to eat out, and steer everyone towards healthier choices, or if you’ve fallen into an unhealthy dining rut, try an active outing that has nothing at all to do with food – think hiking, board games, or flag football.

Making healthy habits a part of your lifestyle makes healthy eating more sustainable, and socializing with positive, healthy people carries the added benefit of better emotional health.

Banish Unproductive, All-Or-Nothing Thinking

If you went nuts on the free chocolate croissants work this morning, this doesn’t mean you should give up and get yourself a vanilla latte and Skittles for lunch. You’re stressed enough without having to beat yourself up for every choice you make.

Above all, do the best you can to take care of yourself. Take healthy eating five minutes at a time, be mindful of the choices you make as well as why you make those choices.

Most importantly, enjoy feeling sharper and more alert when you do have a good day (or days!).

Charmaine is obsessed with productivity, digital technology, and how innovation can transform lives around the world. At home, she enjoys reading, perfecting her ability to cook a perfectly seared steak, and blogging regularly at Ready Steady Done.

Here’s to all the teachers out there

I’m taking a short break from my thesis while it’s being reviewed by my faculty and committee members. It almost feels strange to sit down at my desk, and not pull up my 55 page word document. Give me a few days and I’ll be right back at it, editing comments and preparing my defense presentation. But for now, I get to write for all you dedicated readers out there!

I was recently asked who were the five people that made the biggest impact in my life in a job interview. Difficult question to answer right off the bat without thinking about everyone that I have been in contact with my whole life. It’s not a question that we reflect on a regular basis. Perhaps that’s the problem. Why don’t we think about who has made the most impact in our lives?

As I reflected on the question, a few people that came to mind were teachers of mine I’ve had in the past- including my elementary school teachers. I would go so far to say that many of my virtues were learned from some of these teachers. From the way they taught to the activities in class, certain moments really stand out. Most importantly, the way these teachers cared for me taught me how to care for others.

With that said, here’s to all the teachers out there. Thank you for your hard work, thank you for all the confidence you put in us, thank you for believing in us especially when we don’t even believe in ourselves.

“Teacher see things. They see when you’re running down the hall. They see when you’re passing notes. But they also see the person we can all become someday.”

This week, I encourage you to reach out to your teachers, past or current, and tell them what they’ve meant to you. I sure hope that I may one day also be a teacher to others in some capacity. In the same regard, I also encourage you to reflect on the five people that have had the biggest impact in your life.

You never know when you may have to tell someone about it in a job interview!

Three things to know for first time boulderers

I went bouldering for the first time this past weekend and it was everything everyone says it is. From Brooklyn Boulders in Cambridge to LA Boulders, I’ve always heard what a blast it is from friends and seen all these cool photos- but I’ve never made the effort to go. Until this weekend when some friends asked me to go to LA boulders in DTLA.

For those that don’t know what bouldering is, it’s simply a form of rock climbing performed without ropes or harness. It sounds really difficult, and it certainly is but with the existence of bouldering gyms- you can now try various levels of bouldering and know that you can fall without getting hurt. The gym is covered with mats to provide safety for even the most confident.

It was a little intimidating walking in myself without knowing what to do, or understanding how to boulder. I saw people of all ages and sizes climbing walls, holding on to dear life figuring out the next move. As I waited for my friends, I thought about trying it out myself, but was unsure where to start.

After a few hours at the bouldering gym, I had gotten the hang of it. I absorbed the culture in the gym, the unspoken rules every climber who has been there before knew. It is a very supportive environment with climbers pushing one another with encouraging words. I enjoyed the team dynamic that comes with bouldering. Even though you are the one on the wall trying to get to the last rock of that climb, friends and fellow climbers all around you are giving you advice on which pieces are around you, and guiding you through your climb. Not to mention, the experienced climbers may even teach you a technique or two.

My forearm muscles are certainly not happy with me at the moment (I can barely pull to close my car door when I get in my car) but it was a blast. I enjoyed the challenge, and yet the relaxing atmosphere. As you can tell from the photos, many climbers relax on the mats while watching other climbers on the wall.

For any first-time boulderers, I believe there’s three things you need to know to not feel as intimidated:

There are different levels of each path to climb- labeled V0 – V10. With V0 the easiest, and V10 the hardest. I was jamming on V1s and V2s.
Each path is color coordinated, if you start with a rock that’s green, follow the green as you climb.
Map out your path before you start. Try to figure out which feet will go where, where your hands will move, etc. This will save you a lot of energy as you climb.

These are only a few of the many tips for bouldering, but I know if I was a first time boulderer- those are three important facts I would like to know ahead of time.

Are you a boulderer? What do you like about it?